Ima Castro Joins the Cast of RENT in Dumaguete City; Show Opens 21 Feb. 2020

Dumaguete City - No day but today! Visayan theater company Summit Theatre Productions has just announced that international theater actress Ima Castro (Miss Saigon, Sweeney Todd) will star as Joanne Jefferson in its staging of Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent.

Directed by Cebu City-based Miren Sofia Jordana Fernando, Rent will play at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium at Silliman University in Dumaguete City on 21-22 February 2020 at 7 p.m., with a matinee performance on 22 February.

"One of our goals for this staging of Rent is to give people in the Visayas a chance to enjoy and be exposed to musicals," says Fernando.

"We've gathered some of the most generous and talented cast and artistic team from all over the globe to make this production truly memorable," she adds.

In the cast, Castro is joined by Gino Ramirez as Angel Dumott Schunard, Karenina Ang as Mrs. Cohen, Eli Razo as Roger Davis, E.G. Arganza as Mimi Marquez, Jed Alerta as Benny Coffin III, Earnest Hope Tinambacan as Tom Collins, Jessa Cabading as Maureen Johnson, Stephen John Ramirez as Mark Cohen, and Bennett Spence as Mr. Jefferson/Mr. Grey.

Also part of the creative team are Faust Peneyra as set designer, Shirlee Idzakovich as costume designer, and Miss Saigon alum Jojo Urquico as artistic consultant.

Based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme, Rent is Larson's "landmark musical that tells the thrilling story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive New York City's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian excess," its synopsis says.

The show's musical numbers are "Seasons of Love," "Take Me or Leave Me," and "La Vie Boheme," among others.

Castro, whose character sings the duet "Take Me or Leave Me" in the musical, together with Cabading's Maureen, says, "As you may already know, Rent also deals with the very delicate issue about HIV and AIDS.

"I have a couple of friends who have passed away and lost the battle, and it's very heartbreaking that it's still happening today - some 24 years after Rent premiered in New York...Everybody should see this show to learn from it."

Rent is performed with permission from Music Theater International.

Get the best tickets to Rent via Ticket2Me HERE.

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