Michelle de Joya, Wesley Maura, Sara Masterson, and Cast Photo by Alyssa Christine

La Bohème debuted in 1896, one hundred years before the Off-Broadway opening and subsequent move to Broadway of Rent in 1996. La Bohème was a quick sensation, being mounted in nineteen productions within two years of its premiere in Turin, Italy, in a host of cities on four continents. It remains one of the most often performed of all operas. Rent was also an instant sensation, playing on Broadway for more than 12 years, making it currently the 11th longest-running Broadway show of all time, and spawning a galaxy of touring companies, international stagings, and regional productions, as well as a feature film. Something about the story of idealistic strivers trying to eke out a life based on creativity, communal feeling, and economic justice struck a chord in the 1890s, and again in the 1990s, and it does so again today.

Jonathan Larson was a struggling artist in the arena of musical theatre when he wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Rent, which was workshopped from 1993. It generated exciting buzz and garnered a lot attention as it was readied for its Off-Broadway world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop. Then, Larson died of an aneurism the night before the show's first preview performance, never getting to see it performed for a live audience, let alone win the Tony Award for Best Musical, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and many other laurels, as well as earning a lot of money. That tragic circumstance casts an additional glaze of poignancy on Rent, and underscores a sense of authenticity regarding the travails of its characters.

Rent follows a year in its community of characters, from Christmas Eve 1989 to Christmas Eve 1990. Roger, a songwriter, and Mark, a videographer, are best friends and roommates in a shelled-out East Village apartment. Roger is bereft of holiday spirit, having been in a funk since his relationship with his girlfriend came to a tragic end. Mark's Christmas Eve agenda entails videoing a protest performance by his ex-girlfriend, Maureen, who left him for a lawyer named Joanne. The protest is aimed at Bennie, Mark and Roger's former roommate who married into money and subsequently bought their building with plans to gentrify the property–meaning, Roger, Mark, and many more like them will lose their home and studio space. Confounding things further, the power goes out.

Roger and Mark are about to be visited by another friend and former roommate, Tom Collins, an NYU computer whiz, but on his way to their unheated East Village apartment, Collins is mugged and left dazed on the sidewalk. An angelic drag queen appropriately named Angel, comes to Collins' rescue. The assemblage of characters is completed when, after all but Roger head to the protest, their upstairs neighbor knocks on the door asking if he has a match to light her candle. This is Mimi, beautiful, sensual and blunt. She makes a play for Roger, who demurs and tells her she looks 16. She responds indignantly "I'm 19, but I'm old for my age." The "old" might be the result of the hard drugs she is using, or her job as a handcuffed dancer in a seamy night club. One final storm cloud over the heads of these eight characters: four of them have HIV, the virus that, untreated, frequently results in AIDS.

Kelli Foster Warder directs Artistry's Rent and created its choreography, and the two mesh like clockwork in a production with seamless transitions. Action slips into dance sequences without calling attention to itself–there are no moments that announce: "now time for a dance break"–the movement is incorporated as part of the characters' lived experience.

As Roger, Caleb Michaels expresses the seriously depressed and cynical songwriter's fear of expecting any good to come his way and he sings beautifully, raising his soaring voice in "One Song Glory" and the climactic "Your Eyes," and paired with Michelle de Joya's Mimi in "Another Day" and with Wesley Mouri's Mark in "What You Own." Also with de Joya, he is an emotive sparring partner in "Another Day" and lends a pained howl of yearning to "Without You." Their "I Should Tell You" interlude during "La Vie Bohème" provides the show with a moment of hopeful tenderness. De Joya is fabulous as Mimi. She delivers lines with the sass and spirit of a girl who has learned to live in hard circumstances and reach for what she wants, and moves with intoxicating sensuality. In addition to the songs cited above, her entry number, "Light My Candle," conveys a reservoir of desire with a coy veneer, while her expression of unfiltered lust in "Out Tonight" is a showstopper.

