Musician from original production joins performance
If you missed the community theater production of Rent at The Egg in Albany in April, you’ll have another chance to view most of the same cast with some special guests enhancing the show.
The Schenectady Light Opera Company is hosting several performances of `Rent` from Friday, Aug. 12, to Sunday, Aug. 21. Matthew Teichner is directing the production and the musical direction is by Olga Martinez. National musicians Daniel Weiss and Dave Malachowski signed on for the performances too. Weiss was a part of the original production, and Malachowski plays for Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal’s national tour, which was the duo originating the roles of Mark and Roger on Broadway and who were cast for those roles in the movie version of `Rent.`
SLOC is currently in the first phase of three for the new multi-purpose performing arts center, which is located at the former St. John the Baptist Church in downtown Schenectady. In late August 2009, SLOC announced it was purchasing the church from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
`All the funds from this are going to the renovation of this building into a performing arts center,` said Teichner. `We are all volunteering our time for this.`
Teichner said he is pleased to be bringing the show back.
`We did the show at The Egg, and it was phenomenally successful as soon as the show ended, there were sort of talks about doing it again, but the question was where, and if it was feasible to do it and keep the cast together,` said Teichner. `SLOC wound up being interested in doing it as a fundraiser for the new art center.`
Weiss said he was excited to be performing `Rent` again, and being a part of the musical was major part of his life.
`Being a part of ‘Rent’ in 1996 was one of the most outstandingly memorable times of my life,` he said in a statement. `To be a part of what was probably the most original, groundbreaking musical of the decade was a gift then. I’m very pleased to be able to perform it again this summer in Schenectady.`
The remount of the Our Own Productions of `Rent` at The Egg includes all of the original principal actors from the show. There are also several new cast members and the stage is larger at SLOC’s performing arts center.
`I like the fact that [‘Rent’] was as revolutionary when it came out as ‘Hair’ was in 1968. When it came out, it revolutionized musical theater in the same way,` said Teichner. `It was the first time in a while that rock was used in a musical to effect it was the first time that somebody had really used it to great effect in quite a while.`
Malachowski attended the previous production of `Rent` at The Egg, which led him to be interested in joining a returning performance.
`I told the folks if they did it again to let me know, because I would like to be involved,` said Malachowski. `It really suits me as a guitarist because it is a rock show; it is a real rock show. The basic themes are deeper than your normal rock musical. It is very timely even now, and it is just important stuff. It is still relevant in many ways.`
Teichner said the show also focuses on the human experience and how people struggle or thrive. No matter where it is shown, he said, the production is received well.
`People will see it over and over again and no matter how many times you see it you still have emotional reactions to it,` said Teichner. `It is very powerful and it continues to be very powerful.`
While `Rent` does deal with difficult topics, he said the story is framed in a way that is hopeful.
`The show ends on the idea that this isn’t the end, and it doesn’t have to be,` he said. `It takes you through a very sort dark place in a way, but it gives you hope throughout all the way through it. At the end of the night it leaves you in a place that you got things to think about but it is also uplifting, extremely uplifting.`
Teichner said when `Rent` was originally cast in New York City, there were people that didn’t have much or any background experience, which gave the play an interesting feel to it. This feeling is recreated, he said, because many of the people cast aren’t regulars in the local theater scene.
`In a lot of ways, we were able to put together that same kind of dynamic,` he said about the cast.
To purchase tickets for the upcoming show visit www.sloctheater.com or call 1-877-350-7378 for more information.“
