Thirty years after it changed Broadway, Jonathan Larson’s Rent is back on a Broadway stage for one night only. Rent, the 30th Anniversary Concert plays the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Monday, October 26, at 8 p.m. ET, reuniting much of the rock musical’s original cast in a full concert performance of the show. The performance is also being streamed live, according to Playbill.
The one-night-only concert is a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which is producing it alongside Andy Jones, founder of Baseline Theatrical.
Which original Rent cast members are reuniting on Broadway?
Playbill lists Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Taye Diggs and Fredi Walker-Browne among the returning original company. They are joined by original cast members Timothy Britten Parker, Yassmin Alers, Gilles Chiasson, Shelley Dickinson, David Driver, Darius de Haas, Byron Utley and Rodney Hicks.
A long list of Rent alumni and Broadway favorites will also take part, including Renée Elise Goldsberry, Aaron Tveit, Neil Patrick Harris, Norbert Leo Butz, Tracie Thoms, Jordan Fisher, Rachel Zegler, Eden Espinosa, Wilson Cruz and Merle Dandridge.
Who is directing the Rent 30th Anniversary Concert?
Michael Greif, who staged the original production, is directing again. Original music supervisor Tim Weil leads the band, which includes original pit members Kenny Brescia, Jeff Potter and Daniel A. Weiss, joined by Steve Gelfand.
How can fans watch the Rent 30th Anniversary Concert livestream?
The concert streams live through Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The stream opens at 7 p.m. ET with an hour-long pre-show hosted by Troy Iwata and Jay Armstrong Johnson, who star Off-Broadway in Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody. Actor and talk-show host Ricki Lake joins them on the red carpet, as Playbill reported.
According to BroadwayWorld, the pre-show will include backstage access and rare footage from the musical’s 30-year history. The hosts will return at intermission with backstage cast interviews for livestream viewers only. The concert and the pre-show can be streamed on demand until 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 27.
Why does Jonathan Larson’s Rent still matter 30 years on?
A rock update of Puccini’s opera La Bohème, with AIDS taking the place of tuberculosis, Rent premiered Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop before transferring to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre in 1996. Larson died suddenly at 35, the night before the show’s first preview at New York Theatre Workshop. The Broadway production ran for 12 years and 5,123 performances, closing on September 7, 2008, and the musical went on to inspire a film adaptation featuring most of the original stage cast, as well as a live TV production.
About the author
Miles covers international and touring theater, including Broadway news, for The Broadway Guide.