The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center production of “Rent” manages to be a worthwhile experience thanks to standout performances and excellent set design.
It’s just too bad, then, that a few major technical problems drag the whole thing down.
The story of “Rent” follows a few struggling artists in New York as they attempt to overcome poverty, love and AIDS.
Yes, AIDS might as well be a character unto itself in “Rent,” with three characters–and possibly more–testing positive for HIV. It can seem a bit silly, but it serves the plot well.
The performances range from competent to extraordinarily nuanced, with Kameren Neal stealing the show as Tom Collins. He manages to have a powerful voice and yet still is able to hit the sensitive low notes that conveys a tender feeling of sorrow. Hearing him croon “I’ll Cover You” in the second act is worth the price of a ticket alone.
You also can’t help but love Chris Daniel as the cross-dressing Angel Dumott Schunard, who bounces around the stage with a kind of energy that almost looks effortless.
This is a character that you are meant to like, and Daniels accomplishes that and then some, which makes his eventual (spoiler) passing from AIDS all the more tragic. Come to think of it, I’m fairly certain that (spoiler) 80 percent of the characters in Rent are dead or dying from AIDS.
The rest of the cast hit all the right marks, with Jonathan Bluth turning in a competent Mark Cohen as well as Joelle Georgeff playing an appropriately sexy and heartfelt Mimi Marques.
The problem is that the band has a tendency to play louder than the cast is singing, making it hard to make out exactly what they are saying. At times this can be almost comical, as it’s hard to really care how the story is progressing when we don’t know what anyone is saying.
This is especially true in the second half and with Georgeff and Bluth.
The only thing that really keeps the entire production from mediocrity is Neal, Daniels and a strong ensemble.
With all that, it manages to be good, but not quite great.
