Newburyport – Firehouse Center for the Arts will launch its 2nd Summer Season of acclaimed regional theater with the rock musical RENT, in partnership with Kelly’s Hardware/Kelly’s Rental and Historic New England, on May 14-23, at Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury.
“This year we will be building upon the program that we piloted last year,” said John Moynihan, Executive Director of the Firehouse and Director of the production. “We are hosting our Summer Outdoor Series, a live outdoor performance experience, bringing you three musicals this summer. Even if we cannot welcome you into our Arakelian Theater this summer, we are excited to be able to perform in front of a live audience and with a show that is as provocative and relevant today as it was 25 years ago.”
RENT is a rock opera loosely based on Puccini’s La Boheme, with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. Set in Lower Manhattan’s East Village during the turmoil of the AIDS crisis, this moving story chronicles the lives of a group of struggling artists over a year’s time. Its major themes are community, friendship, and survival. In 1996, RENT received four Tony Awards, including Best Musical; six Drama Desk Awards; and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1997, it won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Its Broadway run lasted 12 years.
“While RENT is a piece about a very specific historical moment,” said Mr. Moynihan. “ We can still relate to the characters on many levels, in our own increasingly digitized and disconnected world.”
RENT features a cast and crew:
Roger Davis: Hugo Lindsay
Mark Cohen: Andrew Burton Kelley
Collins: Johnny Nichols Jr.
Benny: Bobby Gariepy
Joanne Jefferson: Orlik Guzman
Angel Dumott Schunard: Angel Fisher
Mimi Marquez: Mai Hartwich
Maureen Johnson: Carli Hamilton
Ensemble:
Joe Couturier
Jake Egan
Nathaniel Sapienza
Megan Little
Julia Arey
Caelan Jordan
At this time, our Box Office is online only by visiting www.firehouse.org. Ticket prices are $50 per pod. Each “pod” will be for up to 4 people and will be spaced throughout the field. The first row is La Vie Boheme Seating at $30 per pod, in keeping with the tradition of the original show that wanted the arts to be affordable and accessible to all.
Also offered is a Summer Season Subscription is only $120.00, a ticket is considered pod for all 3 shows (up to 4 people per show) – $150 value.
Firehouse Center for the Arts is a non-profit organization located on the waterfront at Market Square in Newburyport, home to the Institution for Savings Mainstage in the 191-seat Arakelian Theater and Institution for Savings Gallery. The Firehouse offers live theater, film, dance, music, youth programming, arts education, our acclaimed New Works Festival, and a rotating art gallery that exhibits works by local and international artists.
