Symphony Space Rent Screening Includes Q&A, Auction and More, Nov. 22

The final details are being put in place for a special sneak-peek screening of the film version of Rent, followed by a Q&A session with cast members Jesse L. Martin, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Tracie Thoms. The event will take place at Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street) on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 7:00 PM. All proceeds from the event will go to the non-profit organization Friends In Deed.

In the tradition of Rent, 30 seats in the first two rows of the center orchestra will be sold by Lottery Rush in front of the theatre on the night of the event.  Patrons are invited to submit their names requesting 1 or 2 tickets between 4:30 and 5 PM. Names will drawn at 5 PM and winners will be sold tickets at $20 each, cash only. All attendees will be given a souvenir ticket for the event featuring movie artwork, donated by Revolution Studios.

A silent auction will take place between 6:30 and 7:00 PM. Items for auction will include: movie posters signed by the entire cast; tickets to see Idina Menzel in See What I Wanna See at the Public Theater, plus a special post-show Meet and Greet with Menzel; tickets to see Taye Diggs in his final performance of A Soldier's Play at Second Stage Theater; dinner at the restaurant O'Neals with Anthony Rapp , movie related merchandise and more.

Patrons who have purchased $150 tickets will be treated to a special reception following the Q&A at Symphony Space's Thalia Café, which will be transformed for the evening to follow the look of Rent, resembling an eclectic East Village space. The reception, catered by Thalia Café operator Andrea Giardino, will feature food and drink based on the "La Vie Boheme" scene of the musical. "Hand-Crafted Beers made in local breweries" will be supplied by Brooklyn Brewery. Miso soup, soy burgers, pasta with meatless balls, fries, huevos rancheros, rice, beans, cheese and more will be served.

Rent, which is directed by Chris Columbus (who adapted Larson's book with Stephen Chbosky), is a Columbia Pictures/Revolution Studios production; it will be released by Sony Pictures. In addition to Thoms and Dawson, the movie will star original stars Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. It will be released in theaters nationwide on November 23rd.
 
With its groundbreaking rock score by Larson and a story that captured the current of its generation, Rent is set in late-90's New York (updated in the film) in the East Village, where a group of artists love and live La Vie Boheme even under the shadow of poverty, failure, illness and death. The La Boheme-based show, which has been running at the Nederlander Theatre since its opening in 1996, won the Pultizer and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as 3 others. Tragically, Larson died a few months before the show opened. It has since run over 3,900 performances.

Tickets to the Rent screening at $150 and $50 are completely sold out. A small number of $75 seats are still available at symphonyspace.org or by calling 212.864.5400 Tues-Sun from 11 AM to 7 PM. For more on the screening, visit this link.