Rent

Welcome to Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s production of Rent. This groundbreaking, fearless, howl of a musical had an extraordinary impact on the world and on me, personally. 

I saw the original cast perform on Broadway 25 years ago, and it was a revelation. Its author, Jonathan Larson, and I were the same age. Rent looked and sounded like my friends, my generation. Emerging from the Reagan/Bush years, we were fighting to retain our artistic communities in the face of mainstream gentrification. We had lost many loved ones to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It was pioneering to depict PWAs (“People with AIDS”), the homeless, interracial couples, and openly queer characters singing love songs to each other on a Broadway stage. Larson told their stories with urgency in a new form that inhabited a creative space somewhere between musical theater and a rock concert. 

Theater journalist Constance Grady wrote: “Broadway’s musical vernacular at the time was the sound of Cats, Les Misérables, and Phantom of the Opera: big, bombastic musicals that didn’t sound like anything on the radio.” The promise of the 1967 rock musical Hair had gone largely unfulfilled. Larson used to tell people, “I’m going to bring rock ’n’ roll back to Broadway.” And he did. The repertoire that our students now study and perform at Boston Conservatory was redefined because of him. 

I’m thrilled that this gifted cast has had the opportunity to work with and learn from Herb Albert Visiting Professor Rickey Tripp, his wonderful associate Jenelle Figgins, and two exceptional new faculty members José Delgado and Dave Pepin who is the music supervisor for the current 25^thanniversary national tour of Rent. Together with a dynamic team of designers and musicians, they have both honored Larson’s vision and reinvented it through the talents, values, and experiences of a new generation of musical theater artists. 

If you’ve seen the 2021 film Tick,Tick…Boom! you know about the inspirations for Rent and the poignancy of its author’s short life. Andrew Garfield, who earned an Oscar nomination playing Larson in the film, said: “Jonathan is a talisman now for me in terms of how to live life as an artist. He’s pure love. I think that’s part of the legacy that he leaves behind: How do you build your life around things that you love, the people you love, and the places you love?”

We are now finding our way through another pandemic, one that has claimed the lives of more than six million people worldwide. We have all been asked, “How do you measure a year in your life?” As you watch Rent, I invite you to consider how it resonates with the current moment, and the ways in which live theater can once again help us to reclaim our courage, our compassion, our communities, and the precious embrace of today. 

Scott Edmiston
Dean of Theater

As I begin any project, the most impressive question I ask myself is Why? The Why must be identified to help set the intention for the work. The Why propels the forward motion by questioning everything. It helps in evoking the spirit, the purpose, the reasoning of a thing. So, why Rent? Well, history has the tendency to repeat itself when enough progress of change hasn’t occurred when the universe sends a massive curve ball and presses pause on life. Historical-social themes like marginalized communities, homelessness, and oppression were evident during the creation of Rent, and they are still present today. So, what happens now?

As a creator, I am always interested in the Act III of any production, be it live theater, tv/film, or concert. It’s the time when the audience gets to reflect on what they’ve experienced. With our version of Rent, my hope is that you, the audience, takes away the importance of relationships—in all forms, both familiar and foreign. This is a fragile but vital time, and healthy, loving relationships are needed more than ever. It’s time to heal, but true healing does not happen on its own. No. It requires us to be our most authentic and vulnerable selves. And with each passing day that we’re granted, we have countless opportunities to be better versions of ourselves, for self and others. 

Thank you Jonathan Larson for that lesson in your work. Your sheer passion, drive, respect, love, and urgency in the work ignites the human spirit. To the Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty and crew: thank you for all you’ve done to get us to and through the finish line. To the superSheroes of this production—Katie, Anna, Emily and Annabelle—they say it takes a village and those words have never been truer: thank you, thank you. Thank you to the creative team for embarking on this new journey with me. And to the future artists, this cast: thank you! All a director-choreographer wishes for is to be surrounded by artists who are willing to get in the trenches with them, and you’ve done just that and more. I’m grateful and humbled by our time together. Thank you, to the best roommate and partner in crime, Jenelle, for constantly holding me down with your words of encouragement, laughter, and joy. 

And to you, the audience: I want to invite you to view love differently by considering what it would look like if we could truly serve others. And not just those with whom you’ve already formed relationships with. No. That’s too convenient. I’m talking about a stranger. It’s those interactions that can shift the paradigm of this world. It is urgent, so please get to it…No day but today!

