Rent's Due

A A A Comments By Susan Froyd Thursday, Jun 4 2009

One of the longest running musicals on Broadway, Rent succeeded because it was a true rock opera, based on one of the most beloved classical operas of all time, Puccini’s La Bohème. Fast-forwarded in time to the struggling, AIDS-haunted arts community camped out on New York’s Lower East Side during the early ´90s, the musical (and then, the movie) borrowed all the right melodramatic elements from Puccini: Love, death, grief, pathos and pain, not to mention a tragic backstory in which the musical’s real-life creator Jonathan Larson died right before the show took off on Broadway. What’s not to love?

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Well, here’s the deal: Rent opens June 9 at 8 p.m. at the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, for a short run that continues through Sunday, June 14, and it even features original cast members Adam Pascal and Adam Rapp in the lead roles of HIV-positive songwriter Roger Davis and filmmaker Mark Cohen. Are they too long in the tooth to reprise the youthful roles they first performed more than ten years ago? Nope, say the fans. The show must go on.

Tickets for Rent start at $20 and top out at $95; for reservations visit www.denvercenter.org or call 303-893-4100.
Thu., July 23, 7 p.m.; July 24-25, 1 & 7 p.m.; Sun., July 26, 1 p.m., 2009

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What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.