Mouri gives another winning performance as Mark. He movingly conveys his paralyzing emotions in "Halloween," is great paired with Michael in "What You Own," and with Quinn Lorenz, another powerful singer as Joanne, in "Tango Maureen." Lorenz has a great solo turn, expressing exasperation in "We're Okay," and makes a great pairing with Sara Masterson as Maureen in "Take Me or Leave Me," while Masterson captures the arch art-performance tone of "Over the Moon." Matthew Hall brings a stunning voice and persuasive acting to his turn as Collins, joining with Mitchell Douglas, as Angel, in the first act's upbeat "I'll Cover You," and reprising the song in the second act to heartbreaking effect. Douglas is radiant with life as he performs "Today 4 U." Only Ninchai Nok-Chiclana is lacking as Bennie, not delivering the expected sense of menace inflamed by his financial advantage.

"Goodbye Love" is a moving collage that draws in all of the characters, as the face a point of reckoning. There are wonderfully sung choral numbers–"Goodbye Love," sung by all the principal characters, and "Happy New Year" (Parts A and B)–that deliver a good deal of narrative compressed into song. Others, such as "Will I," "La Vie Bohème," and the show's signature anthem, "Seasons of Love," are sung by the full ensemble, sounding wonderful together. Ensemble members also do fine work picking up an assortment of minor characters. Music director Jason Hanson conducts a solid band that delivers every twist and turn of Larson's brilliant score. The only objection, musically and dramatically, is that the "Contact" number, a depiction of the sexual freedom that preceded the AIDS crisis, is greatly abbreviated.

The set is bare bones, with Eli Sherlock credited as "scenic consultant," but bare bones is exactly right for an existence in derelict buildings bleached of everything but their skeletons, and a barren lot that is a site for a protest encampment while waiting to push out the homeless and be developed into million-dollar high rise condos. Jacourtney Mountain-Bluhm, with Artistry staff, designed costumes that aptly capture the look of the era. Kari Olson's lighting design is integral to the production, drawing our focus to exact points on stage, and identifying shifts in emotional tone. Richard Graham's sound design provides an array of sound cues.

A recurring bit involves answering machine messages from several of the characters' parents and from a television producer offering Mark an opportunity to sell out. These deliver key messages, but the presence of answering machines dates the show. So does the reference to "the end of the millennium," that once weighed so heavily on us, and especially the terror accompanying an HIV diagnosis, which was then viewed as a death sentence. In other respects, Rent feels as current as it did when it opened 28 years ago. The struggle to hang on to one's ideals and creative dreams in a land where dollar signs call the shots continues. And while LGBTQI rights and visibility have made great strides over that time–no one at the time of writing would have dreamed that same sex marriage would become law of the land or that openly gay characters on TV series would be no big deal–we now face the specter of new challenges to that progress.

If you are one of the vast number who have seen Rent before, you know whether or not you love it. If you do, I can assure you that Artistry delivers a worthy production and you will love it all again. For those who have not seen it, I heartily recommend you become initiated, provided that a) you have a tolerance for loud, rock music, and b) you are open to depictions of diverse characters, among them straight, gay, bisexual, a drag queen, and a drug addict. If you are not sure about the latter, give Rent a try. These earnest young people may open your mind in unexpected ways.

Rent runs through October 27, 2024, at Artistry, Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 West Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington MN. For tickets and information, please visit artistrymn.org or call 952-563-8375.

Music, Lyrics, and Book: Jonathan Larson; Director and Choreographer: Kelli Foster Warder; Music Director and Conductor: Jason Hansen; Associate Director and Choreographer: Joey Miller; Scenic Consultant: Eli Sherlock; Costume Design: Jacourtney Mountain-Bluhm and Artistry staff; Lighting Design: Karin Olson; Sound Design and Audio Engineer: Richard Graham; Wig Stylist: Britt Hilton; Projections Consultant: Peter Morrow; Cultural Consultant: Jay Owen Eisenberg; Intimacy Coordinator: Annie Enneking; Production Manager and Props Design: Katie Phillips; Technical Director: Will Rafferty; Stage Manager: Ajah Williams; Assistant Stage Manager: Samantha Smith.

Cast: Po Cushman (ensemble), Michelle De Joya (Mimi), Julia Diaz (ensemble), Mitchell Douglas (Angel), Matthew Hall (Collins), Javari Horne (ensemble), Quinn Lorenz (Joanne), Sara Masterson (Maureen), Caleb Michael (Roger), Wesley Mouri (Mark), Ninchai Nok-Chiclana (Benny), Marley Ritchie (ensemble), Em Rosenberg (ensemble), Ben Siglin (ensemble).