With a cast featuring several members of a close-knit cohort of University of Michigan theater students and a director whose association with the musical goes back to its first national tour, Farmers Alley Theatre's production of Renthas echoes of the intertwined lives of the its characters. Two actors — Jason Koch (Mark) and Mari Collado (Mimi) — plus director Trey Ellett and artistic director Jeremy Koch, talked to Cara Lieurance about the now-classic 1996 rock musical by Jonathan Larson.
Originally a slice-of-Bohemian-life in New York City in the AIDS era, the musical mirrors today's issues with ease: the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of deadly recreational drugs like Fentanyl and Oxycontin, insecure housing for the young, poor, and jobless, and societal marginalization of LGBTQ individuals. Keeping hope and artistic dreams alive in the face of those issues is at the center of Rent's story, according to Ellett. Jason Koch and Mari Collado discuss how their characters cope with life and live in song. They listen to "Rent," "Season of Love," "Take Me or Leave Me," and "What You Own."
Rent runs from Jun 23 - Jul 1.