Matt Edmonds to Lead Theo Ubique's RENT This Spring; Cast Announced!

Theo Ubique has announced the cast for its upcoming production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical RENT, according to director Scott Weinstein.

Jeff Award nominee Matt Edmonds, who performed in Weinstein's Titanic for Griffin Theatre Company and The Last Five Years at Metropolis Performing Arts Center, will play Mark, the videographer. Patrick Rooney, who was Mordred in Drury Lane's Camelot in fall of 2014, and is currently appearing as Melchior in the Marriott Theatre's Spring Awakening, will be Mark's singer-songwriter friend, Roger.

Courtney Jones, a Jeff nominee last year for The Next Thing at Signal Ensemble who also appeared in BoHo's Ordinary Days, will take the role of Maureen. Savannah Quinn Hoover, a senior at Columbia College who made her Chicago stage debut in Stage 773's One Act Festival last year, will appear as Roger's love interest Mimi and Nicole Michelle Haskins will appear as Maureen's lover Joanne. Haskins has appeared with Black Ensemble Theater in Sounds So Sweet and with Porchlight Theatre in Golden Boy. Aubrey McGrath (of American Idiot and Into the Woods for The Hypocrites and The Secret Garden at Court Theatre) and Charles Benson will play the gay male couple Angel and Collins.

Jaymes Osborne, who will next be seen as Seaweed in Hairspray at Paramount Theatre, is set to play the yuppie landlord Benny. Performing in the ensemble will be Danielle Davis, Parker Guidry, Luke Linsteadt, Ella Pennington, Deanalis Resto and Demetruis Spidle.

The rock-infused score by Jonathan Larson will be performed in the intimate No Exit Café; a venue with more than a slight resemblance to the Life Café, the musical's setting for its first act finale.

Director Scott Weinstein's previous credits include Griffin's Titanic and Chicago Shakespeare's Seussical the Musical as well as non-musicals including Miles Away at the side project and All-American at Redtwist Theatre. Daniel Spagnuolo, choreographer of Kokandy Productions' The Full Monty, will choreograph. Jeremy Ramey will be music director. The design team includes Adam Veness (set design), Bill Morey (costumes) and Kristof Janezic (lighting design). Mary-Catherine Mikalayunas will be stage manager.

2016 is the 20th Anniversary Year for this legendary musical, which ran on Broadway for over eight years and 5,123 performances, making it the 10th-longest running Broadway musical of all time. Its off-Broadway production ran at New York Theatre Workshop from January 26 to March 31, 1996, and it opened on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre on April 29 of that year.

Tickets for the regular run of Theo Ubique's RENT (March 14 - May 1) are $34 - $39 ($5.00 discount for seniors and students). All seats for previews (March 11-13) are $20.00. Dinner is available for an additional $25.00 per person and must be ordered in advance. Tickets are currently on sale at www.theo-u.org.

Theo Ubique was founded in 1997 by artistic director Fred Anzevino. Productions were first staged at the Heartland Studio Theatre, and then in 2004, at No Exit Café, where the company began focusing on musicals and revues, reigniting the cabaret theatre trend in Chicago. Since then, Theo Ubique has produced more than 50 shows and received more than 40 Jeff Awards, having received more than 100 nominations. It has also received three After Dark Awards.