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'Rent' Comes To Stamford's Curtain Call Theatre

STAMFORD, Conn. -- "Rent," the musical that brought AIDS to the forefront of the American conscience and won four Tony Awards, will make its debut in Stamford at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre on Friday, Sept. 12.

Two of the leading ladies of Rent at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre in Stamford are (left) Rachel Schulte, of Stamford, and Norwalk's Saige Bryan. The show will play Sept. 12 through Oct. 11.

Two of the leading ladies of Rent at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre in Stamford are (left) Rachel Schulte, of Stamford, and Norwalk's Saige Bryan. The show will play Sept. 12 through Oct. 11.

Photo Credit: Contributed
From left are Richard Cummings of Norwalk as Mark Cohen, Kevin Thompson also from Norwalk  as Benny and Ben McCormack  from Trumbull as Roger Davis in Curtain Call's production of Rent.

From left are Richard Cummings of Norwalk as Mark Cohen, Kevin Thompson also from Norwalk as Benny and Ben McCormack from Trumbull as Roger Davis in Curtain Call's production of Rent.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Mimi is Sofia Weinberg of Westport, right, and Ben McCormack as Roger Davis are part of the cast for Rent, which debuts at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre in Stamford on Sept. 12.

Mimi is Sofia Weinberg of Westport, right, and Ben McCormack as Roger Davis are part of the cast for Rent, which debuts at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre in Stamford on Sept. 12.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Two of the leading ladies of Rent at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre in Stamford are (left) Rachel Schulte, of Stamford, and Norwalk's Saige Bryan. The show will play Sept. 12 through Oct. 11.

Two of the leading ladies of Rent at Curtain Call's Kweskin Theatre in Stamford are (left) Rachel Schulte, of Stamford, and Norwalk's Saige Bryan. The show will play Sept. 12 through Oct. 11.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Actors from Stamford, Norwalk, Westport, Bridgeport, Yonkers and Croton help make up the cast for the show, which won a Tony Award for Best Musical.

The show runs for five weekends through Oct. 11 and kicks off Curtain Call's 24th season. 

The original production of "Rent" closed after 12 years on Sept. 7, 2008, making it the seventh-longest-running musical in Broadway history.

Based loosely on Puccini’s opera "La Boheme," "Rent" is a gritty show of our day. It follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Alphabet City instead of in Paris.

The characters live with HIV/AIDS. The complications of the disease — treated with AZT at the time but still a death sentence for many — pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Collins, and Angel. Benny, a former roommate of Roger and Mark, married well, gave up his bohemian dreams and bought the building they all live in.

"'Rent' is definitely a show outside the norm for us," said Curtain Call executive director Lou Ursone, producer for this production. "We always try to mix it up each season with our programming, providing one or two options that are less mainstream and Rent is one of those shows."

Deb Failla, who has directed many successful shows at Curtain Call, is the director and Peter Randazzo is the music director. The set design is by Curtain Call associate artistic director Peter Barbieri Jr.; lighting design by Ellie Mallardi, and costumes by Megan Latte Ormond, who is also in the cast. 

Others in the cast include, from STAMFORD: Sara DeFelice, Eric Hu, Ormond, Zully Ramos, Ethan Gabriel Riordan, Rachel Schulte, Will Strong; Jonathan Wu; from NORWALK: Saige Bryan, Richard Cummings, Emily Frangipane, Bobby Pavia, Kevin Thompson; from STRATFORD: Katie Imholt, Kevin Kiley, Dashon Pratt, Katelyn Wilson; from WESTPORT: Sofia Weinberg; from TRUMBULL: Ben McCormack; from BROOKFIELD: Kevin Cooper; from BRIDGEPORT: Demerre Files; from SHELTON: Emily Lessard; from YONKERS, N.Y.: Nic Anthony Calabro; and from CROTON ON THE HUDSON, N.Y.: Libby Whitely.

"Rent" will generally play Friday through Sunday each weekend. Thursday performances are scheduled for Sept. 25, Oct. 2 and Oct. 9. Tickets range from $16 for students and $24 for seniors to $32 for adults.

For complete information on show times and tickets, visit the Curtain Call website.

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