RENT at Oklahoma City University

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A cast of 27 and an on-stage band will present the award-winning rock musical Rent in the grand finale of Oklahoma City University’s music theater season, April 19-21.

Jonathan Larson’s score incorporates pop, rock, gospel, tango, and blues. Loosely based on Puccini’s romantic opera La Bohème, Rent recounts a year in the lives of seven friends struggling with love, life and loss in New York’s AIDS-ravaged East Village of 1989. Larson — who also wrote the book and lyrics — died in 1996, the day before the show’s off-Broadway premiere.

“28 years later, Rent is still a vital piece of theatre. Connection in an isolating age is still such a pressing idea, as we are all insular, glued to our devices, avoiding the one-on-one human interaction in favor of online convenience,” guest director Scott Guthrie said. “Jonathan Larson’s last work reminds us to love hard and hold fast as the future is always uncertain and that there is truly no day but today.”

The musical will be presented 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, on OCU’s historic Kirkpatrick stage, 2501 N. Blackwelder. Tickets ($15-30) are available from 405.208.5227 or www.okcu.edu/tickets. Guthrie will present a free director’s talk 30 minutes before curtain. 

In addition to Guthrie, the Rent creative team includes music director Matthew Mailman; scenic design by Lauren McPherson; original costumes by Kate Hartigan; lighting by Halycon Piper; and sound design by Jacob Henry. Props supervisor is Syd Martin, with stage management by Kris Gooding.

The show, which tackles mature themes, was last performed at OCU’s Bass School of Music in 2015. It is one of only five shows to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Musical.

After its Broadway opening, The New York Times noted "What makes Rent so wonderful is not its hipness quotient, but its extraordinary spirit of hopeful defiance and humanity."

Guthrie said: “This production is fresh and re-imagined by a talent set of designers and directors, while still tipping the hat to the original. If you’ve never seen Rent, this is the Rent for you. If you have seen Rent, this is also the Rent for you.”

Authors

• Billy Aronson
• Jonathan Larson