With "La Boheme" having opened the Opera Theatre season a couple of weeks ago, it’s only proper that its 20th-century descendant visit St. Louis for a different audience. And so, "Rent" showed up Tuesday night and the Fox, grand dame of St. Louis theaters, was filled with the shrieks of an audience far younger than usually attends stage productions.
Jonathan Larson’s musical (he wrote book, music and lyrics, and died shortly before the show opened in 1996), moves the Puccini opera forward a century and to a different continent, showing tragedy and triumph with an ensemble that shows overtones of "Hair," but lacks a Vietnam for a focus. Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the stars of the New York original and the movie, are back in form as Roger and Mark, respectively, and both are in fine voice.
It’s hard to tell exactly how fine because the sound engineers run everything at top volume, often adding a false or muddy note.
There is splendid work along the way from the two leads, along with Michael McElroy as Tom Collins, Justin Johnston as Angel, Lexi Lawson as Mimi, Nicolette Hart as Maureen and Haneefah Wood as Joanne, a show-stopper in the tango she does with Rapp. John Watson, who plays several roles, was especially notable as a pastor in "What You Own," a number that builds toward the climax.
Pascal is special in "One Song Glory" and in "Light My Candle," his duet with Lawson, and a duet by Wood and Hart, "Take Me or Leave Me," underlines not only their particular relationship, but any relationship between two people. The dance work, shown more in group movement than in solo work, carries on the feeling of the music, with Marlies Yearby’s choreography often striking.
Michael Greif’s direction is solid, and the tech design, by Paul Clay (set), Angela Wendt (costumes) and Blake Burba (lights) is just right.
Fox Theatre, through Sunday.