Rent - LMS 2009

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Dec 8, 2008 9:08:41 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Dec 8, 2008 9:08:41 GMT 11 Saturday, 7 and Sunday, 8 February 2009 Keep your eyes peeled for more information or contact Gina: 0409 314 196 early in the New Year. Buff
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Dec 15, 2008 9:24:35 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Dec 15, 2008 9:24:35 GMT 11 I ran into Jeff Hockley on Saturday. He said "You should audition. It's about pimps, prostitutes and people dying of aids - it's a real comedy!" ;D Buff
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Lana Ensemble Enthusiast If only life were a song and dance number... Posts: 169	Rent - LMS 2009 Dec 15, 2008 11:05:10 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Lana on Dec 15, 2008 11:05:10 GMT 11 I sincerely hope that's going to be their advertising slogan.
	"Leave your conscience at the tone." Parade of Stars character - Collins, from RENT Medley of the Stars song - My New Philosophy, from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Dec 15, 2008 11:30:48 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Dec 15, 2008 11:30:48 GMT 11 ;D ;D ;D
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Buff
Director

An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando

Posts: 1,783

Rent - LMS 2009 Jan 12, 2009 20:16:45 GMT 11

Post by Buff on Jan 12, 2009 20:16:45 GMT 11

AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MUSIC THEATRE FANS

The Launceston Musical Society is pleased to announce the staging of the hit musical RENT at the Princess Theatre, from 22 25 July 2009.

Well-known musical theatre director Jeff Hockley will stage the work, with popular vocalist Denise Sam providing the musical direction, and with Michelle Withington (Dance/Movement), Terry Wedding (lighting), Valerie Towers (repetiteur) and Dian Smith (Stage Manager).

Other key members of the production team are currently being assembled.

Rent is a rock musical, with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians in 1989 struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of AIDS.

The musical was first seen in a limited three-week workshop run at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1994. This same New York City off-Broadway theatre was also the musical's initial home following its official January 25, 1996, opening. Tragically, the show's creator, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly the night before the off-Broadway premiere. The show won a Pulitzer Prize, and the production was a hit.

On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won a Tony Award for Best Musical among other awards. The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008, after a 12-year run and 5,124 performances, making it the seventh-longest-running Broadway show. At the time of its closing, it was the second-longest-running musical playing on Broadway, six years behind The Phantom of the Opera.

AUDITIONS:
7 and 8 February. Venue to be advised: watch the local press for details or keep reading the emails, Facebook & this site.

You will need to be comfortable with the sexual orientation of the characters. There is some occasional coarse language, adult themes and drug references.

All the characters below are 20s to 30s in age but 40s might be OK too.
Extras are generally older. This is a fully sung work, with no dialogue. Like the opera on which it is based, there are recitatives before the main 'arias'.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
Mark Cohen, the narrator of the show. Ex-boyfriend of Maureen. Roommate of
Roger. Baritone /Tenor.

Roger Davis, an HIV -infected musician who is recovering from heroin addiction. He is determined to find his one great song before he succumbs to the virus. He is often shown to be a loner. Mark's roommate and Mimi's love interest. Tenor.

Tom Collins, a gay philosophy teacher and anarchist with AIDS. He is a former roommate of Roger, Mark, Benny, and Maureen; he is also Angel's lover. Baritone.

Mimi Márquez, an HIV-positive S&M dancer and heroin junkie. Mimi is a very volatile character, who degenerates emotionally as the play goes on and her family of friends begins to break apart. Roger's love interest. Mezzo-soprano.

Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay drag queen street percussionist/musician with
AIDS. Angel is the emotional centre of the group of friends. Collins' lover. Tenor (often with falsetto).

Joanne Jefferson, an Ivy League-educated lawyer. Joanne is the woman who
Maureen left Mark for. Maureen's lover; lesbian. Contralto. Can be played by a mezzo-soprano.

Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist; Joanne's girlfriend; Mark's ex- girlfriend. She is an almost hyperactive person, very intense and energetic. Mezzo-soprano.

Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III, Landlord of Mark, Roger and Mimi's apartment
building; ex-roommate of Mark, Collins, Roger, and Maureen. Baritone (often with recitative).

Gordon, a member of a life support. He appears in the songs 'Life Support' and "Will I?'. He is a Baritone/Tenor.

