By Lily Jones | Arts and Entertainment Editor
Salve Regina University hosted its spring musical at the Casino Theatre in Newport these past two weekends, presenting a total of ten showings of the Tony Award winning Best Musical, RENT.
Reggie Phoenix, Artistic Director of the Casino Theatre and Associate Professor in the Theatre department at Salve, directed the production, which showcases the original music and lyrics of award-winning composer and playwright Jonathan Larson.
RENT takes place in New York from December 24, 1989 to December 24, 1990, following main characters Mark, Roger, Collins, Angel, Mimi, Joanne, Maureen, and Benny. Mark is a filmmaker who documents the lives of his friends for the year, chronicling the struggles of their relationships, and the cold reality that some of his friends, who are HIV positive, may die from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Other themes explored in this play include drug addiction, sexuality, and homelessness.
Salve’s production brought on two outside actors from the Newport community, Clayon McFarlane who played Collins, and Matt Royalty-Lindman, who played Roger. Salve students made up the rest of the cast and ensemble, including freshman Nathaniel Flachs, who had the main role.
Flachs, a declared accounting major and rugby player, made his first ever theatre debut in RENT. He said that his character, Mark, appears to be “emotionless throughout the show,” because he is detaching himself from his friends, especially his best friend, Roger, out of fear of losing them to AIDS.
“There’s a scene where it’s just Mark and Roger, and Roger calls him out on that,” Flachs said. “Mark says, ‘Well, I act like this because I’m the one who’s going to survive and I’m going to be the one left behind, and so I don’t want to have all of this heartbreak.’”
Towards the end of RENT, Flachs’ character must make a decision whether to stay with his friends and be vulnerable to loss, or to leave and protect himself with separation. Despite the specific and heavy subject matter of RENT, Flachs claimed that the show has a central theme that all people can identify with.
“I think it’s just really a story about a friend group that everybody can relate to, because everybody has friends, and everybody goes through tough times,” he said. “It’s a musical about real life. This is a very hardcore sort of play, and I think it’s good that people can come here and laugh and cry.”
Brand new to performing, Flachs accredits his feeling comfortable on stage to his supportive cast-mates. “I was so new to theater and they just took me in,” he said.
Also brand new to college, Flachs, a freshman, found it challenging to balance classes and other extracurricular activities with learning a musical.
“It’s difficult, there’s a lot of late nights, but in the end it’s definitely worth it,” he said.
Flachs said that anyone who has never acted before and wants to do it should take the opportunity.
“Don’t be scared,” he said. “Whoever you are, come on in, and we’ll have fun together.”
