The rock musical and long-running Broadway show “Rent,” based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Bohéme,” will be staged by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point November 13-15 and 18-21.
The story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive in New York City’s Lower East Side under the shadow of AIDS, “Rent” won numerous 1996 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The success of Rent’s 12-year run on Broadway led to several national tours and foreign productions as well as a 2005 motion picture that featured most of the original cast members.
The musical will be performed in Jenkins Theatre on the UWSP campus at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 13, Saturday, November 14, and Wednesday, November 18, through Saturday, November 21. A matinee showing will be performed at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 15. The show is recommended for mature audiences due to its adult themes.
Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $12 for youth. UWSP students with ID may buy tickets in advance for $4.50 or be admitted free if seats remain. Tickets may be purchased at the Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus University Center, by calling 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378, or ordering online at http://www.uwsp.edu/centers/uit/ordering.asp . Visa, MasterCard and Discover are accepted.
“Rent” follows the lives of eight main characters searching for love and purpose through a bohemian lifestyle, including aspiring filmmaker Mark (played by Derek Prestly of Minnetonka, Minn.), his HIV-positive roommate, Roger (Zach Woods of Oconomowoc), Mark’s former girlfriend, Maureen (Liz McMonagle of De Pere) and a drug-addicted neighbor, Mimi (Ginny Glaser of Fargo, N.D.).
“Rent is a heartwarming and emotional journey,” says director Tyler Marchant of the Department of Theatre and Dance faculty. “The theme of the show transcends the individual stories of the people on the stage and encourages us to take stock today by measuring the love in your life,” says Marchant. One of the show’s well-known songs, “Seasons of Love,” speaks directly to that theme.
In staging the play, Marchant has created an East Village landscape of fire escapes, stairs and buildings, using the entire space to capture the grittiness and vastness that is New York City.
The music never really stops during the show, Marchant added, offering both funny and poignant lyrics set to choreography that amplifies real life movement.
“Rent” now stands as a legacy of its creator, Jonathan Larson, who died of an aortic aneurysm the night before the show’s off-Broadway premiere. He posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for the work as well as several Tony Awards, Drama Desk Awards and Theatre World Awards.
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