I still have goosebumps. The staff and volunteers at Theatre Cedar Rapids have done an amazing job of staging the rock opera “Rent.”

This is a testament to the amount of talent living, working and creating art in Eastern Iowa.

The show opened July 9 to a sold-out crowd and sent three generations of screaming, cheering fans jumping to their feet in unison at the end of an exhilarating two hours. The show runs through July 25 and is guaranteed to sell out quickly.

The cast of 20 young people – many of them new to the TCR stage — unleash an immeasurable force of voices and emotions as they explore a year of living, dying and creating art in New York City under the emerging pall of AIDS.

For a group of volunteers to tackle this much-lauded work, based on the opera “La Boheme,” is astounding. It takes the firm guiding hand of TCR’s professional staff, the vision of directors Leslie Charipar and Janelle Lauer, the rock ‘n’ roll fervor of the seasoned band and plenty of technical wizardry to pull it off.

I didn’t even like the show when it first came out. It made me angry. I wanted to scream: “Grow up and get a job like the rest of us – do your art at night like the rest of us.” My best friend from college had just died of AIDS and several other dear friends were in various stages of dying a horrible death. The show hit a nerve that was still too raw.

Those memories still brought tears to my eyes during this production, but enough time has passed that “Rent” is now bearable to see and serves as a powerful reminder of this terrible affliction. The show’s mantra of ”no day but today” has become its message of the urgency for squeezing every ounce of life and love out of every day.

The show is packed with beautiful music, beautiful characters and beautiful performances.

The moment that blows off the roof comes in the second half, when Alisabeth (who recently dropped her surname Caraway) and Stephanie Larios blast their way through “Take Me or Leave Me.” Area native Alisabeth is recently back from New York and Cornell student Larios stayed from Las Vegas to play the bickering lovers Maureen and Joanne. They live, love and fight fiercely, creating enough electricity to power a small town.

Alisabeth also milks every ounce of passion out of her show-stopping performance art piece, “Over the Moon,” that incites a riot near the end of Act I.

Nathan Cooper, a 2009 Cedar Rapids Jefferson grad, has just one real moment in the spotlight, but he makes it memorable, launching his outstanding voice above all others in “Will I.”

Lead players Jennifer Anderson as Mimi, Aaron Brewer as Roger and Steve Goedken as Mark exude plenty of pathos and ardor as they work through their demons, frustrations and relationships.

But DiAndre Neville, a Linn-Mar grad, simply shimmers as the sweet cross-dressing Angel. He owns the stage with a performance as subtle and refined as one can manage in a mini skirt and high heels. Never over-the-top, he breaks every heart in Act II.

The only downside came in Act I, when the band overpowered the vocals on the large ensemble numbers, especially “La Vie Boheme” and “I Will,” and when the actors were singing in the lower register of their voices. I’m afraid audience members who don’t know the show lost some of the rich texture of the dialogue that is only conveyed through the singing.

Still, this is a production of the highest magnitude and a proud achievement for Theatre Cedar Rapids.

 – DIANA NOLLEN

• What: “Rent”
• Where: Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids
• When: Through July 31; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays
• Rated: PG-13
• Tickets: $20 to $25 adults and $15 youths, at the Theatre Cedar Rapids Box Office, (319) 366−8591 and www.theatrecr.org $12 rush 30 minutes before showtime at the TCR Box Office
• Information: www.theatrecr.org and www.siteforrent.com

Nearly 20 years after “Rent” took Broadway by storm, the rock opera based on the opera “La Boheme” has become an event of epic proportions.

The story follows a group of young artists in New York’s Lower East Side as they struggle to live, love and keep their creative spirit burning under the emerging pall of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

The show runs the gamut of emotions, from elation to despair.

“It’s a great reminder for everyone about how precious life is,” says music director Janelle Lauer. “It’s a celebration of life in many respects, through characters or in general.”

