Jonathan Larson is someone who should have had a completely different set of cards dealt in his life, and at the same time someone whom we wouldn't have such an incredible legacy to remember him by if it wasn't for the cards he was dealt - talk about bittersweet!
By his legacy I am talking of course about RENT! The incredible musical which opened doors and boundaries for BAME and possibly even more so LGBTQIA+ actors and artists, and if I may be as bold as to say, just as much an exquisite musical composition as La Bohème, on which RENT is based. The technical achievements of dialogue songs between the leads and even more convoluted ensemble numbers such as La Vie Bohème and the extremely stunning Seasons of Love are proof enough that Larson created a real masterpiece - not to mention the beautiful cacophony that is Christmas Bells! Truly, absolute proof of Larson's genius!
He gave a voice to the poor, the homeless, the diseased and the disabled. He gave a voice to sex workers and strippers, and to anyone anyone whose sexual practices came outside the norm. Regardless of whether critics or scholars say that Larson agreed or disagreed with any specific lifestyle, and I've heard and read so many opinions on this, the fact is that he gave a voice to so many people who still didn't have a voice in the 90s. There were ancestors to this, of course, like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, and of course La Bohème a hundred years earlier! But there was something that Larsson did that created a turning point for generations to come. He was able to unify the issue, and to close the gap so to speak, between the classes and how each person sees things depending on where they came from and where they're intending to go, or if they can still go somewhere because of their illness, which is the crux of the matter! The eight main roles have a mix of backgrounds, the three leads forming a particularly balanced triangle in what they all give and get from each other: Mark Cohen, Jewish intellectual turned creative, still seen as a little boy by his mother (kindhearted lady but a bit clueless); Roger Davis, ex pretty boy front man who suddenly has to confront his own mortality; and Mimi Márquez, young and sassy S&M club dancer who suddenly has to admit she's not as tough and savvy as she wants to pretend.
The supporting characters have as much weight as the leads, though, in that each one is supremely pivotal to the story in general and the character arcs of the rest of the cast! Maureen Johnson (star of the show in her own mind), Miss White Privilege who starts off as helping others for the fame but then genuinely interested in making life better for them (in my opinion the most difficult character to cast, and not just here but possibly ever!). She's Mark's ex and is now with Joanne Jefferson, an Ivy League-graduated lawyer who defies her family's expectations while at the same time defying anyone who dares to say that being organised and structural is boring or unsexy at all - and she's one of my full-on dream roles, by the way! Joanne is also one of the first male to female roles converted in a new adaptation of this kind, which gives her an edge that I'm particularly attracted to.
Then we have one of the ultimate power couples in any musical: Tom Collins and Angel Dumott Schunard - will not say too much about them, because spoilers! but they are two of my favourite characters in any musical, and Angel in particular is just a real delight to watch - and to learn from!!
And last but absolutely not least, we've got Benjamin Coffin III, antihero, anti-villain, and decisively catalystic! Unfortunate idealist-turned-capitalist, but without whom the story would not unfold!
So, this is what I mean when I say that what Larson created here, in translating these eight characters into their new and revised versions, was to give all kinds of different people a voice. All of them have something to say, and all of them come from different walks of life. The actors who have portrayed these roles have, for the most part, played them with depth and understanding of the intention behind the lyrics and sets. All ensemble casts have deeply moved me, and I feel so proud, honoured and blessed to be part of the ensemble cast this time around, too!
And by the way, I was originally going to write this entry yesterday, as it was Gertrude Stein's birthday, until I realised it would have been Larson's 60th, and then everything changed and I went into a wild (and fun!) connections research frenzy - first finding out that Rosa Parks and Rupert Grint share their birthday with Jonathan Larson (how cool is that?), and then finding out all sorts of interesting bits from all my favourite cast members (so far, as I haven't seen all the versions yet, so this entry might need updating later on, wink wink).
Let me take a deep breath and write all this down La Vie Bohème style: first things first, the already legendary Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, respectively original (and both best) Mark and Roger, nearly shared the same birthday, as Pascal's is on October 25th and Rapp's is on October 26th. Not too amazing yet, but things start getting funny when you see that Telly Leung, who first took part on the ensemble and played the role of my favourite Squeegee Man as well as Angel's understudy, later on went to play a very fantastic Angel, pretty much the same as Will Chase, who played the Squeegee Man and was understudy for Roger and then went on to play him very decently afterwards - yet the even funnier thing is that Leung's birthday is on January 3rd (same as JRR Tolkien, on a literary tangent!), and two other cast members' birthdays are on January 2nd: my favourite Mimi and Benny, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Taye Diggs! Then we have several of my favourites respectively whose birthdays fall on the second of each month - Eden Espinosa (Maureen) on February 2nd just gone, Fredi Walker (original and fantastic Joanne) on October 2nd, Wilson Jermaine Heredia (absolutely legendary Angel) on December 2nd, and Wayne Brady (perfect Collins to Leung's fantastic Angel) on June 2nd. My other two favourites, Jesse L. Martin as Collins and the unomparable Tracie Thoms as Joanne come out of the pattern a little bit, but Martin's birthday is on January 18th and Thoms' is on June 12th, so *I* get to share my birthday month and day with them, so there!
Ok, ok, I will concede that this might have just been a combination of OCD + ADD talking here making connections, but I will also admit that making those connections makes it, for me, even more poignant because they are all part of this great never-ending story - the cast, I mean. Actors will take over their roles one after the other, and Larson's legacy will continue in the circle, as the Seasons of Love come one after the other and new generations get to explore and experience this musical.
And now I am part of it.
The fabulous cast that I am part of will be in the spotlight, and I shall write even more about my experience with them soon, too!
For now, let's raise our glass to La Vie Bohème and Jonathan Larson!
