Audience, cast sold on ‘Rent’

In the Green Valley High School performance of the musical "Rent," the exotic dancer Mimi flirts with a rock guitarist by asking him if she has the best ass "below 14th Street," referring to the gritty neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

A struggling documentary maker commiserates with the lesbian lover of his ex-girlfriend; together they complain about the girl's flakiness in a song and dance routine called "The Tango Maureen."

A transvestite named Angel dressed in a red-and-white Santa jacket is the soul of the show, remembered for telling a taunter, "I'm more man than you'll ever be ... and more woman than you'll ever get."

This was the PG-13 version of the Broadway hit. Judging by the hoots and hollers from the audience Friday, "Rent" was plenty edgy.

Some parents had complained the play was inappropriate for a high school audience, but they lost a court battle to evict "Rent" from its Henderson stage.

Attendance for this weekend's performances has averaged about 350 for a school theater that can accommodate 512 people. Dissenters have stayed away, but the controversy brought out some curiosity seekers such as Tony Anton, 64, who thought the legal action against the musical "was a bit silly."

"I wouldn't want elementary school students to see this, but this is a high school production," Anton said.

Anton has no children attending or friends working at Green Valley High. When he went to an earlier school performance of the "Laramie Project," about the murder of a gay college student in Wyoming, Anton said he "drove eight miles past the school" before eventually finding it.

Because he has a gay stepson, Anton said he wanted to show support for "Rent" and "Laramie Project," which preach social tolerance and compassion.

He was impressed by the students' energy.

"The kids seem to be into it big time," Anton said. "I think that's great."

Aaronell Matta, who knew about the play only because she works near the school, was interested because she is a big fan of "Rent," having seen "more than a half dozen" different performances.

"I think they toned down the play a lot; there's no cussing," Matta said. "'Rent' is a very difficult play to do. I think they're doing a great job."

Except for minimal breaks for dialogue, the play is about two hours of continuous live music and dance.

Meagan Smith, 18, said going to school and rehearsing for the play has been exhausting.

Still, she would never pass up a chance to play Mimi, a bad girl who shows her boyfriend the courage to love.

"The character has so much depth," Smith said. "I can really relate to her."

Crystal Scott, 17, a Green Valley senior, said she was impressed by the willingness of her peers to play cross-dressers and characters of different sexual orientation.

"It's really brave," she said.

But Armando Ronconi, 16, who plays Angel, a cross-dresser, said he never had second thoughts. "It's not me on stage; it's somebody else," he said.

Ronconi relished the role. "How many kids get to say they played a drag queen in high school?"

Rather than getting teased, Ronconi said he has been overwhelmed by adulation.

"People walk up to me and say 'You've changed my life,'" he said. "What do you even say to that?"

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.