During the Redwood premiere, Idina Menzel was accompanied by a few well-known acquaintances.
Members of the original 1996 Broadway production of Rent came together on Thursday, February 13, to commemorate Menzel’s new show’s premiere.
Fredi Walker (Joanne), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel), and Anthony Rapp (Mark) provided support for Menzel, who portrayed Maureen in the original Broadway show.
Rapp, Heredia, and Walker sat for pictures with Michael Greif, the original director of Rent, outside the Nederlander Theatre while Menzel was getting ready for the performance.
On its Stories, Redwood’s Instagram account included a video of the group snapping pictures with the remark, “The original company of Rent.”
Menzel portrays Jesse in the play, a woman who has “a successful career and devoted family — until a life-altering event drives her far from everyone and everything she knows.”
“When she finds herself at the foot of the redwoods in Northern California, a chance encounter and a leap of faith will change her life forever,” according to an official description.
Six years have passed since her former cast members met on the red carpet during Fox’s live television presentation of Rent in 2019. For an encore performance of “Seasons of Love,” the anthem of Rent, the original cast members join the television cast.
Along with Rapp, Heredia, Walker, and Menzel, the special performance featured ensemble members Gilles Chiasson, Rodney Hicks, and Timothy Britten Parker, as well as original cast members Adam Pascal (Roger), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Mimi), Jesse L. Martin (Tom Collins), and Taye Diggs (Benny).
The tale of a group of New York City artists coping with the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1989 is told in Rent, which is largely based on the opera La Boheme.
On January 25, 1996, the evening before Rent’s off-Broadway debut at the New York Theatre Workshop, creator Jonathan Larson passed away. The Broadway production debuted on April 29, 1996, and ran for 12 years, putting on 5,123 shows before closing on September 07, 2008.
It was praised by critics and went on to win numerous honors, such as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical.