The show’s continuing popularity drew a record 136 people from four or five states to TCR’s auditions in April. Twenty were cast. They range in age from 17 to mid-30s, but most are in their 20s. About half are new to the Theatre Cedar Rapids stage.

One challenge Director Leslie Charipar and Janelle hadn’t anticipated was the way AIDS has fallen off the younger generation’s radar.

“One of the kids said AIDS is a joke in school now,” Leslie says. “That’s startling to me. I grew up with it — my early adult years were steeped in it. We discovered from the kids that it’s lost its power. That makes me nervous for the next generation not taking it seriously. We’ve done a very bad job of keeping it at the fore for young people.”

So Leslie is stripping off the hype and taking the musical back to its roots for the production that plays Friday through July 25 at Theatre Cedar Rapids.

“Over time, it has become this music concert, this rock concert. It’s important to me to be putting it back in its historical context and keeping the metaphor of AIDS as its touchstone,” she says.

“AIDS fell out of its storyline over the years and I wanted to put it back there. It was a unique time in our lives and so scary. We didn’t know what it was and it was killing people,” she says. “Having that disease in the show is one of the most powerful elements bringing these people together. It makes the lyric ‘no day but today’ make all the sense in the world.”

Talking about AIDS and sharing their personal experiences with the cast has helped, Leslie says.

“I feel like they’re getting it. AIDS really is a metaphor at this point for the urgent reason we have to live well and love well before it’s too late.”

The show is demanding vocally, with all the dialogue conveyed through song. To make sure the cast understood the essence of the story, Leslie had them spend one week treating the lyrics as dialogue, speaking the words instead of singing them.

“That got us closer to what it meant,” she says. “It got the relationships fleshed out and got everybody connected to the lyrics the way they need to be connected to them so they became a conversation.”

The relationships and the characters are vital to the way TCR is presenting the show.

DiAndre Neville, 20, of Cedar Rapids, plays Angel, a cross-dressing street drummer who has AIDS. He’s one of the most flamboyant characters in the show and one of the easiest to embrace.

“He’s very carefree and loves everybody,” DiAndre says. “He has a lot of love. The best part of him is that even though he has AIDS, he still finds love at the end of life. He puts everything into being in love with this last man. He doesn’t care that he has something terminal. He wants them to think this isn’t the end.”

The directors feel the show will resonate with all ages, in different ways.

“You have to be open to the concept of ‘no day but today,’” Janelle says.

– DIANA NOLLEN

“Rent”

• Where: Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids
• When: Friday through July31; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays
• Rated: PG-13
• Tickets: $20 to $25 adults and $15 youths, at the Theatre Cedar Rapids Box Office, (319) 366−8591 and www.theatrecr.org $12 rush 30 minutes before showtime at the TCR Box Office
• Details: www.theatrecr.org and www.siteforrent.com

 Amanda Happel, 32, Cedar Rapids

Senior Administrative Assistant @ Rockwell Collins

Theatre Cedar Rapids

 Have you seen that building? No amount of water can stop those theater people. Talk about on a mission! The hard work, blood, sweet and tears paid off. I’ve never seen the Iowa Theatre look so good, including a new marquee that would fit in on Broadway. A few weeks ago I attended “The Producers.” I never laughed so hard; I loved it. And the fun doesn’t stop there. “Proof,” “Still Life with Iris” and “Rent” are all coming soon.

Theatre Cedar Rapids | 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids | www.theatrecr.org

Taste of India

I love the melding of so many flavors I’ve never experienced before. Indian food is amazing. After being introduced to the cuisine, just three short years ago, I’m happy to name it high on my fave foods list. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Try the weekday lunch buffet and sample a number of Indian entrees. Taste of India has even inspired me to try to cook some Indian chicken dishes on my own.

