RENT: School Edition to Close Casa Mañana's Season with Apprentice Program Cast

Casa Mañana will close its 2025-26 Broadway Season with its Apprentice Program production of RENT: School Edition. An iconic musical that became a pop culture phenomenon, RENT follows a year in the lives of struggling artists as they navigate love, loss, and the search for identity. The show runs July 30 – August 2, and tickets are on sale now. 

Casa Mañana's Apprentice Program offers rigorous, professional theatre arts training to students. Intended for the most dedicated young performers in the DFW area, the program is led by seasoned experts and equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the industry.

The annual Apprentice Program Production is a Mainstage professional production backed by the full resources of Casa Mañana. The show is professionally produced, from directing to sound design to choreography, and is included as part of the Casa Mañana Broadway Season. Show selections are intended to be challenging pieces that give students the opportunity to work in a professional environment.

Since its creation in 2010, Apprentice Program participants have been accepted to such prestigious universities and training programs as Yale University, Carnegie Mellon University, Webster University, Otterbein University, The Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC and Baldwin Wallace University.

Apprentice Program alumni work professionally in the theatre industry all over the country, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, and national tour casts and crews.

Several students in RENT have been awarded honors by area high school musical theatre awards programs. Nevaeah Wilson (Joanne) was an Outstanding Lead Performer for the 2026 Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards (HSMTA), a distinction for which she was given the opportunity to compete at the Jimmy Awards, where she was a semifinalist. Hunter Smouse (Angel) was an Outstanding Supporting Performer in the 2025 Broadway Dallas HSMTA. Ava Martin-Sanchez (Mimi), Hunter Smouse (Angel), and Corinne Thomas (Ensemble) have all been honored by Casa Mañana's own Betty Lynn Buckley Awards, and Jackson Blanton (Ensemble) and Benjamin Tanner (Tom) have both been nominated for their performances by the Broadway Dallas HSMTA. 

RENT stars Landon Thompson as Roger Davis, Lucas Steele as Mark Cohen, Benjamin Tanner as Tom Collins, Maxton Rhys Sims as Benjamin Coffin III, Nevaeha Wilson as Joanne Jefferson, Hunter Smouse as Angel Schunard, Ava Martin-Sanchez as Mimi Marquez, and Bella Gream as Maureen Johnson. Additional ensemble includes Ivy Bilbow, Patrick Bilbow, Jackson Blanton, Kimora Caldwell, Isaac Petty-Gonzalez, Samuel Porter, Addy Rudd, Corinne Thomas, and Noah Watson. 

Need more Dallas Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...