"Rent" at Square Foot Theatre

The Square Foot Theatre and Tavern in Wallingford is presenting a production of “Rent” that is sold out for the entire weekend. I was lucky to snag a seat at the Thursday night opening.

The virtual program for the show is presented in the form of a menu for the Life Cafe, the place where the entire cast performs “La Vie Boheme.” Audience members could scan the Q code to learn that Roger was played by Paul Lucenti with Andy Friedland in the role of rocker Mark. Steffon Sampson shines in the role of Tom Collins with Ruben Soto at Benny. Sarah Golley is a powerhouse in the role of Joanne and Jenna Morin plays the performance artist Maureen. William McKinney takes on the role of Angel and Nina Cecilia dances and prowls as the drug user Mimi.

In the chorus are Mia Laguna, Sheila Duckworth, Casey Winberg, Donato Biceglia, Renee Duhaime-Matta, Victoria Atkin-Dahm, Evelyn Dahm, Lauren Price, Sara Cortemanche, Heather Bazinet, Megan McEvoy and Ashley McLeod as Alexi Darling.

Patrick Laffin both directed and choreographed the inspired version of RENT.

The production is proudly sponsored by the Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation.

Alan Dougherty leant his talents as the music director and played the keys in the pit seated on an elevated platform. Jordan Brint played bass, Gregory Bowen was on the drums and Merrick Martin played guitar. The group made the score fill the space just perfectly.

The set designed by the director is a work of art in its layout. With a small stage in the center of the theater, the set expands to fill the basically rectangular room. There are ladders for the characters to climb to an elevated area opposite the pit orchestra. The stairs to the pit were also used for the scenes with the supporting characters.

The Christmas lights mark the area beneath the pit and the walls are papered with small flyers. There are small spaces for the performers to use, the most effective being the mixer board for Joanne to manage during Maureen’s performance. The lighting added so much to the look of the show, although I sometimes had the spot light shining directly in my eyes. It didn’t matter that depending on where you were seated, you might not be able to easily view a particular section of the venue in use because the scene would soon change.

The result is that I got to experience my first RENT in the round and it was quite spectacular. The actors are able to move between the cabaret tables and the audience members, especially important because only a handful of them could fit on the stage at the same time. Everyone was cognizant of playing to the entire room and it felt as immersive as it could ever be. The performers, all vaccinated , move amongst the masked audience.

The members of the multi-aged, most inclusive cast worked together extremely well and every one of them gave their all to their roles on opening night.

The entire run of Square Foot production is sold out and the Thursday show was actually added and sold out almost immediately. I was honored to have been included.

Kudos to the Square Foot team on yet another excellent show. It felt so good to be sitting in this unique performance space again. Next up at the venue is “The Rocky Horror Show” running October 22-31, 2021.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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