The Media Theatre Presents RENT 5/6-6/6

One of Broadway's longest-running musicals makes its regional professional premiere at The Media Theatre May 5-June 6. "Rent", Jonathan Larson's rock and roll odyssey of the lives and loves of a group of friends on Manhattan's Lower East Side, became such a huge phenomenon that it spawned the careers of several popular performers (Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, and Daphne Rubin-Vega) and ran for 12 years.

"Rent", which opened in 1996 and won 4 Tony Awards as well as the Pulitzer Prize, changed the landscape of Broadway with its edgy characters and serious subject matter placed on stage with an up tempo contemporary score accompanied by a rock-style band. The youthful cast was sexy, yet serious in their dramatic interpretation of Larson's musical (based on Puccini's La Boheme). Larson also incorporated several elements of his own life into the show, creating a piece that had immediate impact on audiences and, in particular, the decade's youth. Having lived in Manhattan for years as a ‘starving artist' in poor conditions and sacrificing a life of stability for his art, Larson had a deep need to place those ingredients of his struggle on the stage. Several of the characters are based on his friends who shared, on occasion, his apartment with a bathtub in the middle of his kitchen.

The impact of "Rent" was ironically and tragically strengthened when, just prior to the musical's opening off-Broadway, Larson died from an aortic aneurysm. The man who placed his heart and soul into the music and script of "Rent" for years never lived to see his dream fulfilled, passing away at the young age of 36. The show's first performance quickly evolved into a memorial for Larson at the 150-seat New York Theater Workshop. The musical, forever connected even more fervently to the man who created it, became an overnight sensation and was moved to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre On April 29, 1996. This move fueled further "Rent" hysteria, as the Nederlander was a Broadway space which had not seen a hit in years and had, in the 1980's, housed the Times Square Church.

At The Media Theatre, Artistic Director Jesse Cline directs "Rent" with a cast that includes Patrick Ludt as the singer-songwriter Roger and Eileen Shibley as Mimi, the dancer. Ludt has been seen at The Media Theatre as Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz" and in "Show Boat", "My Fair Lady", and "Thoroughly Modern Millie".

Others in the cast include Andrew Deichman as Mark and Antoine Smith, who recently appeared in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" as Tom Collins. Tom Fosnocht, who playEd Manny opposite Ann Crumb in "Master Class", makes his debut as The Media Theatre's Resident Music Director.

"Rent" runs May 5-June 6. The score includes the popular song "Seasons of Love". For tickets or information, call 610-891-0100 or visit www.mediatheatre.org.

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