A new production of RENT is set to play Japan this summer, starring some familiar faces.
Directed by Trey Ellett, the production will star a mixture of Japanese and Broadway talent, including Elan d'or winner Koji Yamamoto as Mark, Alex Boniello (Dear Evan Hansen) as Roger, Crystal Kay as Maureen, Chabely Ponce as Mimi, Jordan Dobson (Hadestown, A Beautiful Noise) as Angel, and Aaron A. Harrington (Little Shop of Horrors) as Collins.
Yamamoto previously played Mark in the first Japanese production of the musical in 1998, reprising his role 26 years later. Boniello previously played Roger in the 2023 Kennedy Center concert production, opposite Andrew Barth Feldman.
They will be supported by an ensemble that will include DevinRé Adams, Alana Cauthen, Travon Moore, Tori Palin, Stephen Rochet and James Schoppe, with swings RYO, Kirk Lydell, and Analise Rios. Additional cast members will be announced at a later date.
Set in Manhattan in the 1990s and inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, RENT follows a group of young East Village artists, performers, and philosophers as they struggle through the hardships of poverty, societal discord, and the AIDS epidemic in the search for life, love, and art.
Originally directed by Michael Greif, RENT opened at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre April 29, 1996, following previews that began April 16. The musical received 10 1996 Tony nominations, subsequently winning four, including Best Musical. Jonathan Larson's work also won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. After 16 previews and 5,123 regular performances, the production played its final show September 7, 2008.
In addition to Ellett, the creative team will feature music supervisor Tim Weil, dramaturg Lynn Thomson, and music arranger Steve Skinner.
RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop, and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon, and New York Theatre Workshop. RENT in Japan is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
Beginning performances in Tokyo August 21, the English-language production will play through September 8 at the Tokyo Theatre Orb before transferring to Osaka's Sky Theater MBS for a run September 11 through 15.
For more information, visit Rent2024.jp.
