Measure your life in love

A re-imagined version of RENT, the musical, hit the road to do a 20th anniversary tour this fall. Tampa is lucky enough to make the list of stops. RENT is at the Straz Center from Sept. 19, 2017 through Sept. 24, 2017.

In New York City’s East Village in Bohemian Alphabet City, there was tragedy of homelessness, drug addiction, love, sexuality, diseases like AIDS and even death. RENT follows a haunting year full of both love and pain of seven artists who struggle to make ends meet in Alphabet City by following their dreams without selling out. The impactful message of keeping hope and joy even during the most trying times encourages the audience to acknowledge how important true friendship is. 

In 1996, the not so popular Jonathan Larson composed a rock musical that opened up on Broadway. The musical, which was loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme, went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Musical.

Twenty years later, RENT is still impacting all generations from around the world. This year’s onstage cast consists of Kaleb Wells, Sammy Ferber, Aaron Harrington, Marcus John, Jasmin Easler, Aaron Alcaraz, Skyler Volpe, Lyndie Moe, Yael Reich, Cameron Mullin, Alana Cauthen, Jordan Dunn-Pilz, Jordan Long, Devin J. Hall and Chrissy Naruo. 

Sammy Ferber who plays one of the lead characters, Mark Cohen, narrates most of the performance in between musical acts. The audience is able to interact with the cast during Maureen’s performance of “Over the moon.” As Lyndie Moe belts out Maureen’s favorite riot song, the auditorium fills with loud mooing from the peers. Through the mixture of comical and devastating ups and downs, the bond of the cast allows the audience to connect to the performance.

A standing ovation is given after “The Company’s” first performance of “Seasons of Love” and after the finale. The whole cast and crew enters the stage, taking multiple bows. If this re-imagined RENT cast has portrayed anything during this performance, it is a reminder to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters – love.