RENT

About the show

Jonathan Larson's musical Rent relocates the La Boheme story to AIDS-era East Village, New York. A penniless artist's (Roger) passion for a young woman (Mimi) grows even as illness consumes her; the poet Rodolfo is now punk rocker Roger; tubercular lacemaker Mimi is now an AIDS-infected dancer at an S&M nightclub; Painter Marcello is now filmmaker Mark Cohen, and so forth. The ending is different from the opera, but the theme of love enduring beyond all else remains. Songs include: "Seasons of Love," "Take Me or Leave Me," "Today 4 U," "Out Tonight" and "Santa Fe." Sydney's production has a Rent-ish mixture of musicians and actors. Roger Corser, a 25-year-old guitarist for the band Hype, plays Roger, with fellow musicians Michelle Smith (of the techno dance band Whip and the rock/pop group, Magnetic) as Maureen and Genevieve Davis (who has sung at Albert Hall with Sting and Elton John) as Joanne. Christine Anu (Bad Boy Johnny, Little Shop Of Horrors) is Mimi; Justin Smith (Jesus Christ Superstar) is Mark; and Opell Ross (Wogarama, Penny Arcade's Sex & Censorship Show) performs Angel. Others in the cast include Miguel Ayesa, Natalie Bassingthwaite, Fiona Choi, Annie Crummer, Kathleen De Leon, Matthew Lee, Cecilia Low, Peter Murphy, Thern Reynolds, Prinnie Stevens, and Jonathan Stuart.