Rickey Tripp, Herb Albert Visiting Professor
Director of Rent

One Song Glory: The Life of Jonathan Larson (1960–1996)

Jonathan Larson was born on February 4, 1960 in White Plains, New York, and died of an aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, in Manhattan. He worked seven years to bring Rent to the stage—only to die the night before its first preview at the off-Broadway New York Theater Workshop. During his brief life, he wrote over 200 songs and changed musical theater forever.  

Larson spent his childhood in drama clubs and music lessons. Although he originally had dreams of becoming an actor, he became enamored with the work of Stephen Sondheim, who played a significant role in his becoming a composer and lyricist. Larson’s early musicals were experimental and political and suggested his future themes. They include Prostrate of the Union, or the Evils of Ronald Reagan’s America (1987), Presidential Politics (1989), and J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation (1995). He spent years developing a futuristic musical called Superbia, loosely based on the novel 1984. It was workshopped at New York’s  Playwrights Horizon theater but failed to generate interest from producers.

In 1990, Larson wrote the autobiographical solo musical Tick, Tick…Boom! He was about to turn 30, and his close friend Matt O’Grady had just tested positive for HIV, which was considered fatal at that time. HIV/AIDS was soon to become the leading cause of death for all Americans ages 25 to 44. He had lost several friends to the disease and was feeling presciently aware of his own mortality. New York Times critic Ben Brantley wrote, “Time did not pass quietly for Jonathan Larson. The numbers on clocks and calendars figure in his lyrics to the point of obsession. He seems to have lived his life and composed his music to the rhythm of some cosmic metronome.” 

He then turned to a project he had been contemplating for years, a contemporary reimagining of the 1896 Puccini opera La Bohème. The musical is set in New York’s East Village and depicts “young… artists struggling to celebrate life in the shadow of drugs, poverty, and AIDS,” Jonathan Wiederhorn wrote in Rolling Stone. Larson’s score blends pop, salsa, rhythm and blues, and rock music, while his characters update those of Puccini: Rodolfo, the lovelorn poet, is resurrected in punk rocker Roger; Marcello the painter becomes Mark the videographer; and instead of dying from tuberculosis, Mimi is HIV positive. “In both productions,” Wiederhorn noted, “the main characters are threatened with eviction and burn their written work to stay warm. Larson, however, leavens the lost dreams and lives with his show’s emphasis on love, friendship, and survival.” Rent’s most celebrated song, “Seasons of Love,” counts out the days left in the last year of life. 

Rent achieved Larson’s ambition of making musical theater artistically, socially, and personally relevant to a younger audience. The show’s initial five-week run sold out within 24 hours of opening night and was an enormous critical and popular success. It won a score of honors, among them four Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, and soon became a worldwide phenomenon. “The show features songs that are as passionate, unpretentious and powerful as anything I’ve heard in musical theatre for more than a decade,” John Lahr wrote in the New Yorker. “His songs have urgency—a sense of mourning and mystery which insists on seizing the moment. …Larson’s…talent and his big heart are impossible to miss. His songs spill over with feeling and ideas; his work is haunting.” It became the 11th longest running show in Broadway history.

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote: “Jonathan, if you can hear me, you fulfilled every promise and then some. We continue to perform your work, and when we do, someone else’s life is changed. Someone else has permission to tell their story because you told yours.”

The References in "La Vie Boheme"

"La Vie Boheme," which closes act one, is a tongue-twister of cultural buzzwords, artist’s names, and references to 1990s life in New York's East Village. 

Bohemia refers to the artistic and intellectual subculture originating in the 19th century, when impoverished French artists moved to the low-rent neighborhoods traditionally occupied by the Romani people. The term bohemianism became synonymous with an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people of musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. 

Little Town of Bethlehem: In Rent, this scene takes place on Christmas Eve. The melody for this line is borrowed from a popular Christmas tune entitled "O Little Town Of Bethlehem."

Maya Angelou: Black poet, actress, civil rights organizer, playwright, professor, and all-around badass.

Susan Sontag: Essayist and critic, whose best-known text is On Photography. She contributed substantially to contemporary dialogue surrounding the AIDS crisis.

Stephen Sondheim: Lyricist and composer, who holds the record for most Tony Awards for composition. Popular works include Into the Woods, Follies, Gypsy, and West Side Story. You’ve heard of him, right?

Allen Ginsberg: Queer activist and poet; one of the key figures in the Beat Generation of the 1950s. Contemporaries include Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.

Bob Dylan: Recording artist and songwriter, whose folk anthems characterized the civil unrest of the 1960s.

Merce Cunningham: Choreographer and dancer who founded the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, which stood at the forefront of the modern dance movement.

John Cage: Composer, most famous for his work 4'33'', which is four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. He was Merce Cunningham's romantic life partner of nearly 50 years.

