American Stage brings the rock opera to the park

Alison Burns isn't a lesbian, but she plays one on stage.

The seasoned actress returns to the role of â┚¬Å”Maureenâ┚¬Â in American Stage's production of RENT, opening April 15 at Demens Landing downtown. It's the theater company's 26th annual outdoor production.

â┚¬Å”I love playing gay people,â┚¬Â says Burns, who played Maureen in the original tour of the musical. â┚¬Å”It's a privilege to represent the gay community. That community is so open and welcoming with such a loving spirit. It's nice being on stage to inspire non-gay and gay people alike.â┚¬Â

The 1996 Pulitzer Prize winning rock opera has been done on many stages around the world (and on film) since its debut 15 years ago. But the story about a group of Bohemian friends in early 1990s New York City continues to inspire and motivate directors to recreate a year in the life of this group of friends.

â┚¬Å”I am of the RENT generation,â┚¬Â explains out director Eric Davis. â┚¬Å”When it came out I was the same age as the characters in the show. So this production, this play, is about people I knowâ┚¬â€about people of my generation.â┚¬Â

Davis says that his production of RENT is similar to the original, but he took artistic license with some of the costumes and choreography. There are plenty of points where Davis plays homage to the original production, but he says he approached American Stage's production â┚¬Å”without the baggage.â┚¬Â

Burns says she's enjoyed those changes.

â┚¬Å”I think that the production Eric has created will help RENT fans discover new aspects of the show and still captivate newcomers to the story,â┚¬Â she says.

Davis says his costuming ideas are different than what some die-hard fans may envision, but he says they work. And that's something Tampa Bay-based actor Ricky Cona, who plays â┚¬Å”Angel,â┚¬Â enjoys.

Costumes and heels
â┚¬Å”I have a whole new respect for drag queens,â┚¬Â says Cona, who plays the Puerto Rican female impersonator the rest of the cast meets in the first act of the show. â┚¬Å”Drag is hard and I'm already on my third pair of shoes!â┚¬Â

Cona, who is an â┚¬Å”out homosexual male,â┚¬Â rehearses in a â┚¬Å”modest heelâ┚¬Â now but originally wanted platform heels for the role. After a few rehearsals, he says he was ready to sacrifice style for comfort.

â┚¬Å”I think Angel would understand,â┚¬Â he laughs.

Cona admits he wasn't as familiar with RENT as some of his cast mates. He knew the big songs from the production, but he didn't know the show was a rock operaâ┚¬â€in that almost all of the dialogue is sung.

â┚¬Å”I had the highlight album,â┚¬Â Cona admits. â┚¬Å”And I saw a recording of the original Broadway production, but that was about it.â┚¬Â

The 25-year-old says he admires his character of Angel because he is so at peace with his HIV diagnosisâ┚¬â€which was essentially a death sentence at the time the play is set.

â┚¬Å”He has this terrible disease and he's the only one who accepts it,â┚¬Â Cona says. â┚¬Å”He's teaching them to live day by day and to put differences aside. He helps the characters come together as a family in spite of his own experiences. That is admirable to me.â┚¬Â

Cona says he enjoys watching drag shows and he admits he recently experienced some â┚¬Å”character studyâ┚¬Â at Georgie's Alibi watching RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Shangela dancing on the stage.

â┚¬Å”I watch RuPaul's Drag Race like no one's business,â┚¬Â he laughs. â┚¬Å”There's a lot of work that goes into drag and I have a new respect for those artists now. Not only is it a challenge financially to create those outfits, but it's physically demanding. You have to be in incredible shape.â┚¬Â

The hardest part about his role as Angel, Cona says, will be the multiple transitions in and out of drag during the performance.

â┚¬Å”Make up will be really hardâ┚¬â€that part will be interesting,â┚¬Â he says.

The AIDS perspective
RENT is a snapshot in history, according to Davis. And this snapshot isn't always pretty.

â┚¬Å”I think RENT is more powerful now than it was in the 1990s,â┚¬Â Davis says. â┚¬Å”Culture's relationship with AIDS has changed. Any AIDS play is a snapshot of that period and RENT is about the first generation of kids who grew up knowing what AIDS was. They knew it as ammunition on the playground.â┚¬Â

Time period references to the drug AZT and a positive diagnosis as a death sentence are historically accurate, Davis says, as are the characters' reactions to the stigma of infection.

â┚¬Å”The straight vs. gay perception has changed a lot since the play originally appeared,â┚¬Â Davis said. â┚¬Å”There is more of an acceptance of people with HIV and AIDS now and less hiding it. Today it's no longer just a gay disease, it's a blood-borne illness.â┚¬Â

Take it outside
Since RENT is performed outdoors, there are plenty of factors to worry about other than the regular theatrical worries. The elements, for example, concern Burns, who says the cast was not rehearsing outdoors during Tampa Bay's current rash of heavy thunderstorms.

â┚¬Å”I think that will be a challenge for us,â┚¬Â she says. â┚¬Å”Florida weather can be extreme. But it's worked for 26 years.â┚¬Â

Fortunately for the cast, Davis has experience directing plays outdoors. He directed last year's wildly successful production of Hair at Demens Landing.

â┚¬Å”There's a beauty to it,â┚¬Â Davis says of working on an outdoor production. â┚¬Å”There's a feeling of instant community when you're out there. It's a communal encampment feeling. Being outdoors is getting right to the root of theater, when stories are told around a fire.â┚¬Â

Burns agrees, saying â┚¬Å”It takes out the formalityâ┚¬Â of traditional theater.

A decade of growth
It's been 10 years since Burns has played the â┚¬Å”needy and crazyâ┚¬Â Maureen. But returning to the role has brought a new respect for the character to the RENT alum.

â┚¬Å”I have a lot more experience now and I realize what an iconic play this is,â┚¬Â Burns says. â┚¬Å”Just living another 10 years has opened my eyes to a whole new side of the play and I'm finding the truth behind it.â┚¬Â

Burns says she discovers â┚¬Å”hidden momentsâ┚¬Â almost daily during rehearsals and that the true investments these characters have in each others' lives is more powerful to her now than 10 years ago.

â┚¬Å”It touches on so many parts of life,â┚¬Â she says. â┚¬Å”It's about love and loss. I truly understand it more.â┚¬Â
Anyone can relate to the characters of RENT, according to Davis. While it is one of the â┚¬Å”gayest playsâ┚¬Â out there, the stories are universal.

â┚¬Å”RENT puts a gay love relationship right in the middle of the play,â┚¬Â Davis says. â┚¬Å”But there are three love relationships and they represent all aspects of sexuality. You have the gay couple, the lesbian couple and a straight couple all sharing stories set to popular music. That's what makes this play so incredibly special.â┚¬Â

see+hear
WHAT: RENT
WHERE: Demens Landing, St. Petersburg
WHEN: April 15-May 8
TICKETS: AmericanStage.org