Where Is the Original Broadway Cast of RENT Now?
The cast included now stars like Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jess L. Martin and more!
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 27, 2019
Everything is RENT as the world gets ready for Rent, live on Fox, airing tonight, January 27. RENT features music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. The musical premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1996. The show's creator, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly of an aortic dissection, believed to have been caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, the night before the Off-Broadway premiere. The musical moved to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996.
On Broadway, RENT gained critical acclaim and won several awards including Tonys for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score, running for 12 years and 5,123 perfomances. The success of the show led to several national tours and numerous foreign productions. In 2005, it was adapted into a motion picture featuring most of the original cast members.
The original production of RENT opened over 20 years ago, and skyrocketed its cast to stardom, kickstarting the careers of some of Broadway's now-biggest names.
Today we're taking a look at where they are now...
Following Rent, Rapp starred in the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, alongside stars such as Kristin Chenoweth. He released an album titled "Look Around" in 2000.
He did various shows off-Broadway and on the West End, in addition to television and firm work.
In 2014, he returned to Broadway, alongside Rent co-star Idina Menzel, in the musical If/Then.
Rapp also wrote a book, a tribute to his experience with Rent, called "Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent."
Rapp helped create BroadwayCon, the first convention dedicated to the Broadway community. It had its first run in January 2016.
Pascal had many lead roles on Broadway following his success in Rent, including the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret, Huey in Memphis, Billy Flynn in Chicago, and Shakespeare in Something Rotten!
Most recently, Pascal took over the role of Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman for one week only during Andy Karl's vacation.
Pascal has released two solo rock albums, Model Prisoner in 2000, and Civilian in 2004), as well as a collaborative rock album Blinding Light in 2008 with pianist, Larry Edoff.
Menzel has made quite the name for herself, not just in the Broadway community, following her performance as Elsa in the Disney movie Frozen. Her performance of the song Let It Go blew up, making Menzel a household name.
Most notably on Broadway, following Rent, Menzel went on to win a Tony for her performance as Elphaba in the hit musical Wicked in 2003.
From 2010-2013 Menzel had a recurring role on the television show "Glee" as Shelby Corcoran. She released an album in 2013 as well, titled Holiday Wishes.
In 2014, Menzel made her return to Broadway alongside Rapp in the musical If/Then.
Rubin-Vega continued to do work on Broadway after her success in Rent.
She played the role of Magenta in the original production of The Rocky Horror Show, as well as Conchita in Anna in the Tropics.
She took on the powerful role of Fantine in the 2006 revival of Les Miserables, and starred as Stella in the 2012 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Broadway fans may also remember her from season two of the television show Smash.
Following Rent, Diggs returned to Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago in 2002. He took on the role of Fiyero in Wicked, as a replacement for Norbert Leo Butz, in 2003.
After many years away from the Broadway stage, Diggs made his return in 2015 in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Diggs spent many years doing screen work when he was not on stage, including film and television. He starred in Murder in the First from 2014 to 2016. He also appeared in the TV series Private Practice.
Notable films included How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Brown Sugar, The Best Man and its sequel, The Best Man Holiday.
Martin turned to television, for the most part, after Rent.
He appeared most notably as NYPD Detective Ed Green on Law & Order and Detective Joe West on The Flash.
He also had a recurring role on Fox's Ally McBeal as the lead character's on-and-off doctor boyfriend.
Martin made a return to Broadway in 2010 in The Merchant of Venice.
Heredia only appeared on Broadway once more following his iconic portrayal of Angel in Rent. He took on the role of Jacob in La Cage Aux Folles in 2011.
He has mostly appeared on television and film, including the 2007 film Descent, where he appeared alongside Rent film co-stars Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms.
Recent television appearances have included guest roles on Blindspot and Banshee, and recent films included The Rainbow Bridge Motel, Bleeding Hearts, and Red Butterfly.
After appearing as Joanne in Rent, Walker, who now goes by Fredi Walker-Browne, never made a return to Broadway. She did, however, star as Rafiki in the national tour of The Lion King.
She also was a replacement in the 2009 off-Broadway production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore.
In 2012, she had a recurring guest spot on the Showtime series The Big C. She also made a guest appearance on Law and Order.
Rent opened at the Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996, starring now-huge Broadway stars Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, and more. The show won four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Book, and Score.
Rent, live on Fox, will star actress Kiersey Clemons ("Hearts Beat Loud"), Emmy nominee and Tony Award winner Brandon Victor Dixon ("Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"), singer/songwriter Jordan Fisher ("Hamilton," 2017 winner of "Dancing with the Stars"), actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens ("Second Act," "Grease: Live"), newcomer and singer/songwriter Brennin Hunt("Nashville"), R&B/Pop superstar Mario (EMPIRE), recording artist Tinashe ("Dancing with the Stars") and performer Valentina ("RuPaul's Drag Race"). Additionally, Keala Settle will perform the iconic solo from "Seasons of Love" and join the ensemble in the live musical.
.png)
|
.png)
|
Videos
