Before there was "Hamilton," there was "RENT." Current State's Jamie Paisley speaks with the cast and director of the Riverwalk Theatre’s production of this Pulitzer-winning musical set during the AIDS crisis of the mid-1990s.
Twenty years before the Broadway smash hit "Hamilton," there was Jonathan Larson’s "RENT." The musical was a re-telling of the Puccini opera "La Boheme," set in New York City during the AIDS crisis of the mid-1990s, and it took America by storm.
Along the way, "RENT" garnered Tony and Drama Desk awards, as well as winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996.
The musical comes to Riverwalk Theatre for the next two weekends, and the theater also has a special performance on Wednesday June 8th to benefit the Lansing Area AIDS Network.
Current State’s Jamie Paisley sat in on one of the rehearsals and spoke with the director as well as a few cast members.