He had a random open call and a one-minute audition. Five months later, he got a phone call saying that he had scored the desired part of Tom Collins.
Such is the luck of Marcus Paul James, an aspiring performer who left his college life in Pennsylvania for a chance audition in New York. At only 23, James takes on the role of the HIV-positive ex-junkie Tom Collins in Jonathan Larson's musical "Rent," which is coming to UB's Center for the Arts on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m.
"Rent," one of the most timely and controversial children of the musical world, is about a community of bohemians struggling with harsh reality in New York's avant-garde East Village. Yet despite the members' grappling with AIDS, addiction and growing poverty, the group of personable characters manages to keep a very close-knit community. James said that the cast members themselves follow suit.
"We have to get along," he said when asked about the dynamics of the actors. "I mean, we live with each other every day."
James' character Collins is introduced immediately, after a mugging on the street. He is picked up and brushed off by Angel, a street musician who offers the type of consolation her name implies. Their strange bond is immediately apparent, and they are both HIV-positive.
The playwright Larson generated the piece shortly before he died of complications from AIDS. Since his death, "Rent" has earned a Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards. It has moved from Broadway to garner fame nationwide. Even 2004's Tony-winning play "Avenue Q" is said to be a variation of Larson's musical.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1996 and has since toured some smaller venues as well. After 10 years, James says that the ideas embodied in the musical are still applicable.
"I think the knowledge of the ideas covered in the play are more advanced," said James, who started performing in the play nearly a year and a half ago. "But the concept of love goes unchanged throughout the ages. It's always relevant."
Larson's musical is loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's "La Boh?(c)me," an opera depicting the lives of Left Bank bohemians at the turn of the 19th century. "Rent," however, is updated and addresses more punctual topics, such as the increasing AIDS epidemic and the concept of gentrification.
Fresh and undeniably kinky at times, songs like "Light My Candle" or "One Song Glory" embody the truly vivacious powers of the cast. Perhaps the most famous selection from the musical is the soft-sweeping ballad, "Seasons of Love."
The musical will fit in at the Center for the Arts. The play is composed of young and relatable characters unabashedly addressing today's post Gen-X with a powerful, controversial performance.
The play has been performed by different casts across the nation, and each different group of actors brings something new to the script.
"Every cast is always different," said James. "Everyone brings something unique to the play."
Hollywood is also getting in on the fun. A film version of "Rent" is being placed in the hands of director Christopher Columbus, better known for "Harry Potter" and "Mrs. Doubtfire." A digital hardcopy of Larson's work can only add more visual depth to the already funky musical.
Tickets for the Center for the Arts can be purchased on ticketmaster.com. They range from $43 and up for main floor seating to $37 and up for balcony seating, and student tickets are available for $20.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
