RENT INFORMATION PACK 9 13 JULY 2019 THE GREAT HALL AT THE LEYS BOOK, MUSIC & LYRICS BY JONATHAN LARSON

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1 RENT BOOK, MUSIC & LYRICS BY JONATHAN LARSON 9 13 JULY 2019 THE GREAT HALL AT THE LEYS INFORMATION PACK

2 OFFICIAL OVERVIEW Based on Puccini s beloved opera La Bohème, RENT follows the ups and downs of a year in the life of a group of impoverished, artistic friends living in Manhattan s East Village. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, struggles to find his place in the world; his roommate Roger, an HIVpositive musician, wonders how he will leave his mark before he dies. Mimi and Angel look for true love as they face the harsh reality of life as HIV-positive young people, while the business like Joanne seeks fidelity from her wild-child performance artist girlfriend Maureen. The group s dreams, losses, and love stories weave through the musical s narration to paint a stunningly raw and emotional portrait of the gritty bohemian world of New York City in the late 1980s, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. RENT CREATIVE TEAM Director Emily Starr Musical Director James Harvey Produced by Louis Ling for Cambridge Theatre Company CTC s Priscilla Queen of the Desert CTC s Les Misérables School Edition 2

3 CAMBRIDGE THEATRE COMPANY Cambridge Theatre Company (CTC) was founded in 2015 by Louis Ling.Our shows encourage full community involvement and offer a range of opportunities for performers, both young and old, to participate in high quality theatre. In the last 3 years, we have produced over 13 musicals and plays in a number of different venues in Cambridge and we now perform to over 9000 people each year. In 2018, Cambridge Theatre Trust was formed, and we are proud to announce that we were granted charitable status in October This new phase in our development will allow us to secure funding in order to take us to the next level. We very much hope that you will continue to support us at this exciting time. DIRECTOR S VISION Emily Starr, Director Rent is set in New York City s East Village. It s urban, gritty, and the characters are creatives and artists all living for the day. They are surviving through passion alone in a world that punishes them for being individual. Rent tackles themes of Love, Life and Death; how life is precious and there is no day but today. For the set design I hope to recreate some of the key urban aspects of NYC, using scaffolding to create levels, ladders to recreate NY building fire escapes with coloured festoon lighting and graffiti adding to the colour and fun of the show because, despite the sadness that overshadows the show, it is also full of vitality. Having a put-together feel to the set encapsulates the bohemian nature of the characters and the idea of having to make ends meet. What always strikes me about the show is the tragic backstory. The show s creator and writer, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly before the opening of the off-broadway performance of Rent from an undiagnosed aortic aneurism. Although the show is loosely based on Puccini s La Boheme, it is also a part autobiographical account of Larson s life. His girlfriend left him for another woman. He lived just down the road from the East Village, and he used to throw down his house keys to friends as his buzzer wasn t working. Every time the show is performed it becomes a tribute to Jonathan Larson. For this reason, we are looking for an open, energetic cast that are going to approach the material with sensitivity and truth. We hope you can join us. CTC s Peter Pan Cambridge Theatre Trust trading as Cambridge Theatre Company. Cambridge Theatre Trust is a registered charity in England & Wales (no ). 3

4 AUDITIONS Saturday 9th March, 10am-4pm Friday 15th March, 7-10pm Saturday 16th March, 10am-4pm To request an audition slot, us at camtheatrecompany.co.uk. Mention your preferred audition session and whether you wish to audition for a principal or ensemble role. AUDITION VENUE 54th Cambridge St Georges Scout HQ, adjacent to Chesterton Primary School, Green End Road, Cambridge CB4 1RW CTC s Priscilla Queen of the Desert FORMAT OF THE AUDITIONS The auditions will start with an introduction by the team. After that, in timed audition slots, there will be individual singing and acting auditions for the Ensemble and for Principal roles. CTC s Little Women 4