Taste of India | 1195 Boyson Rd., Hiawatha | www.toicr.com

Noelridge Park

The spring flowers will soon to arrive at Noelridge Park; the grass will be green. Then the park will be filled with people feeding the ducks, joggers, families, kids playing and people walking their dogs.   Soon spring will break way to summer and the pools will be open and Jazz in the Park will start. For many years Noelridge Park has played a role in my summers. No matter which part of town I live in, I find my self stopping at the farmers market, taking a walk on the trail, picnicking and listening to the music in the park. Right in the middle of the Northeast side of town, you can get away for  10 minutes or for hours.

Noelridge Park | 4900 Council St. NE, Cedar Rapids | www.cedar-rapids.org/parks

Basket Bowtique

 Basket Bowtique has a huge secret I’m willing to share. Behind the tables of prepared baskets and hanging empty baskets, in the back corner of the shop, they are hiding wines from all over Iowa. No need to drive out of the Cedar Rapids Metro area for those Iowa wines, they are right at your finger tips. Choose from wineries like Wide River, John Ernest, Park Farm, Daly Creek and many others. Stop in at Basket Bowtique during a wine tasting — you will see me there — or just pop in to shop and look around. You will never go wrong with giving a bottle of Lincoln Highway Red from John Ernest Winery.

Basket Bowtique | 758 N. Center Point Rd., Hiawatha

Name that Tune

Ever feel that there is nothing to do on a Wednesday night? Ever wonder whether knowing the name and artist of every song will ever get you anywhere in life? Wonder no more! Stop into to the Longbranch on Wednesday and play Name that Tune. Pool together a group of friends, win prizes and compete with other tables. You can be The Stevie 1-ders, Six Chicks None the Richer, Piano Woman or Hair Heavy Hair Bands. Hey don’t steal my names. Come up with your own.

Name that Tune @ The Longbranch | 90 Twixt Town Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids | www.thelong branch.com

Overall look

Original 1928 architectural details, including decorative moldings on the walls and ceiling, uncovered and restored wherever possible. New paint scheme throughout, based on paint chips uncovered during restoration work. Walls look either gray or green, depending on the light. Accent colors include muted gold, maroon and creamy white.

Vestibule

Box office expanded and relocated to TCR’s renovated outer lobby.

First floor

New first-floor Linge Lounge spanning nearly the entire First Avenue side of the theater, with food, bar and beverages by Zins available before and after shows and during intermission. Expanded concessions area, also operated by Zins. Fed Hedges Library now fronts Third Street SE.

Restrooms

Additional restrooms on the first floor and lower level; rejuvenated restrooms in the second-floor lobby.

Auditorium

Reconfigured main-floor theater seating, using original seats set with wider widths, new backs and new upholstery; new aisle handrails and improved aisle lighting; additional row of seats, bringing total to 550, including six wheelchair locations; original chandeliers restored and mounted by the opera boxes; new stage floor with 8-by-28-foot trap door system centerstage; new fly line ropes to replace those damaged by floodwaters; new spiral staircase from right side of stage to basement; 163 new lighting instruments to replace those damaged in the flood.

Second floor

New dance and music rehearsal rooms, fronting Third Street SE; staff offices relocated to second floor, with a door opening to the theater’s second-floor lobby; additional meeting rooms.

Basement

New 100-seat Grandon Studio Theatre; relocated and renovated costume construction and storage room, laundry room, greenroom, makeup room, dressing rooms and showers; elevator access from basement to upper floors via Iowa Theatre Building entrance.

Flood mitigation

Mechanical and electrical components relocated from sub-basement to other levels, including the roof; concrete block walls in basement with minimal finishes, no more plaster or terra-cotta bricks; certified valves can shut off plumbing ­— the first floodwater came in through the plumbing; flood insurance.

Casey Prince, 32, Cedar Rapids

Managing Director @ Theatre Cedar Rapids

A 50 percent increase in yearly patrons. A 30 percent increase in the number of annual volunteers. All debt paid off. These figures speak well of Casey Prince’s three year tenure as the managing director of Theatre Cedar Rapids.

Consider too that half of Casey’s time with TCR has been as the theater first reeled, then recovered and now returns from the Floods of 2008.

