Photo Flash: In Rehearsal For RENT at the Hope Mill Theatre

Hope Mill Theatre stages this hotly-anticipated revival of the classic rock musical RENT which will run to socially distanced audiences this autumn - with the 12-strong cast forming a 'bubble' for the duration of the show's run in Manchester.

The production will be filmed and broadcast online to a strictly limited number of viewers. Captured during a live performance by Umbrella Rooms, the production will then be made available over four weekends during the production's run, starting from the final two weeks.

RENT is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson and is loosely based on Puccini's opera La Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists living, loving and working in Manhattan's East Village, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

Casting includes Jocasta Almgill (& Juliet, Dreamgirls - West End) as Joanne; Blake Patrick Anderson (Be More Chill - The Other Palace, Closer to Heaven - Off West End/Above the Stag) as Mark; Tom Francis (Arts Ed 2020 graduate) will mark his professional debut as Roger; Ahmed Hamad (The Boy in the Dress - RSC, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - West End as Benny; Dom Hartley-Harris (George Washington in Hamilton - West End, Bat Out of Hell - Manchester & West End) as Collins; Millie O'Connell (Olivier nominated as Anne Boleyn in SIX The Musical - West End & UK Tour, 42nd Street - West End) as Maureen; Maiya Quansah-Breed (Olivier nominated as Catherine Parr in SIX The Musical - West End & UK Tour) as Mimi; Alex Thomas-Smith (Dear Evan Hansen - West End, Bat Out of Hell - West End) as Angel.

The rest of the cast features Allie Daniel (Everybody's Talking About Jamie - Film), Isaac Hesketh (Book of Mormon - UK Tour) and Bethany Terry (West Side Story - Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, Bat Out of Hell - West End).