Will Chase Plays Month-Long Stint as Roger in Rent

By: Dec. 12, 2005
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Will Chase will join the Broadway cast of Rent for a brief stint as Roger. The star will start performances on December 26th and perform in the musical through January 29th, 2006.

British actor Tim Howar (Peggy Sue Got Married) will succeed Chase on January 30th; he will star in Rent through July 29th. Rent currently features Joshua Kobak as Roger, Antonique Smith as Mimi, Justin Johnston as Angel, Destan Owens as Tom Collins, Ava Gaudet as Maureen, Kenna Ramsey as Joanne, D'Monroe as Benny and Frenchie Davis as the "Seasons of Love" soloist.

Chase, who was most recently seen on Broadway in Lennon, has performed in Rent in the past--he understudied the role of Roger in the late '90s and was a member of the Rent ensemble. His other Broadway credits include Miss Saigon, Aida and The Full Monty, while he has appeared regionally in Mame, Son of Fire, Assassins and in the world premiere of Andrew Lippa's A Little Princess.

The film version of Rent is currently in theaters nationwide. Rent, which is directed by Chris Columbus (who adapted Larson's book with Stephen Chbosky), is a Columbia Pictures/Revolution Studios production; it was 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 are played by Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms.
 
With its groundbreaking rock score by Larson and a story that captured the current of its generation, Rent is set in New York's 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 for almost 4,000 performances.

For more information, visit www.siteforrent.com.


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