RENT at Manatee Performing Arts Center

La Vie Boheme!Jonathan Larson's iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning musical that shaped a generation of audiences and taught us all to measure our life in love.Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Rent has become a pop cultural phenomenon. with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages.Based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking musical.This is theatre at its best exuberant, passionate and joyous. Regional theatres will love the freedom and flexibility that Rent offers; minimal costuming and sets are required.