Cast members from the upcoming film version of Rent will appear in New York's recently-restored Bryant Park on Thursday, August 4th at 12:30. As part of the free "Broadway for Life" lunchtime series, the performance will feature them singing "Seasons of Love" and "Finale B;" it will follow their appearance on NBC's "The Today Show" that morning. A
good many of the show's original stars are on hand for the film. Taye Diggs will
reprise his role as Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III, as will Wilson
Jermaine Heredia as Angel Schunard, Jesse L. Martin as Thomas B. "Thom"
Collins,
Idina Menzel as Maureen Johnson, Adam Pascal as Roger Davis and
Anthony Rapp as Mark Cohen. Also on board are Rosario Dawson as Mimi
and Tracie Thoms as Joanne Jefferson; Daphne Rubin Vega and Fredi
Walker created those respective roles. The film version of Rentwill be directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, the first two Harry Potter
movies). Columbus has also penned
the screenplay with Stephen Chbosky, basing it on Jonathan Larson's
original book. The movie musical is produced for Revolution Studios by Robert
DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal and 1492 Pictures' Columbus, Mark Radcliffe
and Michael Barnathan. Julie Larson, the sister of Jonathan, will co-produce with Jeffrey Seller,
Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon and Lata Ryan as the executive producers; the four did the same for the
Broadway production. The film is slated for a November 11th release by Columbia Pictures/Revolution Studios.
With its groundbreaking rock score by Larson and a story that captured the current of its generation, Rentis
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 Prize 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 3,850 performances and is the 8th longest-running musical in Broadway history.Closely affiliated with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Rent has been one of BC/EFA's biggest money-earners, raising over $2,268,339 in funds over the past nine years.To learn more about the Rent film, visit Rent">www.sonypictures.com/Rent.