As Friday — TCR’s much anticipated return to its downtown home at the Iowa Theatre Building — approaches, Casey is determined to set an example of how the arts can have an economic impact in a city’s downtown core.

“I want us to be the domino that tips downtown and accelerates things. If we’re getting 30,000 people down here in small numbers night after night, I look forward to feeling like we had an impact on other downtown businesses.”

Both before and since the floods, Casey’s role as managing director at TCR has meant he is a jack of all trades. He oversees theater operations – from hiring to fundraising. He’s also directed the occasional TCR production.

“In one moment, I’m helping load scenery. In another moment, I’m working on a grant. In another moment, I’m auditioning kids to be orphans in Annie,” he says. “There’s a surprise around every corner.”

Casey grew up in Cedar Rapids and went to Washington

High School.

“I was notorious for running to choir concerts straight from the wrestling mat or a game,” Casey says.

Theater was always part of his life, but never his priority.

“It was always theater and something else,” he says.

At Drake University in Des Moines, he played football and majored in business. Then, after graduation, he honed in on acting. Casey packed up and moved to Los Angeles to pursue the dream for 18 months.

When a sales opportunity arose in Cedar Rapids at a family business, he came back to Iowa.

“The next thing you know, I’m also the drama director at Franklin, McKinley, and Wilson (Middle Schools), and I’m a guest director at Kennedy (High School),” he says. “I fell in love with the impact that arts can have on kids.”

Those experiences put Casey in the right place at the right time. After a musical at Franklin, he crossed paths with a TCR board chairman, who asked him some questions. A few weeks later, while helping at a TCR fundraiser, a few other board members approached Casey and encouraged him to apply for the managing director position.

The board members were looking for a change as they conducted their search, and they found it in Casey.

“Unfortunately, I had to be ‘that guy,’ ” he says. “But, fortunately, I’ve developed a strong staff that’s passionate about our mission. If you focus on your mission, the people who value what you do will come out of nowhere. We’re an important story today, and we were a forgotten story a few years ago.”

When Casey was hired, it was clear that TCR was struggling and operating in the red.

“Call it adolescence; the theater was having growing pains,” says Casey. “It was in a scary place. It’s mind-numbing to look at newspaper clippings — how few we had a few years ago, and how many we have today.”

Thriving in situations where he’s told things can’t be done, Casey remains focused on his personal mission: to turn TCR around. And it’s working.

He wants to give back to the community he grew up in and where he’s now raising his own family.

“One reason I was so invested in helping the schools is because I felt like I was paying forward what I got,” he says. “In a lot of ways, I’m also paying it forward through TCR. I feel like I’ve left my 50-year mark, and that was my goal.”

— LEAH

Related stories:

• Behind the scenes at the Iowa Theatre Building
• What’s new at TCR
• Progress on other area arts venues
• “The Producers”

“The Laramie Project” is theater at its best, capturing a true moment in time, analyzing it from all angles and letting audience members react on a visceral level.

Theatre Cedar Rapids’ production at TCR Lindale allows the words and characters to make their most powerful statements by presenting them simply. Videos, news clips, re-enactments and photographs enhance and propel the story.

And by the end of Sunday’s matinee, many in the audience of about 250 had been moved to tears.

This is the final show to be staged at TCR Lindale, 4444 First Ave. NE, before Theatre Cedar Rapids moves back to its renovated home in the flood-damaged Iowa Theatre Building, 102 Third St. SE.

It is most fitting to end on such a high note with a piece perfectly suited to the interim facility. The troupe has successfully staged large-scale musicals there, but it’s really ideal for a “black box” type of show where the experience is enhanced by using minimal theatrical trappings. A black, multilevel stage gave plenty of options for creating the many settings in the show, and sheer drapery in front of the video screens added to the gauzy, surreal tone.

The play emerged from 200 interviews with townspeople and officials in and around Laramie, Wyo., after gay college student Matthew Shepard, 21, was brutally beaten, robbed and left tied to a fence to die in October 1998. The murder was characterized as a hate crime and drew international attention, all of which left a deep impact on the community.

