Robert Mackintosh and Idili Theatricals Limited, in association with Theatr Clwyd, are delighted to announce the addition of further dates to the tour schedule for the new 20th Anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical RENT. Rehearsals start today, Monday 12 September, under the direction of Bruce Guthrie.
The tour opens at Theatr Clwyd for a limited season from 21 October 2016, followed by a three-week tour, prior to a Christmas Season at St. James Theatre, London from 8 December 2016 to 28 January 2017. The tour will then continue after London, from 31 January to 27 May 2017.
Completing the cast are Javar La’trial Parker (Showboat at the New London Theatre) as Benjamin Coffin III and Joshua Dever, who will be joining the previously announced Ross Hunter as Roger Davis, Billy Cullum as Mark Cohen, Ryan O’Gorman as Tom Collins, Shanay Holmes as Joanne Jefferson, Layton Williams as Angel Schunard, Philippa Stefani as Mimi Marquez and Lucie Jones as Maureen Johnson, with Kevin Yates, Jordan Laviniere, Christina Modestou, Bobbie Little, Jenny O’Leary and Katie Bradley.
Jonathan Larson’s musical, inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, won four Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996. Ben Brantley’s New York Times review was a love letter to the show, calling RENT an “exhilarating, landmark rock opera”. RENT ran on Broadway for 12 years, from 1996 to 2008. The show premiered in London’s West End in 1998 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where it ran for 18 months. It was adapted into a film in 2005.
Larson’s world is inhabited by a group of bohemian artists who struggle to maintain their friendships and their non-conformist ideals in New York’s East Village. Facing their problems head on, they make personal self-discoveries and find what really matters most in life. The poignancy of the story was heightened when Jonathan Larson died of an aortic dissection on 25 January 1996, the night before the show’s first off-Broadway performance at New York Theatre Workshop.
The much-loved score features songs such as Seasons of Love, Take Me or Leave Me, What You Own, One Song Glory, La Vie Bohème, Without You, I’ll Cover You, Out Tonight and I Should Tell You.
The new production of RENT will have Choreography by Lee Proud, Musical Direction by Phil Cornwell, Set Design by Olivier Award-winner Anna Fleischle, Costume Design by Loren Elstein, Lighting Design by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Rick Fisher, Sound Design by Olivier Award-winner Mike Walker, Video Design by Andrzej Goulding and Casting by Will Burton Casting.
RENT has Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner, Original Concept and Additional Lyrics by Billy Aronson, Music Supervision and Additional Arrangements by Tim Weil, and Dramaturg is Lynn Thomson. RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Alan S. Gordon and New York Theatre Workshop.
RENT Tour Dates
21 October to 12 November 2016
Theatr Clwyd
Mold
Flintshire
CH7 1YA
www.theatrclwyd.com
15-19 November 2016
His Majesty’s Theatre
Rosemount Viaduct
Aberdeen AB25 1GL
www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/venues/his-majestys-theatre
22-26 November 2016
Malvern Festival Theatre
Grange Road
Malvern WR14 3HB
www.malvern-theatres.co.uk
29 November to 3 December 2016
Wycombe Swan
St. Mary Street
High Wycombe HP11 2XE
www.wycombeswan.co.uk
8 December 2016 to 28 January 2017
St. James Theatre
12 Palace Street
London SW1E 5JA
www.stjamestheatre.co.uk
31 January to 4 February 2017
Devonshire Park Theatre
Compton St
Eastbourne BN21 4BW
www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk/venue/devonshire-park-theatre
6-11 February 2017
Churchill Theatre
High Street
Bromley
Kent BR1 1HA
www.churchilltheatre.co.uk
14-18 February 2017
Festival Theatre
13 / 29 Nicolson Street
Edinburgh, EH8 9FT
www.edtheatres.com
28 March to 1 April 2017
Curve
Rutland Street
Leicester LE1 1SB
www.curveonline.co.uk
On sale 7 November
3-8 April 2017
Wales Millennium Centre
Bute Pl
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff CF10 5AL
www.wmc.org.uk
11-15 April 2017
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre
Regent Street
Cheltenham GL50 1HQ
www.everymantheatre.org.uk
On sale in November
18-22 April 2017
York Theatre Royal
St. Leonard’s Place
York YO1 7HD
www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
On sale soon
1-6 May 2017
Lighthouse
Poole’s Centre For The Arts
21 Kingland Road
Poole
Dorset BH15 1UG
www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
On sale soon
9-13 May 2017
Belgrade Theatre
Belgrade Square,
Coventry CV1 1GS
www.belgrade.co.uk
On sale soon
16-20 May 2017
Nottingham Playhouse
Wellington Circus
Nottingham, NG1 5AF
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
On sale 14 October
23-27 May 2017
Assembly Hall Theatre
Crescent Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN1 2LU
www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk
