RENT 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR at Overture Center

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of RENT, the Overture Center in Madison kicks off the year with the ground-breaking production from Tuesday, January 2, through Sunday, January 7, 2018. Honest and gritty to its core, RENT forever changed the face of musical theatre and continues to speak loudly and defiantly to audiences across generations and all over the world.

Loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme, RENT was written by a 29-year-old composer, Jonathon Larson, whose ultimate dream was to write a rock opera that would bring musical theatre to the MTV generation. He set the play amid poverty and homelessness in the then rough East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. Sadly, Larson never saw the show rise to success as he died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm the morning of the Off Broadway opening.

The landmark rock musical went on to win numerous theatre awards including several Tony awards as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The production also launched the careers of Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Rosario Dawson, Adam Pascal, and Taye Diggs.

RENT follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. With its inspiring message of joy and hope in the face of fear, this timeless celebration of friendship and creativity reminds us to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters-love.

Leading the cast is Sammy Ferber as "Mark Cohen," Kaleb Wells as "Roger Davis," Skyler Volpe as "Mimi Marquez," Aaron Harrington as "Tom Collins," Aaron Alcaraz as "Angel Dumott Schunard," Lyndie Moe as "Maureen Johnson," Jasmine Easler as "Joanne Jefferson," and Marcus John as "Benny Coffin III." The tour will also feature DevinRé Adams, Alana Cauthen, Ashley de la Rosa, Jordan Dunn-Pilz, Logan Farine, Devin J. Hall, Paola Hernandez, Jordan Long, Felix Marchany, Cameron W. Mullin, Chrissy Naruo, and Yael Reich.

Tickets are available at the Overture Center box office (201 State Street), by visiting overture.org/rent, or by calling 608.258.4141. Group orders of ten or more may be placed by calling 608.258.4159. Prior to the Thurs., Jan. 4 performance, patrons can attend a pre-show Get Social event with screen printing demos, trivia, food and drinks. There will also be a post-show Meet the Artist for ticket holders immediately following the Thurs., Jan. 4 performance.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/RentOnTour or http://rentontour.net/

Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wis., features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and five galleries where national and international touring artists, ten resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000 educational and artistic experiences each year. Overture.org

Broadway Across America is part of The John Gore Organization family of companies, under the supervision of 11-time Tony-winning producer John Gore (Owner & CEO). Current and past productions include Beautiful, Cats, Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen, Groundhog Day, Hairspray, Hello, Dolly!, Million Dollar Quartet, On Your Feet!, The Producers, School of Rock and Waitress. BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com

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