5 KEY DATES REHEARSAL SCHEDULE Tuesday and Friday rehearsals will run from 7:30pm to 10:00pm with some daytime Sunday rehearsals in Cambridge. Rehearsal venues will be announced in due course. April 28*, 30 May 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 26*, 28, 31, June 2*, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 23*, 25, 28 July 2, 5 *Sundays, 11am-5pm 28 April, 26 May, 2 June, 23 June PRODUCTION FEE In Cambridge many groups charge a production fee to assist with costs for the production. This will be 47 for RENT. This fee will also cover a show shirt. Sunday 28th April First Rehearsal, 11am-5pm Friday 5th July Sitzprobe, 7pm-10.30pm TBC Monday 8th July Dress Rehearsal, call at 6pm PERFORMANCES Tuesday 9 July 7.30pm (call at 6pm) Wednesday 10 July 7.30pm (call at 6pm) Thursday 11 July 7.30pm (call at 6pm) Friday 12 July 7.30pm (call at 6pm) Saturday 13 July 2.30pm and 7.30pm (call at 1pm) A full rehearsal schedule will be sent out about 6 weeks before the first rehearsal. It s important to give us any dates for which you will be unavailable. Please indicate these on the audition form, which you ll hand in at your audition. This will assist us with preparing the rehearsal schedule. 5

6 RENT CHARACTERS Please note that the ages listed just serve as a guide. All roles are available, and casting is open. Newcomers to Cambridge Theatre Company are welcome and encouraged. PRINCIPALS (MALE): ROGER DAVIS Male, age 25 to 35 Vocal range top: A4 Vocal range bottom: F2 A struggling musician and former drug addict. He is reminiscent of Kurt Cobain. He is roommates with Mark in the loft and battles with being HIV-positive. MARK COHEN Male, age 25 to 35 Vocal range top: G4 Vocal range bottom: A2 Filmmaker and video artist. Knee deep in his own soul-searching, Mark is the typical young artist. He and Roger are roommates in the loft. A bit of a nerd. TOM COLLINS Male, age 25 to 40 Vocal range top: A4 Vocal range bottom: F#2 A computer genius and liberal professor. He is a nurturer with a smooth and relaxed disposition. Used to be a roommate in the loft and is HIV-positive. BENJAMIN COFFIN III Male, age 25 to 40 Vocal range top: F#4 Vocal range bottom: Bb2 The landlord of Mark and Roger s apartment building. A former roommate in the loft, Benny traded in his personal morals for power and wealth. ANGEL DUMOTT SCHUNARD Male, age 20 to 30 Vocal range top: A4 Vocal range bottom: C3 The eccentric HIV-positive street drummer. A drag queen with an incredible gift of dance and a magnetic personality. He becomes Tom s lover. PRINCIPALS (FEMALE): JOANNE JEFFERSON Female, age 25 to 40 Vocal range top: E5 Vocal range bottom: G3 A public interest lawyer and headstrong lesbian. She is smart and purposeful in all her decisions. Carries on a tumultuous relationship with Maureen. MIMI MARQUEZ Female, age 18 to 25 Vocal range top: E5 Vocal range bottom: Eb3 An HIV-positive stripper with drug addictions. Slender and sickly, she conceals it all at her job in the local strip club. She lives in the same building as the loft. MAUREEN JOHNSON Female, age 20 to 35 Vocal range top: F5 Vocal range bottom: C4 An unpredictably zany performance artist. Maureen oozes sexuality and used to live in the loft. She has recently dumped Mark for Joanne. ENSEMBLE Homeless Men and Women; Junkies; Parents (Mrs. Cohen, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson); Support Group (Steve, Gordon) 6

7 MUSIC FOR SINGING AUDITIONS Please prepare your own musical theatre rock song but not from RENT and bring your own sheet music along with you. Additionally, you will need to prepare one of the musical numbers from the show (see below). Ensemble auditionees should choose one of the excerpts to prepare, as well as their own song. In all cases we will provide musical underscore and speak/sing in other lines. ANGEL Start end of b6, go to b46 (we may stop after only 1 verse), no need to do the drumming unless you particularly want to! BENNY Start upbeat to b39, go on to b70 COLLINS Start upbeat to b22, go on to b38 JOANNE Start to bar 24 MARK Whole page (Mark s line in b2 is Maureen calls ; the other dialogue is Roger) MAUREEN Start to b45 ROGER OR MIMI Start to b44 ENSEMBLE FEMALE Whole page (it will be unconducted); we ll provide only the first note ENSEMBLE MALE Bars ENSEMBLE Bars (including final line)