CRT opens 2010 summer season with musical ‘Rent,’ May 28-June 6

The Nutmeg Summer Series opens Friday, May 28 with the rock musical, Rent, which runs through June 6 at UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre (in lower Jorgensen).

Its unforgettable songs – including  “Seasons of Love,” “No Day but Today” and “One Song Glory” – propelled Rent (book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson) to become one of the ten longest-running shows on Broadway.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Rent’s rock opera is the story of struggling young artists, based on Puccini’s La Boheme, but set in modern-day New York City.

Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Matinee performances are at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Single ticket prices for Rent range from $15 to $37.  Subscription package options range from $36 to $84.

Coming up next…

This will be the Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s first full summer season since 2002.

The Nutmeg Summer Series continues through July 4, 2010 with:

• All in the Timing, a comedic collection of six sketches, running June 10 through June 20 in the Nafe Katter Theatre (also located on the Storrs campus)

• Smokey Joe’s Café, playing June 24 through July 4 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre and

• Endurance, a world premiere play presented by movement theatre artists, Split Knuckle Theatre, from June 24 through June 27 in the Nafe Katter Theatre.

Tickets are now available for each of the productions (or for the entire series) by calling the Jorgensen Box Office at 860-486-4226 or visiting www.crt.uconn.edu.

Rent, All in the Timing and Smokey Joe’s Café can also be purchased as a subscription, with Endurance available as an “add on” to the subscription package.

The Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre and the Nafe Katter Theatre are located on the campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

Both venues offer air-conditioned comfort and convenient free parking.

Subscribers also have the option of pre-purchasing dinner at the Nathan Hale Inn and ice cream dessert at the UConn Dairy Bar with their subscription packages.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) is the professional production arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

CRT’s Community Partners for the Nutmeg Summer Series include Hamilton Sundstrand, LeylandAlliance, Mansfield Community Center, Nathan Hale Inn, UConn Dairy Bar and The Chronicle.

The director/choreographer of Rent

The director/choreographer of the CRT’s production of Rent, Art Manke is a five-time winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.

His recent credits include a sold-out run of Noises Off and the West Coast premiere of Bach at Leipzig for South Coast Repertory, The Miracle Worker for the Denver Center Theatre Company, and The Constant Wife, Private Lives and the American premiere of Noel Coward’s Star Quality for Pasadena Playhouse.

He is a co-founder and former artistic director of A Noise Within, L.A.’s acclaimed classical theatre company.

The cast of Rent

Corey Bradley (Benny) most recently appeared in the Broadway revival of Ragtime.  His Broadway National Tour credits include Mamma Mia!, Chicago, Fosse, and West Side Story (International). His film/TV work includes Disney’s Enchanted (principal dancer), Sex and the City, Nickelodeon, and Spike Lee’s “He Got Game.”

Kaitlin Monte (Mimi) has performed in more than 50 productions, including The Seagull (Nina), High School Musical 2 (Gabriella), Rent (Mimi), The Hole (Nadia) and Little Women (Jo March). Most recently, she co-hosted New Year’s Eve in Times Square for the international webcast.  She is a former Miss Tampa and currently tours with the USO Liberty Bells performing for our men and women in uniform.

Lauretta Pope (Joanne) graduated in 2008 from UConn’s Professional Actor Training Program (audiences may remember her as Sally Bowles in Cabaret). She has appeared in six productions and obtained her equity card for Kiss Me Kate (Lilly Vanessi), Closer Than Ever (Ensemble), Seussical (Gertrude), The Witches, Speech and Debate (in the role of Diwata, which won her a Pitch Magazine’s Best of Kansas City Award for Best Comedienne) and My First Time.

Rachel Rosado (Maureen) is a senior BFA Acting major. Previous credits include Tommy, The Comedy of Errors, Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party, Hair, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Three Penny Opera and Thin Air: Tales from a Revolution at CRT.

John Shuler Quertermous (Angel) has appeared in Little Women and A Thousand Cranes at Syracuse Stage and Oklahoma! with SU Drama.

Kyle Szen (Roger) is pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Music Theater at Baldwin-Wallace College. His favorite credits include The Wedding Singer, Chess, Brooklyn, The Wild Party, and Grease.

Joshua Wright (Mark) is a current graduate student at New York University/Steinhardt and has worked professionally with the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Houston Children’s Theatre Festival, T.U.T.S., Theatre LaB Houston, and the Main Street Theater, among others.

Noah Weintraub (Homeless, Gordon, Mr. Gray, Pastor, et. al) is a recent graduate of UConn, with a BFA in Acting. Credits include: CRT – The Who’s Tommy (Cousin Kevin), Abraham Lincolns Big Gay Dance Party (Anton Renault), Hair (Woof), Spring Awakening (Hansy Rilow), The Threepenny Opera, and Pentecost.

Scenic designer Michael Anania has Broadway credits that include Laughing Room Only starring Jackie Mason, A Change in the Heir, Run for Your Wife, Canterbury Tales, The View From Here, and The Gathering starring Hal Linden.

Costumer designer Lucy Brown is a recent graduate of the MFA Costume Design program at UConn. She has been a Costume Designer for CRT on Hair, A Man for All Seasons, Pentecost and Macbeth.  Other costume design credits include a new adaptation of A Doll’s House in NYC, The Buddy Holly Story at The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, The Oresteia at Oddfellows Playhouse, and Endurance with Split Knuckle Theatre Company.

Lighting designer Al Crawford is Founder and President of Arc3design and has worked extensively in dance, theater, opera, corporate and social events, and themed entertainment.  He was recently appointed to the adjunct faculty at UConn’s School of Fine Arts, and is enjoying his twelfth season as the Lighting Director for the Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater.

Posted May 27, 2010- as edited by HTNP.com Editor Brenda Sullivan