Last month, the producers of Rent announced that the show will close on Broadway this summer after a 12-year run. But fans of the musical need not panic: The show will continue to tour.
Tonight the touring cast of Rent takes the stage at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium as part of the Performing Arts Series. A rock opera based on Puccini's La Boheme, Rent tells the story of a group of young artists struggling to live and celebrate life in New York City. The Post's Anna Sudar talked to actress Christine Dwyer, who plays Maureen, about her career, the end of the Broadway show and the ups and downs of touring.
The Post: It says in your bio that you graduated from college in May and Rent was the show that started off your acting career. How did that happen for you?
Christine Dwyer: Actually, I had a friend who was on the tour last year who told me to send in my head shot because they were looking for a new Maureen, and I did that kind of on a whim and a couple days later auditioned G? then a week later I'm being called to come to rehearsal. It all happened really fast, but it was really exciting.
Post: So were you a Rent fan before you auditioned?
Dwyer: Definitely. I've known the show since it came out when I was in 7th grade. I knew all the words before coming here, and it's pretty amazing as an actor to be able to play a dream role at the beginning of your career.
Post: Would you mind summing up the show and talking a little about your character?
Dwyer: The show is set in the late '80s, early '90s, when the AIDS crisis is running rampant, and two characters ' Mark and Roger ' live together. Roger has AIDS and Mark does not. It's basically their struggle to keep positive through all of the bad things that are going on within their group of friends. And my character is Mark's ex-girlfriend, who has turned lesbian, who is a performance artist and anarchist, and she's trying to raise the village voice against the man.
Post: When you were younger did you ever see yourself playing Maureen?
Dwyer: A lot of young girls are attracted to Mimi, the lead character, so I always dreamed I would play her until I was old enough to realize that I couldn't because she's supposed to be ethnic. So then my sights changed to Maureen. She's just a wonderful character. She gets a great entrance into the show and she's a lot of fun.
Post: Have you gotten a lot of reaction from audiences that Rent is closing on Broadway?
Dwyer: Yeah. A lot of fans have written me MySpace messages and asked me if the tour was going to close, and I know the tour is not closing. It's had a great run. It's been there for 12 years, and I'm sure that at some point it will come back. It's sad, but I think it will give the tour kind of a new meaning 'cause that will be the only way to see it. (There are) so many diehard fans that the show has affected their lives so deeply G? It's not going anywhere; it just won't be in New York.
Post: Are there challenges being such a young actor on tour?
Dwyer: Yeah I've never had to do a run of a show longer then ten performances, and we just hit our 100th performance a couple days ago. As a performer, I was nervous 'cause it's hard to sing the show all the time and it's a hard schedule G? I was afraid I would get sick all the time. But being on tour with people who have been on tour before, they really help you through it, and I'm not even the youngest person on this tour. We had someone who just graduated high school G? I can't imagine being that age and going into something like this. At least I have college experience.
Post: Have you been able to meet any original cast members?
Dwyer: We got to go to the Broadway show 'cause Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp came back to play Mark and Roger for a while. It was pretty crazy to see our Mark and Roger shake the hands of Pascal and Rapp.
Post: What do you think people will be taking away from the show?
Dwyer: I think that the biggest thing was that it's never worth it to wallow in the bad things that are going on in your life ... It's always better to just stay positive because you never know what can happen. The best thing is to live each day to its fullest and love the people you're with for all their differences and accept people because people enter your life for a reason.
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