The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT, based on opera La
Bohème, just closed its run at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa,
marking the production’s first appearance in Sonoma County. In a
strange twist, Justin Pyne, former musical director at 6th Street
Playhouse, is now directing RENT at the Raven Performing Arts
Theater in Healdsburg.
Even if you just saw the 6th Street production, you should see
it again. Director Pyne eschewed the usual source of performers –
the acting community – and instead looked for performers who
embodied the characters in the play. Pyne scouted and recruited
from open mic nights, gay bars, and karaoke events. He sought out
young singers from a wide array of ethic backgrounds who lived in a
way that aligned with the characters in RENT. I popped into a
couple of the rehearsals and can vouch for a terrific orchestra and
amazing voices.
The setting of the production is also a bit of a departure from
the norm. As Pyne explains, “Instead of going with the original
theatrical set concept and its drab, industrial, empty look, we
have an original visual concept that is a mash-up of appropriate
physical locations that help tell the story and give the characters
a home.”
But why in the world would the Raven Players put on the same
show that 6th Street offered up? It’s not a very pretty story, so
I’ll just toss out an outline of what went on.
First let me start by explaining the close-knit theatrical
community. As Pyne puts it, “With theaters begging for donations
daily, just to survive, shouldn’t it also be important that they
share and reuse physical resources, personnel, and networks, and
function as a single community, for financial well-being as well as
reducing waste. Theater is only possible in this age with support
from the community at large, and the cooperation and sharing of
theater groups. There is no competition in community art.” And for
that reason, Pyne was hesitant to rehash the discord around this
production of RENT, preferring to emphasize the recent positive
direction for the theater community here, in terms of unity and
cooperation.
But back to that discord. In this case, everyone was hot to put
on RENT as soon as it became available for community theater. More
than a year ago, the Raven Players president John DeGaetano flew to
New York and purchased the rights to put on the play at the Raven,
lined up Justin as the show’s director, and added it to the Raven’s
August 2010 calendar.
When Justin mentioned to 6th Street management that the Raven
had landed the rights, the 6th street folks got a little green.
They’d wanted to be the first to bring the show to the region, and
decided to make it a priority. Before you knew it, 6th Street
ditched part of its already-announced lineup of plays and added
RENT, scheduling it two months before the Raven Players production.
Only after the changeup did they actually acquire the rights to the
production.
This sort of one-upmanship is unusual within the theater
community, and it made everyone uncomfortable. And of course, now
Justin was in an awkward pickle, caught between the interests of
the two organizations. But eventually Justin and 6th Street parted
ways, and he dove fully into producing his unique vision of RENT at
the Raven.
And, thankfully, personnel shakeups at 6th Street included the
exodus of the folks who put ego above teamwork, and the theater
world has returned to collaborative thinking. In fact, some of the
technical equipment for the Raven’s production came from 6th
Street, and the both groups are advertising their new series in
each other’s show programs. The two entities are friendly again,
and they look forward to helping each other out and encouraging the
public to support not only their own productions, but the
performances of all of the acting troupes throughout the region.
After all, theater folks are infamous for being an emotional bunch,
and it’s lovely when those emotions are warm and gooey.
Coming full circle, the production that brought such discord
also brought ultimate unity, duplicating the very messages espoused
in RENT. Per Pyne, “The show emphasizes the power of friends, and
the need for community.… Rather than choose an action that adds to
the challenges of one’s neighbor, people in a community have a
responsibility to make choices that lend a helping hand toward
common goals.”
To quote a song in RENT, “Though we may have our disputes, this
family tree’s got deep roots.” Definitely true of this theater
community.
Carol (Kiki) Noack, marketing, Raven Performing Arts
Theater.
