Broadway superstar Adam Pascal (the original Roger from Rent) used his day off from Aida performances (where he currently plays the role of Radames) to present a special show at Adelphi University on Monday night, February 19. The crowd of over 200 rocked at Adelphi, which is the alma mater of the late Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent, as Pascal plugged music from his debut solo album Model Prisoner (available from Sh-K-Boom records). Pascal also treated the mostly college-age audience to a few new compositions and a few covers from rock and roll's past.

This show at Adelphi was originally scheduled for December 4 and was cancelled when Pascal's bassist broke his hand. Pascal hopes to do a string of similar performances at small venues and colleges across the region.

Pascal kicked the show off by asking members of the crowd to get off their chairs and stand up near the stage. About half of the crowd took Pascal's advice leaving mainly the older adults (including Pascal's mother) in their seats. As soon as the crowd was organized, Pascal ripped into his set with the tune "Like a Razor." He soon followed with "Ordinary Boy" a piece that showed off his incredible vocal range. The title track from his LP, "Model Prisoner" came next, with its jazzy keyboard solo provided by Jim Abbott. Pascal followed with the unleashing of the first of three new songs to be played that night, "Mesmorised." The piece, which featured a delightful three-part harmony and a fervent lead vocal from Pascal, brought the house down.

The rest of the set contained some pleasant surprises like the new tunes, "Turn Me Around" and "Hiding Your Eyes" and some covers, including Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," which, although not containing the same "funk" as the original, had an equally powerful vocal thanks to Pascal. Another cover featured in the set was a unique and pleasing interpretation of the Beatles' hit, "Day Tripper," which actually closed the set before Pascal came out for two encores: the heartwarming ballad "Undiscovered" and the high energy "Just Here to the Left of You."

Pascal performed a great set despite the teeny-bopper atmosphere supplied by some adolescent non-Adelphi fans who treated the show as more of a N'Sync Concert than a rock show. Pascal was distracted at points by notes being handed to him by the screaming females asking for his guitar picks or his used water bottles ("do whatever you want with them," Pascal quipped). He also had to deal with fans begging for him to perform songs from Rent and Aida but Pascal quickly quieted them by saying "I'm not contractually obligated to perform those but for 85 dollars you can see me at the Palace Theater in Aida." However, it was a small price to pay for doing what he admitted loving best in his December interview with the Delphian, playing rock and roll in a small and intimate environment. Pascal proved that even if your general audience is small, if you're talented, you can still bring the house down.