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Volume 11, Issue 42, Week of October 27, 2014
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Rent
Armstrong brings booming voice to musical Ricardo Alvarado (left) and Rob Armstrong rehearse a scene for the Summer Players production of Rent (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson) Joanne Paulson Saskatoon Express he first time the entire cast of Rent gathered for a rehearsal, Rob Armstrong opened up his booming voice and sang the heartbreaker, I’ll Cover You. Jaws dropped. Moments later, tears rained down. Somewhere between the voice and the subject matter, even the cast — familiar with the music and the plot — couldn’t help but cry. It’s a very moving show, admits Armstrong with some humility.
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“If emotions aren’t evoked from the audience members, then we are not conveying the message as it should be conveyed,” he said in an interview. Rent is the multi-award-winning rock musical written by Jonathan Larson, and based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme. Where the original opera takes place in Paris, Rent is located in New York. Where tuberculosis had its way with the poor and artistic in La Boheme, HIV and AIDS take their toll in Rent. The show was written in the late 1980s, a time when
the gay community was the most affected by HIV/AIDs. In Saskatoon, it’s Summer Players’ first production of the season, running Nov. 5 to Nov. 8 at the Broadway Theatre. For Armstrong, it’s his first Summer Players appearance. “There’s everything from overjoyed to love to lust to sadness, sorrow and coping,” said Armstrong. “It’s a play that truly does draw out every emotion in one, and the emotional highs and lows that we go through in a rehearsal just shows what
kind of a musical this is and the effect it has on people. “We were talking yesterday how we were going to have to start bringing boxes of Kleenex to practice, just to get through the rehearsal process.” Do not expect only tears, added Armstrong. There is also pace and fun and great music, and a great message. “They’re all as upbeat as possible while still having a realistic view of what’s going on around them. (Continued on page 4)
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