Metro Pulse/Backstage/Rent

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What:
Rent

When:
Friday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Where:
Civic Auditorium

Cost:
$28.50-$48.50. Tickets Unlimited Outlets or 656-4444.

A touring production needs more than just actors. Two Rent techies reflect on bus life.

by Adrienne Martini

No one ever thinks about the techies, those dark-clothed folk who run all of the hidden bits of any stage show. Without the technical crew, the actors, regardless of how much talent they have or rehearsal time they've put in, would be running around naked and yelling on a bare stage in the dark.

The double-edged truth of working on the technical side of the theater world is that, while you want to do the best job you can, you also don't want to be noticed at all. If the audience consciously admires an eye-catching costume or dazzling lighting effect, it means that they've stopped being immersed in the magic of the show as a whole. But when you hear the applause at the end of the night, you know that some small portion of it is for you—even if the average theater-goer couldn't identify the first thing that you, personally, have done. A memorable impression of all of the elements in tandem is what can make a good show great.

At least, that's how it should be. Some shows have become all about the spectacle or the "dramatic" acting or the show-stopping numbers. But one modern musical, Rent, managed to strike the right balance when it opened off-Broadway in 1996. It has been going non-stop since, with a current production on the Great White Way as well as bus-and-truck tours that continually criss-cross the country. With these mobile shows also comes a fleet of technical people.

Wardrobe supervisor Alona Comito has worked on different touring shows for the last five years, outfitting performers in costumes as divergent as heavy period garb to trapeze accouterment. She's been with this tour for five months.

"It's going really well. I'm thoroughly enjoying this tour. Rent is a lot of fun because it is different and up to date," she says. "I get a lot of energy out of hearing the audience and I love seeing the kids lined up by the door after the show. That inspires me and it makes me feel good about the job I'm doing."

Rent has been noteworthy from its inception. When it opened, no one expected this rock opera—the book for Rent was based on La Boheme—to succeed as it did, winning virtually every award it could, from the Pulitzer for drama to four Tony Awards to a handful of Drama Desk and Obie accolades, as well as the hearts of every audience that experienced it.

And the too-short life of the man responsible for Rent's magic is equally remarkable. Writer Jonathan Larson emerged from near obscurity coupled with years of struggle—the sort of tale that would make Horatio Alger proud. The heartbreaker is that Larson never got to experience any of his success; he died from an aortic aneurysm the day before his life's work opened and began its startling rise.

In some odd way, Larson's tragedy fits Rent, concerned as it is with a core group of East Village struggling artists, some of whom also die tragically. But, between the moments of pain, Larson has also created upswellings of joy—all of which are set to a '70s-arena-rock-meets-Broadway soundtrack.

And it is these moments that still infect the crew as well as the cast, even after five months of performances. Comito still gets sucked in by one number, the reprise of "I'll Cover You."

"That, how it builds with the energy—that can really get to me," she says. "I'm doing changes during that scene but if I hear it, it'll stir feelings. If I let myself get lost in it, I can really feel all of the emotions. Sometimes it makes me cry, still. I believe in the whole show but that's probably my favorite moment. I hope the audience enjoys it, too."

Life on the road for a technical person includes more (much, much more) than simply listening to the show from the wings. Comito's day starts with load-in, which is when the tour trucks arrive at any given city's venue. All of the equipment and cases have to be transferred, costumes for 20 different actors unpacked, cleaned, repaired if needed, and distributed. After the show, the whole process has to be reversed so that the tour can move to the next town. When the curtain comes up, Comito is responsible for routine quick changes as well as any emergencies.

"I've had shoes break open while the actors are onstage," she says. "I've had pants split up the back. Once, I needed dry cleaning—and it just happened to be New Year's Eve. When the clothes came back and I didn't get one costume, I had to remake the dress two hours before the show started."

Despite the challenges of rebuilding the same show in a different city a couple of times each week, being on road the has its perks. Comito met her now-husband Mark, master carpenter for this tour of Rent, during a tour of Damn Yankees a few years back. While they haven't always been able to find gigs that keep them on the same schedule, they have been lucky for the past couple of tours. Still, this sort of life does have its challenges.

"Being away from my family and being away from home—that's always the hardest part," Comito says. "You just miss that."

Mark articulates the best part of their chosen vocation. "It's the days off," he says. "If I was working a 'real job' when I got off on Friday afternoon, I would just go back to the house. But with this job, when I have time off, I could be in Disneyland or skiing or at the beach. I don't need days off to go on vacation, I'm already there."

While the life of a traveling theater tech isn't for anyone, those who revel in it can't imagine their life without it—especially when the show is as fulfilling as Rent, according to Comito.

"I love the camaraderie. I love the community. It gets really hard but then I see the rewards every night," she says. "Seeing the cast get the accolades from the audience every night—that makes me happy because I know I did a good job if they're so appreciative of the show."