The producers of Rent on Broadway will transport the entire original cast to Boston Nov. 18, to sit in the audience the opening night of the second company at the Shubert Theatre. It will be the first time the cast will have seen the show in its entirety from the other side of the footlights. The arrangement was made possible because the Boston cast opens on a Monday night, when the Broadway cast has off.
Trivia buffs will note two strange coincidences involved with the opening. The Broadway production opened at the Nederlander Theatre (named for one of Broadway's "big three" theatre-owning companies), which had just undergone a renovation. The Boston company will open at the Shubert Theatre (also named for one of the "big three") which also just underwent a renovation.
-- By Robert Viagas