Brian Smith served as the narrator for the show, while the other eight cast members deftly slipped in and out of multiple characters. This is truly an ensemble event, where each actor is pivotal and no one is the “star.”

Smith’s solemn, resonant voice announced the characters as they stepped into the spotlight, helping the audience keep track of whose voice we were hearing. The actors were extremely adept at changing voice, stance and mannerisms in a snap, and several key characters appeared throughout the two-hour production, allowing us to build up an affection for them.

David Morton deserves a special nod for creating the vivid, colorful town “characters” that were sometimes funny, but mostly poignant and insightful in their views.

It was rather like watching a documentary, stringing together interviews to tell a story. The opinions expressed rang of honesty and candor, as some decried homosexuality but also shuddered at the thought of such a heinous crime.

The murder was described in graphic detail and the trial scenes were heartbreaking. Even with guilty verdicts rendered, no one wins in such a situation.

Director Jason Alberty, scenic designer Bret Gothe and everyone involved in this production have staged a brave and important work.

“The Laramie Project” continues Thursday through Sunday. For details, call (319) 366-8591 or go to www.theatrecr.org

– DIANA NOLLEN, THE GAZETTE

Ari Hest
Saturday, November 21

Renegade music rebel Ari Hest is making his debut at CSPS this weekend. The unconventional singer/songwriter opted out of the record deal he had with a label in order to have more creative control over his music. That move panned out well for Hest. In his project entitled “52,” Hest wrote and recorded one song every week for a year. At the end of the year, Hest asked listeners to choose their 12 favorites and those songs became his album, “12 Monkeys.”

Ari Hest
8 p.m. Saturday (11/21), CSPS, 1103 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, $15 in advance, $18 at the door, www.legionarts.org

Adam Richman of “Man v. Food”
Thursday, Nov. 19

“Man v. Food” star Adam Richman will kick off his speaking tour Thursday at The Englert Theatre in Iowa City. His performance won’t include an eating challenge like the ones he has become notorious for on “Man v. Food.” Instead, he’ll talk about his travels, answer questions from the audience and through an onstage cooking demonstration will show how to use items the audience might find in their home or dorm room.
Adam Richman of Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food”
8 p.m. Thursday (11/19); The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City; $25 for students, senior citizens and children under 12; $30 adult available at the box office or www.iowatix.com; www.englert.org

Annie @ Theatre Cedar Rapids
Friday, November 20 to Sunday, December 6

The classic family friendly musical opens in Cedar Rapids this weekend and run through December 6. In case you haven’t seen the famed Hollywood depiction in awhile (or ever) this all ages show tells the story is set in New York City during the Great Depression and follows an orphan in her quest to take down the evil caretaker of her orphanage.
Annie @ Theatre Cedar Rapids
7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays beginning Friday (11/20), adults $20-$25, youth $15, rush $12, TCR Lindale, 4444 First Avenue NE, Cedar Rapids, www.theatrecr.org

Watch a video of Daddy Warbucks getting his head shaved for the show:

Three other things

Turkey Trot
9 a.m. Saturday (11/21)
Marion Square Park, $22 in advance, $25 the day of the race, www.uptownmarion.com

Reefer Madness-
The Musical
8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday (11/19-11/21)
The UI E.C. Mabie Theatre, Iowa City, non-student $20, seniors $15, uiowa.edu

Walking the
Wire-Monologues
@ Riverside
7:30 p.m. Saturday (11/21)
Riverside Theatre, 213 N.
Gilbert St., Iowa City, $12-$26, www.riversidetheatre.org

CEDAR RAPIDS — Let’s not beat around the burning bush: “Altar Boyz” rocks the house.

On Friday, a large opening night crowd at Theatre Cedar Rapids Lindale fell in love with Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham — five guys determined to save souls through the power of pop music. Directed by Casey Prince, with musical direction by Damon Cole and choreography by Lovar Davis Kidd, the production was tremendous fun from beginning to end.

