Firehouse Theatre Presents RENT, Opens 6/24

Jonathan Larson's Rent will open June 24 at the Firehouse Theatre Project as its special summer production.

Rent is a Tony Award-winning rock opera with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. It tells a story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
"Rent is one of the most exciting and rewarding productions in modern theatre, and it will be a true honor to present it for Richmond audiences," said Carol Piersol, the Firehouse's founding artistic director.

The production will run from June 24 until Aug. 1, with 8 p.m. showtimes Thursdays-Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sunday matinees on June 27 and July 11, 18, and 25, and Aug. 1. Tickets are $27 for adults, $24 for seniors 65 and older, and $12 for students and RAPT members with ID. Tickets are available by calling the Firehouse box office at 804-355-2001 or online at www.firehousetheatre.org.

The play will be directed by Jase Smith, who previously directed Reefer Madness, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Project, and The Great American Trailer Park Musical at the Firehouse. The cast includes returning Firehouse cast members Jacquelynn Camden (Reefer Madness), Keydon Dunn (Austin's Bridge), Matt Mitchell (Reefer Madness), Joy Newsome (Reefer Madness), and Durron Tyre (The Great American Trailer Park Musical). Rent cast members new to the Firehouse are Nick Aliff, Nadia Harika, Matt James, Crystal Johnson, Josh Marin, Courtney McCullough, Laura Murden, Terence Sullivan, and Antonio Tillman.

Rent was first produced in a limited three-week production at New York Theatre Workshop in 1994. This same New York City off-Broadway theatre was also the musical's initial home following its official Jan. 25, 1996, opening. The playwright, Mr. Larson, died suddenly the night before the off-Broadway premiere. The show won a Pulitzer Prize, and the production became a major hit.

On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won a Tony Award for best musical among other awards. The play is largely responsible for helping to increase the popularity of musical theater among the younger generation. The Broadway production closed in September 2008 after a 12-year run and 5,124 performances, making it the eighth-longest-running Broadway show by that time, nine years behind The Phantom of the Opera as of December 2009.

WHERE
Firehouse Theatre Project
1609 W. Broad Street
Richmond, Va. 23220
804-355-2001
http://www.firehousetheatre.org
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WHEN
June 24-July 31, 2010
8 p.m. shows on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
4 p.m. Sunday pay-what-you-will shows on June 27 and July 11, 18 and 25, and Aug. 1

TICKETS
Tickets are $27 for adults, $24 for seniors 65 and older, and $12 for students and RAPT members with ID.
Purchases may be made by calling the Firehouse box office at 804-355-2001 or online at http://www.firehousetheatre.org.
To discuss group rates, please contact Melissa Gropman at melissa@firehousetheatre.org.

CAST AND CREW
Jase Smith, director (previously directed Reefer Madness, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Project, and The Great American Trailer Park Musical at the Firehouse)
Returning Firehousealumni in the cast - Jacquelynn Camden (Reefer Madness), Keydon Dunn (Austin's Bridge), Matt Mitchell (Reefer Madness), Joy Newsome (Reefer Madness), and Durron Tyre (The Great American Trailer Park Musical)
Cast members new to the Firehouse- Nick Aliff, Nadia Harika, Matt James, Crystal Johnson, Josh Marin, Courtney McCullough, Laura Murden, Terence Sullivan, and Antonio Tillman.

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