Previews: BARNUM at Eight O'Clock Theatre
The musical features Domenic Biseti as P.T. Barnum, Lisa Prieto as Charity Barnum, Gloria Rice as Jenny Lind, James Grenelle as Ringmaster/James Bailey, and ensemble cast Katrina Young as Joice Heth/Blues Singer, Sarah Dunn as Tom Thumb, Tony Schmitt as Amos Scudder, Victoria Baumann as Julius Goldschmidt, Jay Allen as Chester Lyman, Sam Kantrowitz as Sherwood Stratton, Greg Bowen as Wilton, Fox Gomer as Edgar Templeton, Leila Wilson as Humbert Morrissey, Katelyn DeVries as First Woman, Anabela Johnson as Second Woman, Aidan Anderson as Ensemble, and Lizzie Pereda Camp as Mrs. Stratton.
Review: An Experimentally Avant-Garde Staging of Jonathan Larson's RENT at Eight O'Clock Theatre
Jonathan Larson a name synonymous with American Musical Theatre in the 90s penned this phenom of a Musical based on the Puccini Opera La Boheme. Featuring a rock and roll score unlike anything heard on Broadway at its time, Rent received critical and mass acclaim following the untimely passing of its creator, who passed prior to its premiere.
With such recognizable songs as, “Take Me or Leave Me,” “Will I,” “Out Tonight,” and probably the biggest musical theatre anthem of its time “Seasons of Love,” Rent went on to achieve Tony and Pulitzer claim and won the world over with its unique score and storyline of unlikely characters who were mirror images of very real people in its time. Still a musical that has many outdated references manages mass appeal today.