RENT ... The Melody lingers on

It has been five years since Rent, Jonathan Larson’s musical about love and death at the turn of the new century whose inspiration can be traced to the magnificent Puccini opera La Boheme, made its Broadway debut. In the interim, it has been restaged across continents–in Spain, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Sweden–and won an impressive string of awards, including the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Obie, Tony and Pulitzer prizes.

In 1999 Rent came to Manila under the aegis of Bobby Garcia, and the production quickly became the sensation of the Philippine theater season that year. With enthusiastic crowds packing the venue all the way up to the final performance of its original run, the production went on an extended run that continued to draw SRO audiences.

More than a year since making its Philippine debut, Rent returns to Manila for a five-week run at the GSIS Theatre beginning October 5, with Bobby once more shepherding the production. This comes on the heels of the musical’s triumphant staging in Singapore (lauded by local critics as "better than the Broadway version!") under the collaborative efforts of Bobby’s Atlantis Productions and the Singapore Repertory Theatre.

"The Singapore experience was one of the best moments in my life," says Bobby. "I was so proud of the production. I was blessed with a dream cast who surrendered themselves to the material. I had the unwavering support of the Singapore Repertory Theatre to do the musical the way I wanted to, and I really consider the material to be what I consider to be the best in the world. I also was so proud to see all the Filipino artists who were there moving the audience to laughter and tears each night and earning rave reviews and respect from the Singaporean community."

The cast of the upcoming production of Rent is a mélange of veterans from both the original Manila staging and the Filipino cast in the Singapore run: Rachel Alejandro as Mimi, Bituin Escalante as Joanne, Calvin Millado as Roger, JM Rodriguez as Mark, Michael de Mesa as Collins, Lee Robin Salazar as Benny, Jake Macapagal as Angel and Lana Jalosjos as Maureen with Joel Trinidad, Carlo Ledesma, Gloria Sicam, Beatrice Gomez, Boyd Tinio, Arnold Reyes, Agnes Bernardo and ManMan Angsico in the ensemble.

Artists, particularly in the performing arts, often wax about an insatiable craving for new challenges that expand their craft and stimulate their creative juices. For Bobby, the challenge in bringing back Rent to Manila is to show the musical in a fashion that would be new and fresh even to those who have seen the original Philippine production. "I’m the sort whose philosophy is that if you’re just going to repeat something for repetition’s sake, then it’s not worth doing," says Bobby, whose plays and musicals include the recent fabulously successful Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jesus Christ Superstar, How I Learned to Drive, Angels in America and many more.

Of course, there is the emotional connection that the director has with the award-winning musical. "I can’t even begin to say what this show means to me. I can’t even begin to describe the emotions I have for this show," he says quietly. "I won’t ever forget the first time I saw the show in 1996; I laughed, I cried and I left the theater a different person." Bobby phoned director Michael Greiff to ask how he could take part in the production, and joined the Toronto company staging of the musical.

"This musical has given me so much since I first became involved with it abroad in 1997. Rent will always be a part of my life in one way or another because it’s a part of my heart now. It’s given me some of the best friends I have here in Manila. We’re like a family now. We’re always there for each other. And it’s given me some of my dearest friends abroad too, including the family of Jonathan Larson."

For the veterans in the cast, the challenges remain as well. "Actually, my doing Rent for the third time in the same role is an even bigger challenge," says Calvin, "because now you have to find ways to add new texture and shadings to your performance to give your characterization a freshness. So, yes, I’m very excited to be doing Rent for the third time. And really, how can you resist a great story with great music."

Problems about being just in the ensemble in the original production," she maintains with a smile. "I love to sing, and being part of the ensemble allowed a lot of moments to do just that; in fact, I even got to sing the most beautiful piece in the musical, which of course was Seasons of Love. So I really had no complaints."

Bituin is nonetheless thrilled about her assuming the controversial lead role of Joanne. "Bobby gave me his approval to go where I wanted to go with this character, which to any artist is really exciting because you’re given the challenge to bring something fresh to the character," says the recent Aliw awardee. "This time out, I want Joanne to appear less nerdy, less desperate. I want to give her certain toughness because, after all, she’s a Harvard lawyer. She’s got to find some validation in that."

Rachel is equally thrilled to be returning to the musical, for which she won rousing approval in Singapore. "In fact, I was anxious about not being able to do this Manila restaging because of some previous commitments I had abroad," she reveals. "You can imagine how relieved I was when those commitments had to be rescheduled. I really so wanted to be again a part of this musical and now I am."

Her enthusiasm for the musical is such that Rachel, who has a new album out under Viva Records, is working with Bobby on an album that evokes the spirit of Rent. "It won’t be a recording of the songs from the musical," says Rachel, who is producing it for Atlantis, "but a collection of songs about love, inspiration, friendship and hope–the themes explored by the musical– that will be sung by the Manila and Singapore cast of Rent. It’s really quite exciting."

Eliciting such passionate emotions is something that Rent has replicated everywhere it has gone. As it did in Manila in 1999, the musical drew repeat audiences in its initial Broadway run with some members of the production recalling in interviews about seeing the same audience members coming back to the theatre ten, even 15 times.

What is it about the musical that keeps artists and audiences coming back to relive the triumphs and tragedies of eight men and women struggling to make art and live life under such lousy conditions? Perhaps it is the universality of those struggles that has made Rent the modern phenomenon it is. Indeed, one does not have to be an artist– or a Harvard-graduate lawyer–to connect with Roger’s dream of writing one last meaningful song before he is consumed by AIDS; or to share Joanne and Maureen’s efforts to establish a relationship in the face of social biases and their own failings.

Perhaps few will argue with Bobby Garcia’s sentiments about this magnificent musical written by Jonathan Larson, who died shortly before it opened to great acclaim in Broadway. "It’s the best musical ever written in that it allows us to grow as human beings, to improve ourselves," says the director. "It changed my life completely."

And now, allow it to change yours.