Plaintive ‘Rent’ carries story behind its story

No one loved a musical more than Jonathan Larson. He grew up in White Plains, N.Y., and went to the theater regularly with his family. Still, he had a yearning to change musical theater to reflect the sounds of a generation approaching the millennium. While working as a waiter in New York City, Larson spent seven years composing and developing a rock version of “La Boheme.” The visceral music moved away from Verdi and toward The Who and Elton John and MTV – all musical influences on Larson.

After the final dress rehearsal at the New York Theater Workshop in 1996, Larson walked home to his apartment in the West Village and died of an aortic aneurysm. He was 35. His show, “Rent,” loosely based on his own struggles as an artist, would win a long-running spot on Broadway, several Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

The show has been on tour for several years now and made a stop Sunday to full, appreciative houses at the Maine Center for the Arts. It proved still to have much of its original spark as a showcase for young, energetic talent, and this colorblind cast proved itself not only capable of avoiding touring-show-itis, but of maintaining the close family spirit at the heart of this story about would-be bohemians.

While the wattage too frequently overpowered the sentiment of the writing, the audience still was wooed by such touching pieces as “Light My Candle” (a love song between a junkie and guitarist, both of whom are HIV-positive), “Tango: Maureen” (between Maureen’s old male lover and new female lover), “I’ll Cover for You” (a love duet between gay men) and “Seasons of Love” (a full-cast number about the show’s biggest theme: love).

It’s tempting to wonder what Larson would think now that his work has become every bit as culturally cogent in its day as “West Side Story,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hair” were in theirs.

Perhaps he would be struck by the wailing lack of subtlety in the show.

Or perhaps he would observe the multigenerational audience and recognize that “Rent” accomplishes at least one of his goals: to bring youths to the American musical, and to bring the thoughts of American youths to theatergoers.