Set up as the final concert on the Altar Boyz tour, the plot of the show is simple: the members of the boy band set out to salve the souls of audience members only to find they need some succor of their own.

While I had expected a biting satire of Christianity in general and contemporary Christian music in particular, the show manages to poke gentle fun at piousness without an angry edge. The members of the Altar Boyz may not live up to their carefully maintained image, but they are nevertheless committed to their collective mission.

The key to making the show work is to create a believable boy band. Zach Parker, Alex Schulte, Royce Hufford, Richie Akers and Ryan Foizey are a convincing crew. Each is a strong singer and their blend is smooth. Kidd’s choreography is perfect for the show and all five guys are good movers. Equally importantly, they have the boy band look (thanks to costume designer Joni Sackett) and attitude down pat.

Parker (Matthew) is the group’s leader and has a sweet voice and winning smile he wields seductively in the abstinence ballad “Something About You.” Schulte (Mark) is hilarious throughout the show as his character seeks to come to grips with an inconvenient romantic truth. He raised the roof on the show’s most satiric number, “Epiphany.”

Hufford (Luke) raps and struts as the band’s putative bad boy, bringing the first act to a rousing close with “Body, Mind & Soul!” Akers (Juan) is fiery and funny as the band’s Latin lover whose prayers are answered in a way he might not have preferred.

Foizey (Abraham), who portrays the sole Jewish member in a band of Catholics, was quietly thrilling as he brought the band together with “I Believe,” a lovely song with a dual meaning.

The boys are ably supported by Cole’s onstage and keyboard heavy band (note to band — we can see you; leave your shoes on) and by D. Allan Boettger, the first of three performers who will intone the “Voice of G.O.D.” Bret Gothe’s set is appropriately simple but pleasing while Derek Easton’s lighting design does much to enhance the “concert.”

”Altar Boyz” continues through Sept. 27 at TCR Lindale, 4444 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids.

For tickets and times, call (319) 366-8591 or go to www.theatrecr.org

– ROB CLINE, FREELANCE WRITER

Ryan Foizey of Cedar Rapids as Abraham; Alex Schulte of Cedar Rapids as Mark; Zach Parker of Cedar Rapids as Matthew; Richie Akers of Cedar Rapids as Juan; and Royce Hufford of Solon as Luke. (Spotlight Images)

Just in time for individual tickets going on sale at Theatre Cedar Rapids for the upcoming season, TCR community relations director Rob Merritt has put together a music video for “Altar Boyz.”

Performed by Theatre Cedar Rapids Sept. 11-27 at TCR Lindale, “Altar Boyz” is a musical about a fictional Christian boy band (a la In Sync or the Backstreet Boys). The video features the Boyz performing their hot new single “The Calling,” and it’s filmed entirely at Water Tower Place in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Directed and edited by Rob Merritt of Cedar Rapids, the video features Zach Parker of Cedar Rapids as Matthew; Alex Schulte of Cedar Rapids as Mark; Royce Hufford of Solon as Luke; Richie Akers of Cedar Rapids as Juan; and Ryan Foizey of Cedar Rapids as Abraham.

“Schoolhouse Rock Live” open this Thursday, July 2 at Theatre Cedar Rapids, and TCR is celebrating the last show of their 75th season and Independence Day with reduced ticket prices. Advance tickets, reserved by phone or in person, are buy one ticket, get one free. Rush tickets, available half an hour before the start of each show, are just $5 each.

Recreating the classic 1970s TV show, “Schoolhouse Rock Live” is a show for the whole family, bringing back popular favorites such as “Just a Bill,” “Conjunction Junction” and “Interplanet Janet.” The show runs July 2-12 at TCR Lindale, showtimes are Thursdays & Fridays @ 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays & Sundays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. (no 7:30 p.m. show July 4).  For more information visit www.theatrecr.org.