20 A&E Dramahawks produce fall musical rarely attempted by high schools Lauren Miller Co-Editor-in-Chief First workshopped in 1993 and eventually opening on Broadway in 1996, Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize winning “Rent” has long stood as the pinnacle of contemporary rock musical theatre. While the show has been remarkably successful, it contains numerous adult themes and issues typically not featured in productions done by high schoolers. “Rent” tells the stories of young artists in New York City at the turn of the 21st century struggling to survive as they battle oppression, love and disease. As a partially autobiographical piece, Larson centered his piece around what he directly saw as a massive cultural influencer: the AIDS epidemic, leading to the rise of significant controversy when “Rent” was first produced in a high school in 2006. “The decision to produce ‘Rent’ was not taken lightly, as it is a more mature show that tackles some difficult issues such as the AIDS crisis and drug addiction. Creating a dialogue about these challenging issues and the show’s focus on the themes of inclusion, acceptance and hope were the main motivators for the Dramahawks to take on this musical,” theatre teacher Patrick Mitchell said. The Dramahawks have put on several “student edition” shows in years past, however, with “Rent,” a more controversial show in and of itself, the changes are notably more significant. “A lot of the language was brought
down a notch to make it high school appropriate [and] there were minimal plot changes to be appropriate [for] a high school,” junior Brooke Smith said. “[The changes] don’t affect the story too much, but [they] kind of take away the atmosphere of the show being about angry adults in New York.” Despite these content-based alterations and the complete removal of “Contact,” the song with the most adult content, all characters remain the same as those of the original Broadway productions. All of Larson’s characters were based off of people who touched his own life, making each remarkably complex and all ultimately redeemable. “The characters were written to be extremely different from one another; from Mark being uptight to his complete opposite Roger, everyone has their own thing to add to the story,” senior Shannon Flack said. “The songs in the show vary in multiple ways from using classical technique to a strong musical theatre belt. The show is one of the most challenging vocal tracks the Hayfield Dramahawks have ever had to pull off.” While such complexity in storytelling is challenging with all roles, characterization for freshman Max von Kolnitz was never further from what is expected of actors in the traditional high school theatre setting. “I play Angel, the gay drag queen who is suffering from AIDS,” von Kolnitz said. “The most challenging part would be having to find the most appropriate balance in order to not be offensive to any type of people who are gay or cross
dressers. ‘Rent’ is about many sensitive topics, [so] it’s always important to tread lightly, which is something I have been sure to be aware of.” Overall, the choice for the Dramahawks to perform “Rent” this fall was quite controversial, yet the themes and universal messages of the piece are what should stand out above all hesitations some may have. “‘Rent’ is especially important today because it features individuals from communities who are not nearly as represented as they should be such as the homeless, members of the LGBTQ+ community and victims of HIV/AIDS,” senior Trish Hoang said. “The show stands for following characters who fit into these categories, spreading awareness on these people in particular, and it’s incredible that a musical is able to project the voices of those that may not have been able to be heard back then.” After a successful 2016-17 season, the Dramahawks are elated to be performing the important story to audiences; “Rent” runs Nov. 9-11 and 16-18 at 7 p.m. “There are often many presumptions when it comes to high school theatre, such as an overall surface-level perception or lack of cohesiveness--with this show we hope to cast away some of those beliefs,” senior Cara Bradley said. “A conglomeration of relevant themes and artistic commitment, Rent offers a unique experience that is beyond worth being shared.”
Character shots of “Rent” leads: (from left to right) Trish Hoang, Marek Brown, Max von Kolnitz, Corbin Farrell, Jackson Miller, Christian Pineda, Hallie Strelsky, and Shannon Flack Photos courtesy of Shannon Flack