Theo Ubique Extends RENT Through May

After selling out its originally scheduled run within a week of opening night, Theo Ubique's production of Jonathan Larson's musical Rent will be extended for an additional four weeks. Tickets for the added performances are now on sale.

Theo's intimate production of Rent, directed by Scott Weinstein with music direction by Jeremy Ramey and choreography by Daniel Spagnuolo, opened on Monday, March 14 to rave reviews. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune said "Weinstein's show is a young, vital, carefully sculpted production with a lot of heart and is exceptionally rewarding." Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times said "There could be no better way to celebrate this show about aspiring artists living on the edge than to see it on the intimate stage of Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre." According to TheatreinChicago.com, Rent is currently the most lauded show on Chicago stages at the moment - earning the highest ratings possible from 15 of 15 critics. Twenty years after it took Broadway and the theater world by storm, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Rent is being revived by Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. Director Scott Weinstein's cast includes Jeff Award nominee Matt Edmonds, who performed in Weinstein's Titanic for Griffin Theatre Company and The Last Five Years at Metropolis Performing Arts Center is playing the videographer Mark. Patrick Rooney, who was Mordred in Drury Lane's Camelot in fall of 2014, and recently appeared as Melchior in the Marriott Theatre's Spring Awakening, is Mark's singer-songwriter friend Roger. Savannah Quinn Hoover, a senior at Columbia College who made her Chicago stage debut in Stage 773's One Act Festival last year, appears as Roger's love interest Mimi.

Courtney Jones and Nicole Michelle Haskins are taking the roles of the battling couple Maureen and Joanne. Jones was a Jeff nominee last year for The Next Thing at Signal Ensemble and also appeared in BoHo's Ordinary Days. Haskins has appeared with Black Ensemble Theater in Sounds So Sweet and with Porchlight Theatre in Golden Boy.

Aubrey McGrath (of American Idiot and Into the Woods for The Hypocrites and The Secret Garden at Court Theatre) and Chuckie Benson are the gay male couple Angel and Collins. Jaymes Osborne is the yuppie landlord Benny. Performing in the ensemble are Danielle Davis, Parker Guidry, Luke Linsteadt, Ella Pennington, Deanalis Resto and Ron King.

The rock-infused score by Jonathan Larson will be performed in the intimate No Exit Café; a venue with more than a slight resemblance to the Life Café, the musical's setting for its first act finale. Director Scott Weinstein's previous credits include Griffin's Titanic and Chicago Shakespeare's Seussical the Musical as well as non-musicals including Miles Away at the side project and All-American at Redtwist Theatre. Daniel Spagnuolo, choreographer of Kokandy Productions' The Full Monty, is choreographer and Jeremy Ramey is music director. The design team includes Adam Veness (set design), Izumi Inaba (costumes) and Kristof Janezic (lighting design). Mary-Catherine Mikalayunas is stage manager.

Tickets for the regular run of Theo Ubique's Rent (March 14 - May 1) are $34 - $39 ($5.00 discount for seniors and students). All seats for previews (March 11-13) are $20.00. Dinner is available for an additional $25.00 per person and must be ordered in advance. Tickets are currently on sale at www.theo-u.org

Theo Ubique was founded in 1997 by artistic director Fred Anzevino. Productions were first staged at the Heartland Studio Theatre, and then in 2004, at No Exit Café, where the company began focusing on musicals and revues, reigniting the cabaret theatre trend in Chicago. Since then, Theo Ubique has produced more than 50 shows and received more than 40 Jeff Awards, having received more than 100 nominations. It has also received three After Dark Awards.

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