MUSKEGON, Mich. — The Muskegon Community College (MCC) Center for Theater has announced that one of its next productions will be the rock-musical Rent. The show will be performed February 23-26 in the Overbrook Theater.
From February 23-25, Rent will be performed at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, February 26, the musical will be performed at 3 p.m. Due to the play’s explicit language, sexual content, and substance abuse, the suggested audience is 17 and older. Parental guidance is also highly suggested.
Rent is set in the 1990s amid the HIV/AIDS crisis, and follows of group of New York artists living in the East Village.
The musical will star Mark Martin as Mark Cohen, Noah Zimmer as Roger Davis, Cece Davis as Mimi Márquez, Tyler Ross as Tom Collins, Truce Glore as Angel Dumott Schunard, Ashley Erdman as Maureen Johnson, Rikki Ridout as Joanne Jefferson, and Christian “Fletch” Fletcher as Benny Coffin III. The play will also star Alison Mastee, Madison Cass, Cassidy Caswell, Calvin O’Leary, Dani Durst, Jordan Vander Ven, Julia Uganski, and Tom Bitson.
Muskegon Community College’s production of Rent will be directed by Les Rorick. Spencer Klairter will be the assistant director. Vocal direction will be by Rory Closz. Jacqui Robinson will be the choreographer and Kristina McCloskey will be the intimacy director. Ashton Bahr will be the stage manager. Susan Eyler will be the costumer. Andrew Patten will be the set and lighting designer, as well as the technical director. Keith Walker will be the conductor. Sheila Wahami is the musical’s producer.
“The MCC Center for Theater selected Rent for our 2022-2023 season theme of wellness because of its examination of community wellness. For a musical that was created 30 years ago, many of the themes are still relevant today,” said Rorick. “From a national health crisis to substance abuse, poverty, and marginalization, Rent highlights a handful of social ills of the ‘80s and ‘90s – far too many of which we still see in 2022. We wanted to leverage Rent’s powerful message to share our conviction that community wellness is just as important as individual wellness.”
Rent’s music, lyrics, and book were written by Jonathan Larson. Larson was the focus of director Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2021 film Tick, Tick… Boom!. In the film, Larson was played by Andrew Garfield. For Rent, Larson took inspiration from Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera La Bohéme.
Rent’s Broadway premiere was at the Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996. The production went on to win four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
A film adaptation was released in 2005. It was directed by Chris Columbus and starred Anthony Rapp as Mark Cohen, Adam Pascal as Roger Davis, and Rosario Dawson as Mimi Márquez. Both Rapp and Pascal reprised their roles from the original 1996 Broadway production. In 2008, the final performance of the original Broadway production was released as the film Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. It was directed by Michael John Warren, and starred Adam Kantor as Mark Cohen, Will Chase as Roger Davis, and Renée Goldsberry as Mimi Márquez. In 2019, the television special Rent: Live aired on FOX. The special starred Jordan Fisher as Mark Cohen, Brennin Hunt as Roger Davis, and Tinashe as Mimi Márquez. It was directed by Michael Greif and Alex Rudzinski.
Muskegon Community College’s production of Rent will be performed February 23-26. Tickets can be purchased by phone by calling (231)-777-0324 or on the college’s website.
