AUGUSTA, Mich.–For Gen X’ers, Rent was their musical. It was about them and touched on themes that mattered to them—themes that were literally life and death for them.

In the more than 20 years since it came out, it still has things to say–which is one of the reasons that the Barn Theatre in Augusta chose it to wrap up their season (not counting a one-week engagement of The Vegas Rat Pack which runs from Sept. 5-10).

Another reason is that the show creator, the man who wrote the book, music and lyrics, Jonathan Larson was a “Barnie” who earned his Actors Equity Association card at the Barn. He died suddenly the night before the show opened off-Broadway in 1996.

There were many things the Barn production, directed by Brendan Ragotzy, did that paid tribute to their former colleague. Ragotzy committed to storytelling so that the themes were always front and center. The show received a full staging with a large chorus that filled not just the stage but went out into the audience to surround them with music.

Samantha Snow’s scenic design created a versatile set that allowed each scene to flow quickly and evoked the urban environment of the Bohemian alphabet city of New York City’s East Village.

Unfortunately, the performances put in by the named characters were mixed, creating a show that sometimes shined and at other times was cringe-worthy or just plain disappointing. Nor was the production helped by the execution of a sound design that had the music too loud, the actors too quiet and a not-always-successful mix of who was given a microphone and who was not. Too many times lyrics that were important to the plot were lost to the audience.

Two delightful performers were Samantha Rickard as Maureen Johnson and Courtney Bruce as Joanne Jefferson. The two put in consistently strong and commanding performances. Rickard did an amazing job with Joanne’s performance art—a scene in which she had to be purposefully bad and fully committed to it. Ragotzy’s decision to add cows to the scene were also a lot of fun.

Johnson did an excellent version of “Tango Maureen” with Nick Barakos’ Mark Cohen. The two were hilarious and played off each other well.

But it was during “Take Me or Leave Me” that Rickard and Johnson really got to strut their stuff and they made the most of every single note. They were powerful and each showed off their characters’ personality.

Also, they were always in character. Whether they were center stage or not, they were engaged and gave authentic representations of lovers who were passionate in love and hate for each other.

Bryon Glenn Willis was a highly credible Tom Collins. He was down to earth and created a character that tried to hold everyone together. His duet with Jamey Grisham’s Angel “I’ll Cover You” was touching as was his reprise of it in the second act. Everything he did seemed natural and believable. He put in a very solid performance.

However, there are three characters on whom a lot of the play relies–Angel, Roger and Mimi. Each of these three struggled with portraying the iconic characters who must do the heavy lifting in the show of love in the time of AIDS/HIV.

Angel simply never made the splash that one expects from the drag queen. While she had excellent costuming for New Year’s, her drag queen outfit had strange deely-boppers hanging from it and couldn’t quite decide if it was sexy lingerie or just an overly large sheer bathrobe. It didn’t give her the powerful presence she needed. The makeup should make her look beautiful, instead, it made her look clownish and something out of Rocky Horror.

But it was more than just the costuming and makeup that dragged the role down. Grisham had moments where he gave her the electricity that is inherent in Angel, but it was an inconsistent performance that never had the sincerity found in Tom Collins. Her eventual fate didn’t have the impact that it should because he didn’t make the audience love her.

Mimi has some of the most memorable of the 42 songs in the show. She showed promise with “Light My Candle” but even that was inconsistent. Likewise sometimes the “I Should Tell You” between Mimi and Roger hit the mark, but most of the time it was lost. It was never clear whether they told each other they had AIDS as those lyrics were overpowered by instrumentals.

While she had some energetic choreography (Jamey Grisham) for “Out Tonight,” Mimi wasn’t compelling and it never felt like a seduction. In fact, it seemed as though she might have performed it the exact same way had Roger not been on stage with her.

Roger was also flat most of the time. There was no sense of tragedy or urgency about him. One expects Roger to be grieving and to be frightened, but the actor didn’t sell those emotions.

While she played a series of unnamed characters in the ensemble, an actor deserving mention is Dani Apple. Her solo during “Seasons of Love” was simply outstanding and showed off her strong, amazing voice. She also was constantly present in her scenes, acting the part whether it was a protestor, a coat saleswoman or just ensemble. She gave to those around her and immersed herself fully in the role. She was a joy to watch.

The Barn had a lot of good reasons to do “Rent” and they are to be commended for giving their apprentices roles that will stretch them and serve them well as they go out into the world, but this particular production lacked the “wow” factor that is a trademark of Barn shows and some of the actors just didn’t seem ready for the roles they played.

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