Lenny Bruce: Provocative comedian and satirist. He was convicted of obscenity for his agenda-driven standup work. He’s now a character in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Langston Hughes: Poet and activist commonly considered the leader of the Harlem Renaissance, an artistic, literary, musical, and social movement created by Black Americans.

Uta Hagen: Actress of stage and screen, who wrote two seminal texts on the craft of acting: Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor.

Pablo Neruda: Nobel Prize–winning Chilean poet and writer, who also worked in the administration of Chile's socialist President Allende.

Dorothy and Toto: The girl in the blue dress from The Wizard of Oz and her dog. Come on, now.

Pee-Wee Herman: The television alter-ego of Paul Ruebens, who hosted an absurdist-style children's television show in the 1980s. 

Gertrude Stein: Lesbian expatriate writer whose experimentation with the structure and form of the novel contributed to the birth of modernist literature.

Michelangelo Antonioni: Italian auteur whose films strayed from conventions of linear storytelling and narration.

Bernardo Bertolucci: Italian filmmaker, known for films such as Last Tango in Paris and Before the Revolution.

Akira Kurosawa: Influential Japanese filmmaker, whose acclaimed 1950 film Rashomon was one of the first Japanese films to break out successfully into the Western audience.

“Carmina Burana": One of those epic songs that you've definitely heard before but maybe didn't know the name of. Composed by Carl Orff.

Václav Havel: A Czech politician and playwright, Havel was the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia in 41 years and the first-ever president of the Czech Republic.

The Sex Pistols: British punk band whose only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, influenced a generation of rock artists.

8BC: A now-closed nightclub and underground performance space in New York’s East Village.

ACT UP: The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) was founded in New York City in 1987 as a political action group in response to the AIDS crisis. The group’s first action, in spring 1987, was a march on Wall Street to protest the high cost and lack of availability of HIV treatments such as AZT.

“AZT break”: AZT or azidothymidine was the first drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the purpose of prolonging the lives of AIDS patients.

Musetta's Waltz: Roger plays an excerpt from Puccini's opera La Bohème on which the musical Rent is loosely based. The Musetta character in the opera translates to Maureen's in this musical.

—BuzzFeed.com

SETTING: Lower East Side. Christmas Eve. 

ACT I
Tune Up 1—Mark, Roger
Voice Mail #1—Mark’s Mother
Tune Up—Mark, Roger, Collins, Benny
Rent —Company
Christmas Bells #1—Homeless Man
You Okay, Honey—Mark, Roger
Tune Up (Reprise)—Mark, Roger
One Song Glory—Roger
Light My Candle—Roger, Mimi
Voice Mail #2—Mr. Jefferson, Mrs. Jefferson
Today for You—Angel, Mark, Roger, Collins
You’ll See—Mark, Roger, Collins, Benny, Angel
Tango Maureen—Mark, Joanne
Support Group—Company
Out Tonight—Mimi
Another Day—Mimi, Roger, Company
Will I—Company
On the Street—Company
Santa Fe—Collins, Angel, Mark
I’ll Cover You—Collins, Angel
We’re OK—Joanne
Christmas Bells—Company 
Over the Moon—Maureen
La Vie Boheme/I Should Tell You—Company

—INTERMISSION—

ACT 2 
Seasons of Love A—Company
Happy New Year A—Mark, Roger, Collins, Mmi, Joanne, Maureen
Voice Mail #3—Mark’s Mother
Voice Mail #4—Alexi Darling
Happy New Year B—Mark, Roger, Collins, Mmi, Joanne, Maureen, Benny
Take Me or Leave Me—Maureen, Joanne
Seasons of Love B—Company
Without You—Roger, Mimi
Voice Mail #5—Alexi Darling
Contact—Company 
I’ll Cover You (Reprise)—Collins, Company
Halloween—Mark
Goodbye Love—Mark, Roger, Collins, Mmi, Joanne, Maureen, Benny
What You Own—Mark, Roger
Voice Mail #6—Roger’s Mother, Mimi’s Mother, Mark’s Mother, Mr. Jefferson
Finale A—Company 
Your Eyes—Roger
Finale B—Company