Steve is another member of Life Support. Baritone/Tenor.

Other cast members (as extras with solo lines or verses, and chorus) include policemen, the homeless, parents, life support members, diners, street vendors and so on.

"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables

Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables"
Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables

Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 8:53:15 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Feb 9, 2009 8:53:15 GMT 11 Nice little story in the Examiner today (sorry - unable to link) about the auditions. 35 people auditioned over the weekend with another 9 to go. Buff
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Lana
Ensemble Enthusiast

If only life were a song and dance number...

Posts: 169

Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 11:44:17 GMT 11

Post by Lana on Feb 9, 2009 11:44:17 GMT 11

I'm not sure about this "RENT was written in 1989" business, though! TECHNICALLY Jonathan Larson first started writing it in 1989, but he was collaborating with someone else at the time and it didn't pan out. When he went back to it a few years later it was a different show. And even then, there was a workshop version in 1994 that was different to the final version of the show.

.... Yeah, I'm a RENT geek. Sue me. I know what they actually meant was, "The movie was set in 1989."

"Leave your conscience at the tone."

Parade of Stars character - Collins, from RENT
Medley of the Stars song - My New Philosophy, from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 11:50:00 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Feb 9, 2009 11:50:00 GMT 11 Did you audition? Buff
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Lana
Ensemble Enthusiast

If only life were a song and dance number...

Posts: 169

Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 12:10:44 GMT 11

Post by Lana on Feb 9, 2009 12:10:44 GMT 11

I did. Three of us involved in Hair had auditions one after the other and sang Hair songs - the panel must have been sick of them by the third! There were a lot of really talented people at the auditions and the panel definitely had the right idea about what the show entails (I always was going to be fussy about that!). I think it's going to be a great show.

"Leave your conscience at the tone."

Parade of Stars character - Collins, from RENT
Medley of the Stars song - My New Philosophy, from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

Buff
Director

An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando

Posts: 1,783

Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 12:31:50 GMT 11

Post by Buff on Feb 9, 2009 12:31:50 GMT 11

Feb 9, 2009 12:10:44 GMT 11 Lana said:

...the panel definitely had the right idea about what the show entails (I always was going to be fussy about that!). I think it's going to be a great show.

I thought about auditioning just to work with Jeff Hockley and Denise Sam. I've worked with both of them before (on separate projects) but together they would be an awesome team. In the end I didn't feel the show suited me (I'm too old!!)

Good luck!

Buff

"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables

Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables"
Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables

Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Lana Ensemble Enthusiast If only life were a song and dance number... Posts: 169	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 15:31:59 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Lana on Feb 9, 2009 15:31:59 GMT 11 I don't think I have a chance, since I was only interested/available if I got offered a lead, but I'm looking forward to seeing it.
	"Leave your conscience at the tone." Parade of Stars character - Collins, from RENT Medley of the Stars song - My New Philosophy, from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 9, 2009 16:34:55 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Feb 9, 2009 16:34:55 GMT 11 If they need a trumpet player, I'll put my hand up! Buff
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Buff Director An actor's a guy, who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening - Marlon Brando Posts: 1,783	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 18, 2009 14:05:08 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Buff on Feb 18, 2009 14:05:08 GMT 11 Casting starting to get out: Tessa Dunstan (a lead role) Mark Horner Lyndell Geeves Samantha Hammersley are the one's I've heard so far. Buff
	"To love another person is to see the face of God" - Les Miserables Parade of Stars character - Enjolras from "Les Miserables" Medley of the Stars song - Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Misérables Keeper of the Elegant Thimble

Lana Ensemble Enthusiast If only life were a song and dance number... Posts: 169	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 18, 2009 17:17:47 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Lana on Feb 18, 2009 17:17:47 GMT 11 I've heard a couple of others, but I always feel strange sharing casting news if it's not "official".
	"Leave your conscience at the tone." Parade of Stars character - Collins, from RENT Medley of the Stars song - My New Philosophy, from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

paulie Backyard Balladeer Posts: 23	Rent - LMS 2009 Feb 18, 2009 18:20:33 GMT 11 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by paulie on Feb 18, 2009 18:20:33 GMT 11 Some more casting news that has leaked out includes: Dylan Yeandle Jess Brownrigg Nathan Wheldon I believe all have lead roles ;-) Oh, and word is Nathan's band have been approached to play