Actor Anthony Rapp played videographer Mark in the original Broadway production of Rent in 1996. This show can change lives, he believes. “Rent is certainly entertaining,” he said in a recent interview, “but it’s also transformative. Over the years, people have told me that the show caused them to rethink their lives.” There is no doubt that Rent changed Rapp’s life, as well as that of Adam Pascal, originator of the leading role of Roger, an HIV-positive guitarist. He remembers the show’s 35-year-old creator Jonathan Larson, who died unexpectedly just as the show was opening. Larson, Pascal says, “set out to convey a message of love and hope and acceptance and understanding, and he did it.”
After more than 5,000 performances on Broadway, the show closed in 2008. Now it’s on tour, and Rapp and Pascal have returned to the groundbreaking Rock opera that’s in Cincinnati for performances through Sunday at the Aronoff Center. “I’m so glad to have the chance to take this terrific production all over the country,” says Pascal. To honor Larson’s life as a struggling artist, the tour sustains a tradition begun with the original production of providing $20 seats in the front rows via a lottery. Three hours before each performance, numbers will be issued for 45 minutes, then names will be drawn.
Through Nov. 1 at the Aronoff Center. $22-$64.50. Get showtimes, tickets and venue details here.
