by Rod Jones
The rock musical 鈥淩ent鈥� will open 野狼社区 University鈥檚 64th consecutive opera and music theater season with performances Oct. 2 through 4. Rent will be presented in three performances 鈥� 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee on the historic Kirkpatrick Auditorium stage at 2501 N. Blackwelder. Tickets ($12-25) are available at or by calling the OCU Box Office at 405-208-5227.
The 10th-longest running musical in Broadway history, 鈥淩ent鈥� is one of only five shows to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Musical.
The show contains themes appropriate for mature audiences. Loosely based on Puccini鈥檚 romantic opera 鈥淟a Boh猫me,鈥� the musical tells of a year in the lives of seven struggling artists in New York鈥檚 AIDS-ravaged East Village in 1989. The score by Jonathan Larson 鈥� who also wrote the book and lyrics, and died the night before the show鈥檚 off-Broadway premiere 鈥� incorporates pop, gospel, tango, blues and rock 鈥檔 roll, sung by a roster of sympathetic characters struggling with love, life and loss.
The 29-member cast is under the direction of Karen Coe Miller, who will present a free director鈥檚 talk 45 minutes before curtain. Matthew Mailman will direct the seven-piece on-stage band from the drumset.
鈥淭he themes of 鈥楻ent鈥� are universal,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淭he characters ask themselves questions that face us all: 鈥榃ill I be accepted for who I am? How do I live fully in the face of death? How do I claim my place in a society that marginalizes me? How can I remember to measure my life's success in love, not material possessions?鈥� I鈥檝e been moved by the way my cast has grappled with these questions and found connections in their own lives.鈥�
After its Broadway opening in 1996, The New York Times noted 鈥淲hat makes 鈥楻ent鈥檚o wonderful is not its hipness quotient, but its extraordinary spirit of hopeful defiance and humanity.鈥�
OCU鈥檚 Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company season continues Oct. 9-11 with the Tony Award-winning musical 鈥淣ine,鈥� inspired by Frederico Fellini鈥檚 semi-autobiographical film 鈥�8 陆鈥�; Gaetano Donizetti鈥檚 comic opera buffa 鈥淒on Pasquale,鈥� Nov. 20-22; W.A. Mozart鈥檚 operatic fantasy 鈥淭he Magic Flute,鈥� Feb. 19-21; the one-act opera 鈥淛ackie O,鈥� March 4-6, with composer Michael Daughtery in residence; and the Tony Award-wining musical 鈥淓vita鈥� by the award-winning team of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, inspired by the life and death of Argentina鈥檚 Eva Perron, April 22-24.
For more information, visit the Bass School of Music website at .
