How do you spell fabulous?

This week, at least in New Haven CT, it's spelled R-E-N-T, as in the Yale Dramatic Association's production of Jonathan Larson's 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. I attended last night's performance, the second in a deservedly sold-out run. The quality of the singing was, in all cases, excellent and the acting was nearly so; I have never seen a student performance at Yale where everyone in the cast was so good as in this low tech, high energy, fast moving show. The Dramat's productions are often good – last year's Carousel comes to mind – but this one is special.

It was an interesting experience for me in particular, because I didn't much like Rent when I saw it on Broadway. I went with Ransom; he hated it, leaving at intermission. I liked it enough to stay, but only just. I bought the OC album, hoping to understand why this show was such a sensation, but listening to the music without the visual only worsened my opinion. Last week I dug out the CD again, for the first time since that original listen, and again confirmed my view.

But last night . . . well, that was a wholly different story. Maybe it was the more intimate theatre, maybe it was this particular cast – the kid playing Mark was gorgeous, the woman playing Mimi fantastic, the one playing Maureen out of this world – maybe it was being with someone for whom blaring rock and roll is not a turnoff. Whatever, last night was terrific.

And that's the glory of live theatre. The show you see once is not the same show you will see later. Even during the run of the same production each performance will be different. My experience at Rent last night can never be duplicated. That's what people mean when they say there's something about live theatre: it's ethereal, momentary and, if you're lucky, magical.