When Rent, The Broadway Tour pulls into its whistle stop at The Orange County
Performing Arts Center from October 20 through October 25, it will have three
very special guests on board. Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Gwen Stewart (the
original “Seasons Of Love” soloist) will be reprising the roles that brought them
acclaim during Rent’s original run on Broadway in 1996 and beyond.
Rent first emerged on the Broadway scene, chronicling artistic types who were
struggling to balance their impoverished lives and creative endeavors. The show
struck a giant chord with the theater-going populace. And, today its relevance
can be seen in every headline dealing with the economy and on the face of every
person who has to toil in order to survive.
Unfortunately Jonathan Larson, the man who penned the lyrics, music and
book for Rent, would not be able to see how applicable the hopeful musical would
be now. In fact, he never got to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He died suddenly the
night prior to its off-Broadway debut in 1996.
The musical, based upon on the Puccini opera La Boheme, also dealt with the
AIDS epidemic in New York’s East Village, and went on to win both the 1996 Pulit-
zer Prize for Drama and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Score and Best
Book. Among its other achievements were acting nods for Pascal, who received
a Tony and a Drama Desk nomination, and two wins with an Obie and Theatre
World award as best actor for his portrayal of Roger Davis; a rock musician coping
with both being HIV-positive and the suicide of his girlfriend.
Pascal would go on to reprise the role in the London production of Rent, the
2005 film based upon the musical, as well as a 2007 touring production.
The Rage Monthly spoke with Pascal about the full circle world that Rent has
become, and how his involvement with the show again has afforded him a happy
musical homecoming. “Well, Anthony (Rapp) and I had gone back to the Broad-
way production in the summer of 2007—just to do a 12-week stint. And it went
really well, and we had a wonderful time doing it,” Pascal explained. “The show did
really well; and there seemed to be a lot of excitement and interest around the
two of us coming back to the show.
I guess the producers thought that it would be a good idea to build a tour
around the two of us, to see if that would continue throughout the country,” he
said. “It seemed like a great way to close that chapter of performing in the show
for me; to take what it was, at least partially, when it was the original cast and take
it out to the rest of the country.”
For Pascal, the passage of time also helps in keeping the role of Roger fresh each
time he takes to the stage, and he explained how the role is always evolving after
playing him on and off for more than a decade.
“It’s a very different experience this time,” he stated. “There’s not all of that
emotional baggage that was there when we first performed the show on Broad-
way; the death of Jonathan Larson and all of the stuff that went on with the rapid
success of the show. The role is different because I’m a different person, and I also
bring 12 years of age to the role that I didn’t have before, and a lot of life experi- in this stage of its history?
ence. I think I’ve had more life experience in the 12 years since I did Rent, than in “It would have been nice if the show ran forever, but it ran for 13 years and that’s
the 25 years I had lived up until that point. So, I think in subtle ways it all shows up amazing,” he recanted about the seventh longest-running Broadway show. “It’s
in the performance.” historic at this point.
Since Pascal has spent his time in the trenches with all aspects of Rent, he was And certainly at this point in my life, and today’s economy with what’s going
quick to cite his favorite aspect of being associated with the phenomenon of on with jobs; there’s a lot of my friends in the business who don’t have jobs, I’m
the show’s endurance. “The effect that it has on the audience,” Pascal answered. thrilled to have a job. As we tour, you see a lot of people are hurting, it’s obvious.”
“Being involved in something, and first realizing that we were touching people so As for Pascal’s life after Rent, the married father of two has his fair share of gain-
deeply—that’s an incredible, incredible gift to be able to be a part of something ful employment lined up for himself, and seems on par with the message of Rent
that does that for people. It’s the best part of this whole experience.” to not let the tough times get the better of him.
Pascal is glad to report that all of the actors get along famously and exclaimed “There are a couple of different musical theater projects on the horizon, one of
that “It’s just the greatest cast I could ever imagine!” which I’m putting together as a producer and to star in it,” he revealed.
Since Rent has taken its Broadway bow and is enjoying success with the national
touring company, is there a bittersweet feeling for Pascal to be a part of the show For Rent showtimes and ticket information, log onto
ocpac.org
OctOber 2009 | RAGE monthly 13
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