11th Hour Kicks Off Season With Production of RENT 11/5-21

11th Hour Theatre Company is set to take a big leap forward as it opens its sixth season. The all-musical theatre company will open the season with Jonathan Larson's modern classic, Rent. The show will be presented at Drexel's Mandell Theater, 33rd & Chestnut Streets, from November 5th - 21st, 2010 during 11th Hour's Residency with the Mandell Professionals In Residence Project at Drexel University. Tickets are $15-$30, on sale now, and are available at www.11thhourtheatrecompany.org or by calling the box office at 267-987-9865.

For 11th Hour, the beginning of this season is a nod back to their beginning. The company made its professional debut in Philadelphia with a production of Jonathan Larson's tick, tick...Boom!. The company will host a concert performance of tick, tick... Boom! on Monday, October 25 at 7 p.m. with proceeds going to the Mazzoni Center, Philadelphia's LGBT health and wellness center and the oldest AIDS service organization in Pennsylvania. Tickets cost $15 - $27 and are available at www.11thourtheatrecompany.org or by calling the box office at 267-987-9865.

This production of Rent will feature 10 professional actors with eight students from Drexel. This production will be directed by 11th Hour's Resident Director and one of the company founders, Megan Nicole O'Brien. 11th Hour co-founder and Barrymore Award winner, Michael Philip O'Brien is portraying isolated songwriter Roger and 11th Hour co-founder and triple 2010 Barrymore nominee, Steve Pacek is playing disconnected filmmaker and narrator Mark. Jaqueline Real is playing Roger's lover Mimi. Laura Catlaw, who appeared in 11th Hour's production of Avenue X is playing Maureen. Marissa K. Hines, who surprised audiences as Audrey II in 11th Hour's production of Little Shop of Horrors last season is playing Maureen's girlfriend Joanne. Allen Weaver is playing Angel while Carl Clemons Hopkins returns to 11th Hour to play Collins. Jesimiel Jenkins is playing Benny. The ensemble includes: Alex Keiper, Shane Donovan, Jami Lamaita, Joe Mathew, Emily Kleimo, Dan Toll, Michael Long, Justine Pamiloza, and Lee Singletary.

Ryan Touhey is handling Musical Direction and working with 11th Hour for the first timE. Craig Vetter is designing the Alphabet City neighborhood that encompasses Rent's set. Joshua Schulman is designing the lights and working with 11th Hour for the first time as well. Mark Valenzuela is designing sound. Lauren Perigard is creating costumes. Mark Andrews will handle the Technical Direction. Jessica Simkins is the Production Stage Manager.

The show is a 1996 Pulitzer Prize, Tony, OBIE, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League Award Winner. Rent is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera "La Bohème." While creating the piece, Larson took the central storyline of Puccini's masterpiece and placed the characters in 1990s New York City. Throughout the course of this modern classic, characters fall in and out of love, discover how to live in the moment, and come to realize the importance of friendship in the face of tragedy. The show garnered fast headlines for its message of "No Day But Today," after the sudden death of Larson on the eve of the show's Off-Broadway opening.

11th Hour and director Megan Nicole O'Brien are looking to go back to the emotional connection that audiences felt seeing the production in its heyday. "We are all huge fans of the show. This is definitely going to be a labor of love. I want people to hear the story for the first time, even if they have heard it before. As a director, reading the script and re-learning the show as a 28 year old as opposed to a 15 year-old fan of the show, I am gaining so much more insight as to what these people are going through. I want to use my deeper understanding to give audiences a chance to see this show in a new light."

RENT Schedule:
Friday November 5th @7pm, Preview
Saturday November 6th @ 7pm, Opening
Sunday November 7th @ 2pm
Thursday November 11th @ 7pm
Friday November 12th @ 8pm
Saturday November 13th @ 2 & 8pm
Sunday November 14th @ 2pm
Monday November 15th @ 7pm
Thursday November 18th @ 10am, Student Matinee
Thursday November 18th @ 7pm
Friday November 19th @ 8pm
Saturday November 20th @ 8pm
Sunday November 21st @ 2pm

About the Mandell Professionals in Residence Project (MPiRP) part of the
Antoinette Westphal College at Drexel University
The Mandell Professionals in Residence Project (MPiRP) is an Antoinette Westphal College Department of Performing Art's collaborative program bringing theatre and dance professionals on to the Drexel campus for performances, production and instruction. Drexel students are given opportunities to work hands on with professional artists to produce high quality productions. Philadelphia is fast becoming one of the most important cities in the country for innovative and exciting theater and dance, and MPiRP provides valuable space for some of these up and coming performing arts organizations and artists.

Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design offers twelve undergraduate and five graduate programs in media, design and the performing arts. The College empowers students with the knowledge, skills and techniques to succeed in highly competitive creative fields. Programs are taught in small studio settings, featuring hands-on learning and a faculty of industry practitioners who emphasize the use of the latest technologies.

Drexel University is the premiere co-op school in the United States and is a top ranked comprehensive university. Allen Sabinson is the dean of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. For more information about the College, go to: www.drexel.edu/westphal.

MPiRP is made possible in part by a grant from the Samuel P. Mandell Foundation.

About 11th Hour Theatre Company
11th Hour Theatre Company is a not-for-profit company committed to expanding one of the truly great American art forms...musical theatre. As one of only two companies in the city dedicated to producing musical theatre, 11th Hour focuses on the intimate relationship that forms between artist and audience when music, theatre and dance come together to entertain, educate and inspire.

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