The talented rise in 'Rent 2011'

The truth is these are the talents who have had their TV moments, some have gotten regular shows even, but in this latest Philippine version of Jonathan Larson’s Rent I’m reminded of how this theater versus commercial talent division is just unfair, to both artist and audience. Maybe this is why Rent, staged this time by 9 Works Theatrical and directed by Robbie Guevara, has had such a long history of repeated runs in this country since the 90s: it has become a showcase of talent, which might not be commercially famous, but is still talent that deserves the big break. Case in point: Gian Magdangal. Now this is a guy I saw when he was just a contestant in the first franchise of American Idol in this country. I voted for him then, I vote for him now to be the most under-appreciated male talent there is. In Rent as the angst-ridden Roger, Gian is everything a pop star needs to be: boy-next-door good looks, ability to be dark and brooding, a singing voice that can outdo most of those champion balladeers on TV. I wondered after the first scene of him strumming the guitar and singing why exactly this talent doesn’t shine on TV, or doesn’t shine enough. Is it that it doesn’t translate on TV? Or is this a question of better packaging, the kind that will allow for his talent to shine? The same may be said of Ciara Sotto, who surprises more than anything because we know of her conservative parents. Watching her strut her stuff on stage was a reminder that this was a girl who studied at the Conservatory of Music, and went off to the States to explore a career there, in the end learning even more about the craft. It’s also a reminder that her talent is something that TV doesn’t do justice to either. Instead Ciara has come out on TV only to do some pole dancing, novelty as it is for celebrities to know the skill. Instead she’s made to sing in smorgasbord musical numbers with every diva-wannabe, making it seem like Ciara ain’t got the vocal chops. When in fact she does. Her voice isn’t just perfectly strong and confident for the role of Mimi in Rent; she can also sing while hanging from that pole set up on one end of the stage. So the question really is: why don’t we know about this talent? Why is it that what we see of Ciara on TV is so different from what she did on the Rent stage? Against Gian’s Roger, Ciara does Mimi with the kind of confidence and conceit that sex appeal and sensuality evoke, as it does really allow her to be the weakling that she is, getting herself into the bad stuff, and failing terribly at staying away. Roger’s lack of drive, his refusal to step out after his ex’s death, his obsession with coming up with a song -- any song! -- is the perfect foil to Mimi’s go-getter stance about the world. Both performances as far as I’m concerned are reason enough to watch this run of Rent. Except that there’s more talent here. Job Bautista as drag queen Angel is a spirit on stage, one that’s not about being noisy or wanting to take over the stage, but about a kindness and quiet, despite the clothes and the (pole) dancing skills. OJ Mariano as Tom, Angel’s boyfriend, has a voice that knocks it out of the ball park, acting chops and stage presence that fills the room with vibrancy. Tom is a omputer engineer who has chosen this life of simplicity; it is Tom in OJ’s hands who seems to know of dreaming, as he does of a sadness that fills the air. Carla Guevara-Laforteza’s portrayal of lesbian activist Maureen was wonderfully ironic, allowing for the absurdity and the tragedy of it, and showing its seeming pointlessness. Carla was willing to look the part too, silly and funny as it is. Then there’s Lorenz Martinez as Benjamin, the old friend and new landlord, whose coming into money meant an excessively critical gaze on the bohemian community that couldn’t pay its rent on time, that includes people whom he used to consider like minds. Lorenz’s presence on stage is enough to evoke his disdain, his conceit, his objectification of his ex-friends’ conditions. Yet when he later on cares for Mimi, that fleeting moment of kindness is made possible by Lorenz’s manipulation of tone and movement, allowing for Benjamin to shift to defeat just when he thought he had the girl. Because he didn’t; and despite being the landlord, he had no control over anyone here. Not Roger or Tom or Mark (played by Fredison Lo), all his ex-friends. Not Angel, or Mimi, or Maureen. In truth, Benjamin is in over his head, as the rest of society is, by the kind of freedom(s) the dream of a bohemian lifestyle insists on. It is this dream of course that Rent banks on still: the dream of liberation from want or need, because when we’ve got love and art, life is enough. Of course here, this life is riddled with what ailed this notion of liberation: the lack of control, the inability to keep safe. AIDS and drugs vis a vis poverty is what Rent continues to be about, and for these times and in this context, it’s also clear that this risks a romanticization of something that’s too true for us in the third world, and is ultimately painful. Doing one’s art, imagining that it can feed us and clothe us, thinking that it is this creative happiness that matters, is a dangerous thing in the face of real hunger, possible eviction, impending death. Free love and the bohemian lifestyle aren’t what they used to be. The 90s isn’t this new decade. Right there lie the dangers of running Rent still. More than the talent, or maybe because of it, we might actually begin to believe that hope and love and art are enough. - GMA News Rent runs until March 6 2011 with Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows. Check out their official site for details.