December 2, 2021

By Lucy Valeski

Graphic by Ava Horton

MU Theatre opened the musical “Rent” Nov. 4 at Rhynsburger Theatre. he production closed Nov. 14. Over 50 people made up the cast and crew of “Rent.” The Jonathan Larson classic follows a group of friends in New York’s East Village who struggle to survive as artists amidst the HIV/AIDS crisis. 

Dr. Joy Powell, an associate teaching professor at MU, directed “Rent.”

“[“Rent”] chronicles a group of artists who support each other through the ups and downs of life,” Powell said. “Several of those artists have HIV or AIDS, and some of them die from complications to that disease. But it’s really about the legacy of love that those folks leave behind, and what true community is about and how it is created.”

The production arrived at MU during the 25th anniversary of “Rent.” While some of the language used in the production may be outdated, Powell said the themes of grief, friendship and acceptance remain relevant to modern viewers. 

“We’re excited to be able to tell this story 25 years later, reflecting on the good that it brings, but also the challenges that it brings,” Powell said. “We’ve developed a lot more vocabulary around, for example, nonbinary folks and gender fluidity … [and] we know a lot more about the disease of HIV.”

MU’s production of “Rent” marked the first mainstage show at the university since COVID-19 halted in-person performances. The entire cast and crew received COVID-19 vaccinations, and Powell required audience members to wear masks for the duration of every performance. Rhynsburger Theatre also remained at half capacity.

Powell recognized the importance of bringing a relevant story to the stage following the pandemic.

“We really wanted something that we knew would be a great show to sort of reenter live theater with,” Powell said. “We wanted to have representation of Black and Brown folks, but also the LGBTQ+ community.” 

Dr. Les Gray, the “Rent” dramaturg, emphasized how the despair and loss experienced during COVID-19 can be seen in the musical “Rent” in their dramaturg note. 

“However, “Rent” reminds us that we have the tools to counter this call of despair,” Gray said. “We might not be able to buy a sense of control or love or healing or the comfort [and] hope so many of us crave … But for the runtime of this show, we invite you to rent it.”

Junior Peyton Boudouris, a member of the “Rent” ensemble, had background knowledge on the show before rehearsals started and Powell explained the history to the cast. 

“Before we even got into doing music, our director, Joy, told us a story behind it,” Boudouris said. “And we all learned that Jonathan Larson wrote this because he was heavily involved in the performance business, and all of his friends were people of all different races, sexualities, everything.“

“Rent” is a story about the power of community, and both Powell and Bourdouris emphasized the friendship and respect present behind the scenes. 

“We have rehearsal every single day, from 6 [p.m.] to 10 [p.m.],” Bourdouris said. “It’s pretty long, but it was a good time again. It was a lot of hard work that we put into it. It was like we were all just hanging out as friends, and we got to just hang out every day.”

The team behind “Rent” wanted to bring a message of hope and acceptance to the MU community following a period of absence from theatre.

“We want people to know that they’re valuable,” Powell said. “That they have worth because they’re human, period — no matter who they are, no matter who they love, no matter what they look like, no matter what their health status is, whether they are sick or not, that they matter and that they deserve love. Life is a gift, and we need to honor that gift.”

Edited by Shannon Worley | sworley@themaneater.com