Putting our spin on RENT – The Musical

Photos contributed

Orange Theatre Company's production of Rent will hit the stage of the Orange Civic Theatre on May 23 - 26 for a strictly limited season!

Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 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. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this ground-breaking musical.

“Our audience who have seen it previously will probably come with a preconceived idea, though we have changed it up a bit and have put our own spin on it, explained, Show Director, Sam Fuda.“I love the show from start to finish, it’s been my favourite show since I can remember, I’ve seen it done by other theatre companies about six or seven times.”

By the time the curtain opens on show day, cast members will have completed 14 weeks of rehearsals, three nights a week. “You always have your ups and downs and that ‘didn’t work so let’s change that, that’s fantastic lock that in moments’,but I have the privilege of working with a really keen and amazing cast, they learnt everything really early and we are ahead of schedule (which is kind of unheard of in showbusiness).”

33 cast members and a four piece rock band will take to the stage for five shows in four days and take you on a journey you never thought you were ready for.

Tickets are available online at Ticketek and Orange Civic Theatre box office.