“…his [Robert Markus] tango number with Joanne, in which they compares notes about Maureen while strutting across the stage to Marc Kimelman’s clever choreography, is one of the production’s high points…

…[Erica Peck] whose entrance as Maureen is as hotly anticipated as any opera diva’s, nails her performance art sequence, always a difficult number to make work. Her bluesy duet with Sinclair-Brisbane sizzles with sass and sensuality. And Siegel, returning to Stratford after the short-lived Paradise Road on Broadway, is soulful and grounded in every scene he’s in, especially his roof-raising reprise of “I’ll Cover You” in the affecting second act.”

“Thom Allison’s direction presents the musical much more like a rock concert than as the intimate rock opera that Rent is. The overall effect is that we are distanced from the characters and their concerns.”

“I will confess that I found Larson’s music, with a few exceptions, uninteresting…

…in casting the show director Thom Allison seems to have chosen vocal quality over finding performers who looked just right for their roles.

Indeed there are some stunning rock voices in the cast – Andrea Macasaet, Erica Peck, Masini McDermott, Lee Siegel, and Kolton Stewart, many of whom are making their Stratford debuts. Then of course there is Robert Markus, a longtime vocal star at the Festival, who made such an impression as Little Mary Sunshine in last season’s Chicago….

There are a few truly remarkable moments in the show. Lee Siegel’s solo lament for Angel (Nestor Lozano Jr.), the doomed drag queen, brings down the house and the staging of Angel’s demise, which is preceded by an ecstatically erotic dream sequence, is stunning.”

“Andrea Macasaet, an alum of the Broadway run of Six, plays the down-on-her-luck Mimi, and she frequently treats us to the indelibly warm middle glimmer of her vocal range.

The role is a demanding one, and the higher high notes at times felt pinched to me on opening night, but Macasaet simmered into the role as the performance progressed, eventually solidifying herself as a standout, right alongside Lee Siegel, who gives a sublime vocal and emotional performance as Tom Collins…

The love for Larson and his work shines through this production, and that’s to be commended; I just missed some of the directorial scrutiny needed to patch the holes in Larson’s unfinished work.”