I finally got a chance on Sunday afternoon to see the California Arts Academy school-edition production of "RENT" -- and I'm sure glad I did. (Thanks to the buzz-building Beehive commenters, including Stephen, who saw this show during the Rogue Festival and talked it up.) I thought the production, which I saw at its closing performance, was passionate and powerful. Director Daniel Chavez Jr. truly soared in this effort. In many ways this version affected me as deeply as professional productions I've seen of "RENT."

One thing that surprised me was how true this "school edition" was to the show's original themes. Yes, the profanity is pretty much excised, and the stylized "orgy scene" is of course gone. This production faded to black instead of delivering a male-male kiss, and the overall optimistic raunchiness in such lyric-intensive numbers as "La Vie Boheme" was toned down.

But, with all that said ... It was still "Rent" through and through, which such themes as AIDS, drug use, gay relationships -- not to mention the show's cheerful soak-the-capitalist fever, which trips lightly off the tongue in these economically grueling times -- as strong as ever. Indeed, the New York Times recently had a story about how the "RENT" school edition has stirred controversy in various parts of the country. (But not Fresno! Yet.)

Those in the audience who had never seen the stage show or movie might have found it hard to follow the tangled plot. But I could say the same thing for professional productions of the show. Indeed, there are times when I'm listening to the cast recording when a layered lyric finally makes sense after all these years. It helps with "Rent" to have absorbed the storylines and the densely packed music. In that regard, it's much more operatic in its sensibilities than most standard book-and-song musicals. We think nothing today of having supertitles flashed at opera productions as a help for audiences. For a first-timer not willing to engage in extensive pre-"RENT" research, supertitles would probably come in mighty handy.

With all that said, I was still impressed that this version of "RENT" was as easy to comprehend in terms of lyrics/sound as it was. I know that the first performances were critiqued for sound and balance problems. But by the time I saw the closing show, I was impressed much of the time with the way the talented four-person band, led by Matthew Wheeler balanced with the singers. (Kudos to Chris Campbell, Hannah Ozeron and Mitchell Perez, all credited with the sound design.) There were muddy moments, of course, and times that I would not have been able to coherently follow the minutiae of the storyline if I weren't already familar with it, but -- as I've said -- I've had those similar moments watching the national touring company.

In terms of the performances, many of the actors seemed mature beyond their years -- and yet still managed to bring a young, fresh sensibility to their characters. (In some ways, it seemed more appropriate for teen-agers to be playing these roles than the well-preserved 30- and 40-something actors who wound up in the movie.)

I could list most of the ensemble cast in terms of talent and potential, but among the top tier have to be Jaclyn Kelly, who belted out the role of Maureen with a fierce, wry, magnetic stage presence and a terrific voice; and a deeply affecting Christian Neighbors as Tom Collins, who brought an emotional charge to his role that was simply electrifying. In both cases, I loved how these actors brought something new to their characters that I'd never really glimpsed in past versions of "Rent": Kelly with her cheeky, glossy portrayal; and Neighbors a youthful vigor blended with an almost intangible sadness.

There were many memorable moments: the first on-stage meeting of Angel and Tom Collins; Mimi's hairful of glitter as she sang a bruising "Take Me Out Tonight," the ensemble singing a memorable "Another Day." Many of the smaller ensemble roles were strong as well, from Daniel Hernandez's "Paul" in the support group to Sarah Waxman's "Alexei Darling" on the answering machine.

Most of all, what really struck me was how much the actors felt these roles. Even at times when the singing couldn't match the vocal demands of a song, I felt a sense of intensity on stage -- a connection in the intimate space of the Severance Building -- that paid off in terms of a strong emotional reaction. I let the tears flow, just like I always do at "RENT." The joy of this show is that if you do it justice -- which these kids did -- you can't help but realize that there's no day but today.