ANGEL – Steven Eckloff (Understudy: Aaron Graham)
BENNY – Errol Service Jr. (Understudy: Darrick Brown)
COLLINS – Jordan Aaron Hall (Understudy: Jahmo Chavez)
JOANNE – Amber Mariah Talley (Understudy: Jaela DeShazo)
MARK – Seth Cooper (Understudy: Keegan Sells)
MAUREEN – Morgan Kyle (Understudy: Carlyn Jade Barenholtz)
MIMI – Tatianna Córdoba (Understudy: Kaylan Royston)
ROGER – Joseph Morell (Understudy: Brevan Collins)
ENSEMBLE – Kira Allen, Carlyn Jade Barenholtz, Diego Cintron, Jahmo Chavez, Brevan Collins, Caetano De Sa, Kaitlyn Herrick, Ben Horsburgh, Allison Gann, Aaron Graham, Bailey Greemon, Jack Manning, Jayden Cyrus Nelson, Kaylan Royston, Ana Viveros
SWINGS – Dargan Cole, Ellen Roberts

Rickey Tripp, Guest Director/Choreographer, is Boston Conservatory’s Herb Albert Visiting Professor, and a performer, choreographer, dance educator, and certified Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Technique instructor. He is on the faculty at R.Evolución Latina and has over 20 years of experience teaching at the Broadway Dance Center and master classes at colleges nationwide. Company work includes the Mark Stuart Dance Theatre. Tripp has taught master classes and set choreography for various dance studios across the country including the prestigious NYU Theatre Department. As a choreographer, his credits include Dreamgirls, Cabin in the Sky, Fly: A New Musical, A Winter's Tale, Hairspray, Fortress of Solitude, The Wiz, Smash, and Desperately Seeking Susan. Tripp was associate choreographer for Jesus Christ Superstar Live with John Legend on NBC; Choir Boy at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Once on This Island on Broadway. Tripp's Broadway credits as a performer include Hamilton: An American Musical, Motown: The Musical, and the original cast of the Tony Award-winning In the Heights. His Off-Broadway credits include In the Heights (Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance). Tripp holds a B.A. in Dance from San Jose University. Learn more about Tripp here.

Jenelle Figgins, Guest Artist/Assistant Director/Associate Choreographer, is an acclaimed dancer, teacher, and choreographer who has performed internationally and been recognized for her achievements as a performer, most notably receiving a Princess Grace Award in 2014. She has performed with Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballet des Canadiens, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and more. In 2015, she was named one of Dance Magazine’s Top 25 to Watch. She has taught at universities across the nation and internationally at the Hinton Battle Dance Academy in Japan. She received her B.F.A. cum laude from SUNY Purchase Dance Conservatory and studied at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Kennedy Center Residency Program. Figgins aspires to impact artists and audiences toward their own human revolution through dance theater. Learn more about Figgins here.

David Pepin, Music Director, is an associate professor at Boston Conservatory, who joined the faculty last fall following 15 years on Broadway as a music director, conductor, and pianist for productions such as Wicked, Bring It On: The Musical, Kinky Boots, The Addams Family, Shrek the Musical, and Rent. He is the music supervisor for the current 25th anniversary farewell tour of Rent. He previously taught musical theater at Baldwin Wallace University. He teaches senior musical theater, pop/rock, and audition techniques. 

José Delgado, Music Director, joined the Boston Conservatory faculty in 2021 as an associate professor. He is an award-winning music director, accompanist, and vocalist who has performed, recorded, accompanied for and/or cotaught master classes with such musical luminaries as Jason Robert Brown, Alan Silvestri, Seiji Ozawa, the Boston Pops, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous schools throughout the greater Boston area, including Harvard University, Boston Conservatory, Emerson College, and Boston College. As an arranger and composer, Delgado has accompanied and/or had his original works performed by Tony, Grammy, and Obie award-winning Broadway and recording artists including Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), Darius de Haas (Children of Eden), and Laura Michelle Kelly (Mary Poppins). He was a vocal coach for the Boston pre-Broadway production of Moulin Rouge. Learn more about Delgado here.

Baron E. Pugh, Scenic Designer, is a native of Virginia Beach who received his B.A. in theater from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and his M.F.A. in scenic design from Boston University. Pugh has worked in the D.C. theater community as a scenic and lighting designer and stage manager. Select credits include: The Bluest Eye (Huntington Theater Company); The Wiz (Lyric Stage Company of Boston); The Hothouse, Ghosts, La Tragédie de Carmen, The Merchant of Venice (Boston University); Faithless (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); The Triumph of Love, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); A Streetcar Named Desire (the Little Theater of Alexandria); The Marriage of Figaro, The Elephant Man (George Mason University); Spring Awakening (scenic and lighting design, Dominion Stage); Medea (scenic and lighting design, Port City Playhouse). Learn more about Pugh here.

