(Rob Merritt/Theatre Cedar Rapids) The cast of "Rent," now playing at Theatre Cedar Rapids, lines up for the iconic moment, singing "Season of Love."

By Diana Nollen, SourceMedia Group

CEDAR RAPIDS — I still have goosebumps. The staff and volunteers at Theatre Cedar Rapids have done an amazing job of staging the rock opera “Rent.”

This is a testament to the amount of talent living, working and creating art in Eastern Iowa.

The show opened Friday (7/9/10) to a sold-out crowd and sent three generations of screaming, cheering fans jumping to their feet in unison at the end of an exhilarating two hours.  The show runs through July 25 and is guaranteed to sell out quickly.

The cast of 20 young people – many of them new to the TCR stage — unleash an immeasurable force of voices and emotions as they explore a year of living, dying and creating art in New York City under the emerging pall of AIDS.

For a group of volunteers to tackle this much-lauded work, based on the opera “La Boheme,” is astounding. It takes the firm guiding hand of TCR’s professional staff, the vision of directors Leslie Charipar and Janelle Lauer, the rock ‘n’ roll fervor of the seasoned band and plenty of technical wizardry to pull it off.

I didn’t even like the show when it first came out. It made me angry. I wanted to scream: “Grow up and get a job like the rest of us – do your art at night like the rest of us.” My best friend from college had just died of AIDS and several other dear friends were in various stages of dying a horrible death. The show hit a nerve that was still too raw.

Those memories still brought tears to my eyes during this production, but enough time has passed that “Rent” is now bearable to see and serves as a powerful reminder of this terrible affliction. The show’s mantra of ”no day but today” has become its message of the urgency for squeezing every ounce of life and love out of every day.

The show is packed with beautiful music, beautiful characters and beautiful performances.

The moment that blows off the roof comes in the second half, when Alisabeth Caraway and Stephanie Larios blast their way through “Take Me or Leave Me.” Area native Caraway came back from New York and Cornell student Larios stayed from Las Vegas to play the bickering lovers Maureen and Joanne. They live, love and fight fiercely, creating enough electricity to power a small town. 

Caraway also milks every ounce of passion out of her show-stopping performance art piece, “Over the Moon,” that incites a riot near the end of Act I.

Nathan Cooper, a 2009 Cedar Rapids Jefferson grad, has just one real moment in the spotlight, but he makes it memorable, launching his outstanding voice above all others in “Will I.”

Lead players Jennifer Anderson as Mimi, Aaron Brewer as Roger and Steve Goedken as Mark exude plenty of pathos and ardor as they work through their demons, frustrations and relationships.

But DiAndre Neville simply shimmers as the sweet cross-dressing Angel. He owns the stage with a performance as subtle and refined as one can manage in a mini skirt and high heels. Never over-the-top, he breaks every heart in Act II.

The only downside came in Act I, when the band overpowered the vocals on the large ensemble numbers, especially “La Vie Boheme” and “I Will,” and when the actors were singing in the lower register of their voices. I’m afraid audience members who don’t know the show lost some of the rich texture of the dialogue that is only conveyed through the singing.

Still, this is a production of the highest magnitude and a proud achievement for Theatre Cedar Rapids.

FAST TAKE

What: “Rent”

Where: Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids

When: Through July 25, 2010; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays

Rated: PG-13

Tickets: $20 to $25 adults and $15 youths, at the Theatre Cedar Rapids Box Office, (319) 366−8591 and www.theatrecr.org $12 rush 30 minutes before showtime at the TCR Box Office

Information: www.theatrecr.org and www.siteforrent.com