Rent Opens July 9th

TCR closes its 2009-10 season with the smash Broadway hit Rent, opening July 9th.

Jonathan Larson worked for years on his hip adaptation of Puccini's La bohème only to die on the weekend of its premiere. His ultimate goal was to "bring musical theatre to the MTV generation." The show was an overnight sensation, and it ran from 1996 to 2008.

The piece updates Puccini's opera, moving the action from Paris to the East Village and replacing tuberculosis with AIDS. The characters struggle with life, death, identity and the search for love, and the songs are filled with passion and humor.

Rent's producers would famously give out cheap front-row tickets to "rentheads" who camped out in front of the theatre. In a nod to this tradition, TCR will be holding drawings for $5 "Super Rush" tickets to its production.

Rent runs July 9 - 25, 7:30 (2:30 on Sundays), at the Iowa Theatre Building. Normal ticket prices are $20-$25, $15 for youth, $12 for Rush. More information here.