Aja M. Jackson, Co-lighting Design, is a Boston-based lighting designer whose credits include A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet (off-Broadway, DR2); Hear Word! (American Repertory Theatre and Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater NYC); Black Odyssey Boston (Central Square Theatre); Ragtime (Wheelock Family Theatre); We Are Proud to Present… (Brandeis University); Nat Turner in Jerusalem (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Straight White Men and Nixon's Nixon (New Rep); Leftovers (Company One—Strand Theatre); The Last Wife (WAM Theatre); Hot Water Over Raised Fists (Modern Connections); and FireBird (Abilities Dance Boston). Jackson is also the resident lighting designer and core collaborator for site-specific movement company HOLDTIGHT, and serves as board chair on the Board of Directors for Brighter Boston. Learn more about Jackson here and follow on Instagram @ajamjackson.

Brittany Meehan, Costume Designer, is excited to be a part of the design team for Rent after assisting on Boston Conservatory’s productions of Machinal, Winterworks, and Albert Herring. She has worked as a stitcher in the costume shop at A.R.T. and Huntington Theatre Company, and is the wardrobe supervisor for Central Square Theater. Currently, Meehan is designing Chicago at Stonehill College, and is the costume coordinator for The Wizard of Oz  at Wheelock Family Theatre. Learn more about Meehan here. 

Angie Jepson, Intimacy and Fight Choreographer, is an assistant professor at Boston Conservatory who teaches movement and stage combat courses. Her professional work has been seen at the Manhattan Theatre Club, American Repertory Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, Gloucester Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company, Central Square Theatre, Stoneham Theatre, and Boston Playwrights' Theatre. Along with teaching at the Conservatory, she also teaches at the University of Massachusetts Boston and in the Brown/Trinity M.F.A. acting program. Jepson received her B.F.A. in theater performance at Texas Christian University and her M.F.A. in acting from Brandeis University. She is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, and a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. Learn more about Jepson here.

Slick Jorgensen, Co-lighting Design, is a Chicago-based lighting designer. He has served as lighting designer with Definition Theatre Company, Jackalope Theatre, Sound Investment AV New York, the Roustabouts, and A Red Orchid Theatre. Assistant lighting design credits include Palm Beach Opera, Goodman, and Steppenwolf. Primarily dance based, he has worked at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Gallim Dance, Thodos Dance Chicago, American Dance Festival, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, and the Fly Honey Show. In addition to his design work, Jorgensen is an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician and works in IATSE Local 2 Stagehands and IATSE Local 476 Studio Mechanics.

CREATIVE TEAM
Director and Choreographer – Rickey Tripp
Music Director – Dave Pepin
Music Director – José Delgado
Associate Choreographer/Assistant Director – Jenelle Figgins
Scenic Design – Baron Pugh
Co-lighting Design – Aja M. Jackson
Co-lighting Design – Slick Jorgensen
Costume Design – Brittany Meehan
Intimacy and Fight Choreographer – Angie Jepson
Assistant Intimacy and Fight Choreographer – Jessica Scout Malone

PRODUCTION STAFF
Stage Manager – Katie Arnold
Assistant Stage Manager – Anna Richardson
Technical Director – Taylor Hansen
Associate Technical Director – Audrey Kimball
Assistant Technical Director – Betsy Pierce
Lighting Supervisor – Matthew Martino
Assistant to the Costume Designer – Amanda Caswell
Costume Shop Manager – Alison Pugh
Audio Supervisor/A1 – Steve Younkins
A2 – Lexie Lankiewicz
Stage Supervisor – Andrew Wissman
Wardrobe Manager – Becky Thorogood
Wardrobe Assistant – Kiara Escalera
Draper/Stitcher – Caroline Seeley, Sam Martin
Stitcher – Carly Wilcox

STUDENT PRODUCTION STAFF
Assistant Stage Managers – Emily Hanson, Annabella Hunt
Costume Assistants – Theo Brown, Penn Burrall, Jacob Fincannon, Alyssa Lucas
Wardrobe Crew – Kendrah Wellman, Kira Avolio
Run Crew – Jake Siffert
Spot Operators – Sylvie Schuetz, Mabel White, Anabella Cario
Light Board Operator – Carson Hollingsworth
Rehearsal Accompaniment – Ben Laham
Intimacy Captain – Jordan Aaron Hall
Fight Captain – Jack Manning
Dance Captain – Bailey Greeman
Videographer – Keegan Sells
Production Assistants – Evelyn Dumeer, Emily Hanson, Meghan Hoey, Julia Grace Kelley, Olivia Monarch, Carly Nadeau, Brogan Nelson, Kalika Reece, Cooper Sheehy