Previously sold out “Rent” adds Thursday show

525,600 minutes. That’s the number of minutes in a year and in the lyrics for the song “Seasons of Love,” part of the Broadway musical “Rent” presented by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Theatre & Dance at the Kennedy Theatre through this Sunday, March 9.

The show opened Feb. 28. Performances for Friday, March 7, Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, were sold out days ahead of the shows, so a new stage performance has been added for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, faculty told Aloha State Daily. 

The musical is directed by Joshua “Baba” Tavares, an assistant professor of acting at UH Mānoa. The Broadway musical is based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera, “La  Bohème,” which shares the tale of a poor artist and poet and their roommates living in Paris in the 1830s. "Rent" tells the story of struggling young artists in New York City during the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic.

“Even though the show is set in a specific time, its challenges feel just as relevant today, especially here in Hawai‘i,” said Tavares in a written statement. “Homelessness, gentrification, substance abuse, mental health struggles, displacement and finding a way forward after a devastating disease – are we talking about the ʻ80s and ʻ90s or are we talking about today? … But ʻRent’ isn’t just about struggle — it’s about hope, tolerance, human rights and above all, aloha. It’s about love.” 

While driving through Kakaʻako, Tavares has observed graffitii and homelessness near high rise luxury apartment buildings.

“Kakaʻako, Chinatown — there are places [in Hawaiʻi] that are very similar to the Lower East Side of Manhattan that we see in the play,” he told ASD. “The issues still are very relevant today. ... It's not this period piece that only happened in that time.”

Tavares is no stranger to this show. In fact, he took the stage as one of its leading characters, Angel, in the 20th anniversary national tour of “Rent,” which made a stop in Hawaiʻi at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall in 2019.

“We worked with the original Broadway creative team, which was really cool,” he said. “What was really special about it was coming home to the Blaisdell and performing there.”

“Rent” earned the Pulitzer Prize for drama and Tony Awards for best musical, best original score, best book and best actor in a featured role in a musical. 

In this show, the cast of 25 includes mostly students, as well as a law professor and one member of the community “but hopefully, maybe he's interested in joining the program in the future,” Tavares said.

Rehearsals started about three months ago, in December, he added. The show features Kaʻenaaloha Watson as Mimi; Ikaika Mendez as Roger; Jack Romans as Mark; Casey Kekoa Lauti as Angel; Keanu Roe as Collins; Ainsley Shearer as Maureen; Daniella Addeo-Cortes as Joanne; and Dean Soʻoalo as Benny.

For the cast’s opening performances, Tavares sat in the back. But for the third show, he took a seat in the second row and “took off my director hat and just became an audience member,” he told ASD.

“I was so moved by the performances of these actors,” Tavares said. “They really are invested. They're living truthfully in the story. You don't feel like you're watching young actors who are studying and still training. ... This show has brought 25 actors together, and they are — for those two and a half hours in Kennedy Theatre — they are pouring their hearts out. They're giving it all they got. The band is playing live music for them.”

“It’s the magic of theater,” he said. “It's a collaborative art. It takes a village — so many people from the front-of-house crew, to the ushers, to the sound, to the costume and makeup, and hair, and lighting, and everybody — they're pouring their love into this story. And it shows when those actors step on stage. You hear it, and you feel it in the music.” 

Can’t make the new Thursday show? Show up to the box office an hour before sold out performances to be added to a waitlist and admitted if there are no-shows or cancelations. Tickets are $8 for students, $15 for youth, $22 for faculty, staff and military and $25 for adults. Buy Tickets for Thursday's show.

Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.