KENNESAW, Ga. | Mar 21, 2023
Iconic rock musical has sustained immediacy and theatrical power for over 25 years
ĪŽĀė±äĢ¬ Department of Theatre and Performance Studies (TPS) will present April 6-16 at the Stillwell Theater on the Kennesaw campus. The iconic rock musicalāwith music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larsonāoffers an intimate encounter with a diverse group of young artists living in the lower east side of New York as they struggle to make ends meet during the siege of HIV Aids. Their relationships reinforce the power of a supportive community, and, most of all, the hope and joy that love offers amidst loss and despair.
Director , coordinator of Musical Theatre and associate professor of Theatre & Performance Studies, says that āĮ豚²Ō³Łā revolutionized the art form of musical theatre, as its songs quickly found their way into popular music by incorporating rock music. āThat hadnāt been heard since āHairā in 1968,ā she explains, āand the average American was not only interested, but maybe had their hearts and minds educated from seeing theatre.ā Larson combined Broadway traditions with contemporary music in a complex way, as the āsongs are structured like pop songsāthey have pop song structures and are very memorable.ā Audience members may be surprised that not only is there just one song that everyone knows, but most people will be surprised by just how many songs they know.
āĮ豚²Ō³Łā became āsomething that was a lot more in the public consciousness across America, certainly more so than most musicals. Itās the kind of show that high schoolers talked about at their lockers,ā adds , chair of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies.
While most of the students performing in this ĪŽĀė±äĢ¬ production, set in 1992, werenāt even born when āĮ豚²Ō³Łā debuted in 1996 after the AIDS epidemic exploded in the late 1980ās, the actors didnāt have to stretch too much to understand the hardships, especially growing up during tough economic times and COVID-19. āStudentsā rent is going up, and we are having conversations about how to afford eggs vs. books for school. If we did this show ten years ago, we might have to explain a lot more to the cast,ā says Morgan.
TPS student Lance Avery Brown, who plays Benny, understands the daily challenges. āCollege students can relate to the problems that the characters of āRentā are going through; the characters are close in age. They are asking questions that people in their early 20ās worry about, like āHow am I going to get my rent on time? What is my next meal going to be? How can I be successful? Where do I even start?ā Brown adds that itās important to see that the production covers day-to-day experiences in life, on top of the various themes in āRent.ā
TPS student and āĮ豚²Ō³Łā Assistant Director Issa SolĆs describes the themes of the play as āintersectionalityā because āit recognizes that people can have overlapping marginalized identities which can marginalize them even further. In āRent,ā there are many characters with intersectionalities, which personifies these struggles and helps a modern audience to understand the privileges they have, in order to use that privilege for good,ā she says.
Of course, Larson addresses the HIV/AIDS crisis head on in āRent.ā Patrons will notice quilts on either side of the stage; they are just two of thousands of pieces of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. TPS is the only current host of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in the entire Southeast region of the United States. Morgan notes that āĮ豚²Ō³Łā attempts to āhumanize the stories of those affected by AIDS as well as additional ills of our society.ā
Lighting designer and TPS student Mackenzie āMackā Scales hopes that audiences will take away several messages, including āappreciation for the community as well as the struggles those in our community experienceālike addiction and identityāand I hope audiences can take ideas away to better support the community around them.ā
SolĆs wishes that audiences will ātry to walk a mile in the shoes of a character whose identity does not resemble their own. Take in their life experiences, understand their soul. Are you as different as you thought you were at first? Or are we all just āmeasuring [our lives] in love?āā
āĮ豚²Ō³Łā will be performed April 6-16 at the Stillwell Theater on the Kennesaw campus. Tickets are $12-20; buy or call Patron Services at 470-578-6650. Read more about this production.
--Kathie Beckett
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