Award-winning producer LPD Productions has declared there is “no day like today” as it announces the multi-Tony Award-winning rock musical by Jonathan Larson, RENT, will embark on a national tour in 2024. The musical will commence in Brisbane in January 2024 followed by seasons in Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth and Canberra, with tickets on sale in coming months.
Step into the vibrant streets of New York City’s East Village, where dreams are born, friendships are tested, and the power of love prevails against all odds. Featuring the iconic songs Seasons of Love, Take Me or Leave Me and La Vie Bohème, this ground-breaking phenomenon is more than a musical; it’s a celebration of life, love, and the human spirit.
“With RENT, Jonathan Larson unleashed a phenomenon – it would be difficult to find someone who hasn’t at least heard of it,” said producer Lauren Peters. “RENT is the musical of the 1990s and the early-aughts but it has proved itself timeless.”
“The characters who live in the East Village of 1990s New York navigate that which resonates so deeply with us in Australia in 2024: cost of living pressures, the threat of preventable disease, the subtle feeling that all the ways in which we can now communicate belie our disconnection.”
“And all of this sounds terribly heavy but RENT somehow takes all this and turns it into a joyous celebration of connection, chosen family, and life itself – and it’s that joy in the face of all of life’s adversity and opportunity that is perhaps best captured in its iconic number Seasons of Love, a song which has achieved the rarest of Broadway feats and transcended the show for which it was written.”
“I can’t wait to bring RENT back to the Australian stage in this brand-new never-before-seen production. This show hasn’t toured here since 1998! I feel very lucky to be a part of Jonathan Larson’s phenomenon, and I know our audiences will feel exactly the same way.”
Jonathan Larson’s RENT opened Off-Broadway in 1996 and quickly became a global phenomenon. The show earned Larson multiple Tony Awards along with a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a distinction not received again by a music theatre work until 14 years later.
Though Larson himself never saw the impact of his masterwork – he died suddenly in the early hours of the day the show opened to the public – its longevity serves as a testament to the emotional resonance of his creation and an embodiment of its ever-present message “no day but today”.
Don’t miss the chance to discover the show that took Broadway by storm!
RENT plays the Playhouse – QPAC, Brisbane (27 January – 11 February), before playing State Theatre – Arts Centre Melbourne (17 February – 7 March), Civic Theatre, Newcastle (15 – 17 March), His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth (11 – 26 May) and Canberra Theatre (7 – 16 June). For more information, visit: www.rentmusical.au for details.
Image: RENT (supplied)