'RENT' Makes Stop At Kimmel Cultural Campus' Merriam Theater For 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The touring cast of the musical "RENT" has entertained Philadelphia theater fans for over two decades. Well now, it's time to say goodbye.
The musical's 25th-anniversary farewell tour is making a stop at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Merriam Theater beginning Friday.
After 25 years, the Tony award-winning musical "RENT" is making its final curtain call.
"This is like the last time that this particular production is touring, I know it's the last time these costumes are being used, like the directions, like everything, it's sorta like saying bye to this monumental-like staging that was originally 25 years ago," Lyndie Moe said.
Moe, a Delaware native, attended the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington and plays the role of Maureen Johnson.
"It's just one of those shows that isn't just a fluff musical or anything like that," Moe said.
Loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera "La boheme," "RENT" tells the story of a group of Bohemian artists struggling to live in New York's East Village during the AIDS epidemic.
"RENT is full of real people, real voices, real stories, real situations people go through," Shafiq Hicks, a Philadelphia native, said. "Relationships, loss, grief, death, disease, all of these real issues that people are going through today, and also synonymous with the AIDS crisis and COVID crisis right now, just many parallels, so much so that so many people are able to see themselves on stage."
Hicks is a CAPA grad and a Temple University voice major. He plays the role of Tom Collins.
"A lot of the songs are just simply great, I'll Cover You, Take Me or Leave Me, these duets that people have, are just simply iconic," Hicks said.
And Moe and Hicks are promising to bring their "A" game as the show takes its final bow.
"You know how Philly is, you know how we are harsh critics, harsh critics, so you know you have to amp it up a little bit, just try to make sure you're crossing all of your t's and dotting all your i's in the performance," Hicks said.
The "RENT" 25th-anniversary farewell tour runs Friday night through Sunday at the Kimmel Cultural Campus' Merriam Theater.
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