‘Rent’ to be one of first off-Broadway performances

To starving for attention, hating convention, hating pretension, not to mention, of course, hating dear old mom and dad... Sound familiar? Sure, plenty of hip Vassar kids might use this line as their mantra, but few have explored la vie Bohème like the cast and crew of "Rent." Vassar's production of the iconic musical will be performed at the Martel Theater in the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film on Dec. 2, 3, 4 and 5 at 8 p.m.

"Rent" has created quite the buzz around campus, as Vassar will be hosting one of the first-ever college productions of the musical. Chair of the Drama Department, Chris Grabowski, the director of Vassar's staging of "Rent," is no stranger to the musical. He directed the first staged reading of "Rent" with the New York Theater Workshop. That was in the '90s, when Jonathan Larson, writer of the script, music and lyrics, was only a budding composer, and when "Rent" had not yet appeared on Broadway or had become a box office hit.

Now, "Rent" has garnered a handful of Tony Awards, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and just about every other person you know can recite the lyrics. So how will Vassar put an original spin on this famous musical?
According to Nate Silver '10, who is associate directoring along with Julianna Gonzalez '11, "For us to do this play justice, we had to leave our preconceptions at the door; we had to stop listening to the soundtrack, stop watching the movie, stop remembering what the show was like on Broadway."

Since Grabowski experienced "Rent"'s development from the beginning, his connection to the play is far different than that of most young adults these days. "Chris's relationship to ‘Rent' is an incredibly valuable one, but he relates to the play in a very different way than our generation—people that grew up listening to the music—do," said Silver.
Both Silver and Gonzalez worked closely with Grabowski to create a "Rent" hybrid. "Our role has been to help marry the original impulse behind the creation of the play in the early 1990s and what it means today, at Vassar in 2009," explained Silver.

Putting a new spin on her character, the sultry exotic dancer Mimi, was no difficulty for actress Kate Thulin '11, as she had little exposure to the musical before Vassar's production. "I was not and am not a ‘Rent-head'—I saw it on Broadway once when I was about 10, I never listened to the soundtrack or saw the film," she said. "I just try to interpret the text as best I can, which involves infusing the role with pieces of myself."

"Mimi is bold, courageous, and has an extreme sexual intensity and confidence," said Thulin. "She's also incredibly damaged, and that combined with her strong personality makes her a rather tragic character." Mimi plays a central role in "Rent"—"She is very honest, and is representative of the fact that, though people aren't always so great at dealing with their own problems, human beings have an intense drive to persevere," explained Thulin.

To prepare for her role, Thulin has done far more than attend rehearsals. "Outside of rehearsal, I drill my songs and dance numbers, do visual research, and read personal accounts of young girls with AIDS and drug habits."

Silver describes his interpretation of the musical: "‘Rent' is very much a play about young people struggling to get by—attempting to overcome obstacles such as disease, addiction, poverty, homelessness, depression, oppression—you name it."

Although not everyone has experienced these difficulties, the emphasis on love in the play should hit audiences close to home. "It's an inspiring story because, at its core, it's a play about love—about the power of love and of friendship to rise above the bullshit life puts in our way," said Silver.

The plot and characters of "Rent" aren't the only unique components of Vassar's production. The set design will also take an interesting approach to the musical. According to Kelley Van Dilla '12, the show's set designer, "[Grabowski] was not interested in recreating the Broadway show. He wanted something rawer and closer to the initial readings done at New York Theatre Workshop."

Van Dilla was inspired when Grabowski asked her, "What if [the set] was on a street?" He describes the final set as "very minimal," adding that "there is a lot of beat up furniture, as you might see on the side of the street waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck."
"The actors interact with the set a lot—the furniture, a structure above the onstage band and even a real car," explained Van Dilla.

Vassar's production of "Rent" will be one of the first college adaptations of the musical, and both Silver and Thulin agree that it's the right time and the right place. For example, Thulin argues that having the young artists in the story represented by college students adds to the play's authenticity.

"It's very agitating to watch people in their late 20s/early 30s portraying people 10 years their junior, especially since they, in my opinion, seem too jaded to relive the experience of finding yourself and your art during your teens/early 20s," she said.
Silver believes the message behind "Rent" applies to many students at Vassar, something that makes the production even more appropriate. "It's incredibly exciting to do ‘Rent' at Vassar because in some ways, it's the story of our lives as emerging artists trying to get our work out there," he said.

"Though many of us do not personally struggle with the issues in the play, we have found ways to access the rebellious energy necessary to make this play successful and do its creators justice," Silver explained.

According to Silver, knowing, understanding and appreciating Larson's vision is something about "Rent" that everyone can unite around. The overarching themes of love and friendship continue to give us ways to measure a year.