With blessings as always,
Sandra Cole ~ Actress, Model, Writer, WitchBy his legacy I am talking of course about RENT! The incredible musical which opened doors and boundaries for BAME and possibly even more so LGBTQIA+ actors and artists, and if I may be as bold as to say, just as much an exquisite musical composition as La Bohème, on which RENT is based. The technical achievements of dialogue songs between the leads and even more convoluted ensemble numbers such as La Vie Bohème and the extremely stunning Seasons of Love are proof enough that Larson created a real masterpiece - not to mention the beautiful cacophony that is Christmas Bells! Truly, absolute proof of Larson's genius!
He gave a voice to the poor, the homeless, the diseased and the disabled. He gave a voice to sex workers and strippers, and to anyone anyone whose sexual practices came outside the norm. Regardless of whether critics or scholars say that Larson agreed or disagreed with any specific lifestyle, and I've heard and read so many opinions on this, the fact is that he gave a voice to so many people who still didn't have a voice in the 90s. There were ancestors to this, of course, like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, and of course La Bohème a hundred years earlier! But there was something that Larsson did that created a turning point for generations to come. He was able to unify the issue, and to close the gap so to speak, between the classes and how each person sees things depending on where they came from and where they're intending to go, or if they can still go somewhere because of their illness, which is the crux of the matter! The eight main roles have a mix of backgrounds, the three leads forming a particularly balanced triangle in what they all give and get from each other: Mark Cohen, Jewish intellectual turned creative, still seen as a little boy by his mother (kindhearted lady but a bit clueless); Roger Davis, ex pretty boy front man who suddenly has to confront his own mortality; and Mimi Márquez, young and sassy S&M club dancer who suddenly has to admit she's not as tough and savvy as she wants to pretend.
The supporting characters have as much weight as the leads, though, in that each one is supremely pivotal to the story in general and the character arcs of the rest of the cast! Maureen Johnson (star of the show in her own mind), Miss White Privilege who starts off as helping others for the fame but then genuinely interested in making life better for them (in my opinion the most difficult character to cast, and not just here but possibly ever!). She's Mark's ex and is now with Joanne Jefferson, an Ivy League-graduated lawyer who defies her family's expectations while at the same time defying anyone who dares to say that being organised and structural is boring or unsexy at all - and she's one of my full-on dream roles, by the way! Joanne is also one of the first male to female roles converted in a new adaptation of this kind, which gives her an edge that I'm particularly attracted to.
Then we have one of the ultimate power couples in any musical: Tom Collins and Angel Dumott Schunard - will not say too much about them, because spoilers! but they are two of my favourite characters in any musical, and Angel in particular is just a real delight to watch - and to learn from!!
And last but absolutely not least, we've got Benjamin Coffin III, antihero, anti-villain, and decisively catalystic! Unfortunate idealist-turned-capitalist, but without whom the story would not unfold!
So, this is what I mean when I say that what Larson created here, in translating these eight characters into their new and revised versions, was to give all kinds of different people a voice. All of them have something to say, and all of them come from different walks of life. The actors who have portrayed these roles have, for the most part, played them with depth and understanding of the intention behind the lyrics and sets. All ensemble casts have deeply moved me, and I feel so proud, honoured and blessed to be part of the ensemble cast this time around, too!
And by the way, I was originally going to write this entry yesterday, as it was Gertrude Stein's birthday, until I realised it would have been Larson's 60th, and then everything changed and I went into a wild (and fun!) connections research frenzy - first finding out that Rosa Parks and Rupert Grint share their birthday with Jonathan Larson (how cool is that?), and then finding out all sorts of interesting bits from all my favourite cast members (so far, as I haven't seen all the versions yet, so this entry might need updating later on, wink wink).
Let me take a deep breath and write all this down La Vie Bohème style: first things first, the already legendary Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, respectively original (and both best) Mark and Roger, nearly shared the same birthday, as Pascal's is on October 25th and Rapp's is on October 26th. Not too amazing yet, but things start getting funny when you see that Telly Leung, who first took part on the ensemble and played the role of my favourite Squeegee Man as well as Angel's understudy, later on went to play a very fantastic Angel, pretty much the same as Will Chase, who played the Squeegee Man and was understudy for Roger and then went on to play him very decently afterwards - yet the even funnier thing is that Leung's birthday is on January 3rd (same as JRR Tolkien, on a literary tangent!), and two other cast members' birthdays are on January 2nd: my favourite Mimi and Benny, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Taye Diggs! Then we have several of my favourites respectively whose birthdays fall on the second of each month - Eden Espinosa (Maureen) on February 2nd just gone, Fredi Walker (original and fantastic Joanne) on October 2nd, Wilson Jermaine Heredia (absolutely legendary Angel) on December 2nd, and Wayne Brady (perfect Collins to Leung's fantastic Angel) on June 2nd. My other two favourites, Jesse L. Martin as Collins and the unomparable Tracie Thoms as Joanne come out of the pattern a little bit, but Martin's birthday is on January 18th and Thoms' is on June 12th, so *I* get to share my birthday month and day with them, so there!
Ok, ok, I will concede that this might have just been a combination of OCD + ADD talking here making connections, but I will also admit that making those connections makes it, for me, even more poignant because they are all part of this great never-ending story - the cast, I mean. Actors will take over their roles one after the other, and Larson's legacy will continue in the circle, as the Seasons of Love come one after the other and new generations get to explore and experience this musical.
And now I am part of it.
The fabulous cast that I am part of will be in the spotlight, and I shall write even more about my experience with them soon, too!
For now, let's raise our glass to La Vie Bohème and Jonathan Larson!
With blessings as always,
For tickets to RENT in Arc Theatre Trowbridge, click here!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario