In honor of two milestones in the history of the Broadway rock opera, Rent — namely, the sixth anniversary of the opening April 29 and the 2,500th performance April 26 — all seats to the April 30 performance are going for a song.
The producers of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical announced that tickets to the Tuesday April 30 show will be offered at a special $20 rate. Those tickets go on sale 2 PM April 26 — the day of the 2,500th performance — at the Nederlander Theatre box office, 208 W. 41st Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
(The show actually opened April 29, 1996, but it's being celebrated April 30.)
When Rent opened in 1996, its producers—to insure that everyone could afford to see the show from the best seats in the house—began selling the first two rows of seats to every performance for $20 on the day of show. Rent fans regularly lined up overnight to purchase the tickets, "helping to make the policy the huge success that it still is today," according to the producers. "Since then every production of Rent—both in the United States and internationally—has employed the policy and many other Broadway shows have since adopted the practice."
Rent, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif, opened at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre, on April 29, 1996 following a sold-out, extended, limited engagement at off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop. The musical went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Larson died of an undiagnosed heart ailment on the eve of the Off-Broadway staging and never go to see his show become an international success.
Rent's education program continues with special student matinees Wednesday April 17; Thursday April 25; and Wednesday May 15. Before seeing one of the matinees, students from all over the tri-state area (and beyond) study the musical and participate in workshops with Rent cast and crew. Selected students also perform a monologue from the stage of the Nederlander Theatre.
The current cast of the East Village-set Rent, which is inspired by Puccini's La Boheme, is Karmine Alers, Maggie Benjamin, Trey Ellett, Amy Erlich, Mark Richard Ford, Stu James, Owen Johnston II, Darryl Ordell, Todd E. Pettiford, Manley Pope, Chad Richardson, Jai Rodriguez, Kim Varhola, Myiia Watson-Davis, and Maia Nkenge Wilson.
Tickets for Rent’s sixth anniversary celebration on 8 PM April 30 are $20, limited to two per person, and must be paid for in person with cash at the Nederlander Theatre box office, 208 West 41 Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, on Friday April 26, beginning at 2 PM. There are no phone sales for this special offer.
