A benefit for Friends in Deed will be held at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th St.) on November 22nd.
The event will feature a screening of the Rent film, plus a Q&A and a silent auction. Symphony Space is at 95th Street and Broadway. The screening starts at 7 PM. Rent, which is directed by Chris Columbus (who adapted Larson's book with Stephen Chbosky), is a Columbia Pictures/Revolution Studios production; it will be released by Sony Pictures. The original cast--Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp--is intact but for Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker; their respective roles of Mimi and Joanne will be played by Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms. It will be released in theaters across the country on November 23rd.With its groundbreaking rock score by Larson and a story that captured the current of its generation,Rent is set in late-90's New York (updated in the film) in the East Village, where a group of artists love and live La Vie Boheme even under the shadow of poverty, failure, illness and death. The La Boheme-based show, which has been running at the Nederlander Theatre since its opening in 1996, won the Pultizer and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as 3 others. Tragically, Larson died a few months before the show opened. It has since run over 3,900 performances.
Friends in Deed is a crisis and counselling center for those stricken with AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses; the center also supports the friends and loved ones of disease victims.Tickets are $75 in the orchestra and $50 in the balcony. For info/tickets, visit the following link or call the Symphony Space box office at 212-864-5400. For more on Friend in Deed, visit www.friendsindeed.org.
