‘Rent’ showcases an impressive group of young actors at Art House Productions in Jersey City

Jonathan Larson’s “Rent,” the hit Broadway musical that reimagines Puccini’s “La bohème” in New York’s Lower East Side in the ’90s, comes alive at Art House Productions in Jersey City through Oct. 18. The production succeeds on every level — cast, scenic design, sound and direction — with a talented group of 20somethings whose singing, dancing and acting provide a transcendent 2½ hours of entertainment.

As for “Rent” itself … well, that’s another story.

When “Rent” debuted Off-Broadway in 1996, it was immediately hailed as a masterpiece, but Larson died of an undiagnosed heart ailment the night before it opened. The show later moved to Broadway (where it ran 12 years) and won a Pulitzer Prize and several Tonys.

Seen today, though, it is hard to overlook the play’s flaws: a large, unwieldy number of characters, a paper-thin book, and a barrage of songs (20 in the first act alone), with only one, “Seasons of Love,” that has entered the mainstream. Larson always claimed he wanted to reinvent the American musical, but what he mostly gave us were rock songs that don’t really rock, love ballads, and a couple of novelty tunes.

Still, Art House Productions has assembled an ensemble that will blow you away, and the most impressive set I’ve seen to date in its black box theater, using scaffolding against the rear wall to simulate a tenement. The cast is mic’ed, and a five-piece band plays under the scaffolding, but the sound never blares and the singing and dialogue resonate cleanly. (The theater’s acoustics can be troublesome, so kudos to the sound crew.)

Click here for the full NJArts.net review by Jim Testa