Actor Kaleb Wells discusses "dream come true" role
Kaleb Wells and “Rent” go way back. He got to know the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical first simply as music when he and his mother would listen to the original cast recording on car rides. Eventually, they went to see a touring production of the show in Boston. Years later, the 24-year old actor is playing troubled musician Roger Davis in the Twentieth Anniversary Tour of “Rent” that comes to the Orpheum Theater in Memphis next week. The musical follows a community of artists in New York's East Village as they struggle to live and follow their dreams in a rock ‘n' roll reimagining of Puccini's La Boheme. I had the opportunity to talk with Kaleb about playing Roger, which he says is “a dream come true.”
“Rent” provided a jolt of creative life to musical theater when it premiered in 1996, and provided a frank, emotional take on contemporary issues wrapped in a variety of musical styles ranging from guitar-driven rock to salsa. Kaleb was keenly aware that some of his audience have been fans of the show for years, while some will be encountering it for the first time. “It's kind of surprising when people haven't heard of this show,” he said, “but it's a privilege to have people have their first experience with the show with us.”
The heart of Roger's story is the connection he forms with a young dancer named Mimi. Their courtship is a complicated one, largely because of Roger's illness. “A lot of the strife in Roger and Mimi's relationship is sort of a push-pull.” Kaleb said in describing it. “Roger feels like he wants to give in to her, because she's seductive, she's lively, she's fun, but he keeps pulling away because he realizes that he could kill her or that he doesn't have long to live. So it's a constant push-pull of giving in and then pulling back.” He said that choreographer Marlies Yearby put Kaleb and Skyler Volpe, the actress who plays Mimi, through a lot of physical exercises to help them develop their physical connection necessary to help them express that push-pull dynamic.
The group's resident musician, Roger is front and center for “Rent's” musical climax, “Your Eyes.” Kaleb said that he found his way into the songs by actually approaching them as songs first. “I actu-
ally play ‘Your Eyes' in the show, so it does kind of become my song for a bit,” he said. “I'm playing guitar and singing, so it helps me to put myself fully into that song, and make the guitar my own and make the song my own.”
Since Kaleb has now played Roger in Boston, where he first saw “Rent,” I had to ask him whether or not his mom came to Boston to see him. “Oh, yeah! A bunch of times!” he laughed. “When we were there she came every other day!”
“RENT: The Twentieth Anniversary Tour” plays June 16th through the 18th at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis, with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday. Parents should know that “RENT” addresses adult themes and controversial issues, and the Orpheum urges parents who plan on bringing children to research the production to decide what is appropriate based on personal family values and standards.