Will Chase: The Joy of Returning to Rent
About the author:
As Rent moves toward its final performance on September 7, Will Chase is back in the show that gave him his start on Broadway 10 years ago. Since making his debut as "Steve, man with squeegee, a waiter and others," Chase has played leading roles on Broadway in Miss Saigon, Aida, The Full Monty, Lennon and High Fidelity and recently took on the demanding part of Valentin in the Signature Theatre of Virginia's revival of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Now that Chase has returned to the Nederlander Theatre as aspiring rock star Roger, Broadway.com figured it was time to check in with this talented and popular leading man and find out how it feels to come "home" to Rent.
I don't own emotion. I rent. Kind of sums up acting in a nutshell—putting on your character's shoes for a couple of hours each night, only to take them right back off and leave them in the dressing room until tomorrow. For me, it started 10 years ago, on January 30. My heart raced as the guitar arpeggios started, and eight seconds later, I would sing my first solo on a Broadway stage.
The first verse of "Will I" on that first night at the Nederlander Theatre is embedded in my memory forever. I can still feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up; I can still feel the cold of that steel bar my hands were clasped to. As Byron and Gwenny and Norb and Jim and Aiko and everyone else joined in, I assumed this was music theater heaven and somehow I'd gotten really lucky and was allowed to come along for the ride. I would stay in Rent for six months before going on to other things; just renting the space of "Steve and others" then passing it along to some other lucky bastard.
Not to speak for the other cast members, but that seems to be the prevailing sentiment at the Nederlander these days. We all just feel extremely lucky and blessed. It's amazing the impact that Rent has had on each of us, our careers, our desires as actors. It certainly has informed every role I've played since, and I'm sure it will continue to change me as an actor in years to come.
What Jonathan Larson accomplished with this piece has been written about and written about again. Yet it continues to blow the minds of Rent-heads and actors alike. Moments still take me by surprise. I'll hear a melody for the first time, really hear it, one that I've heard 300 times before, or a lyric will jump up and bite me and literally change my course for that evening's show.
Sitting on that stage and in that theater, one can't help but feel the impact of every actor who has portrayed each role, from the astounding original cast stuff of legend to every unique person after; it leaves a mark that's both intimidating and comforting. The wonderful thing about the show now is this final cast continues to embrace those past performances, pay homage, and then move beyond them with clarity, newness and love, always with the intention to leave the audience changed. Because, at the end of the evening, it is the audience that owns the play, Jonathan's gift to each and every member.
To be back in Rent is a trip. A great big eye-opening, gut-checking, living-in-the-moment trip. A treat to get to do again every night. An absolute honor to close.
