Christine Quintana “Mimi”

It’s hard to believe we are now just one week away from opening – the songs have been learned, choreography mastered, and all the other aspects are coming into place as we move into the theatre this weekend.  I think the most important part of putting on this show has been discovered as well – the chemistry.  I’ve been doing theatre for years now, and I’ve never been in a cast this close and trusting before.  In the last episode of Rent in Vancouver on youtube, Cesar said going to rehearsal was like coming home, and I completely agree.  I can’t imagine a more beautiful, vibrant, talented group of people to share this experience with than this cast, and I am so excited to step on stage with them to share this story.
Over the last few weeks it seems like so many things have happened, ‘real life things’ – couples breaking up, friends passing away, people hating their jobs and making big changes – and it’s a reminder that Jonathan Larson was wise beyond his years when he wrote ‘no day but today’.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the stress and pressure of life (who’s ready for tech weekend?!) but it’s so important to remember that there truly is no other day but today.  Every night I step on stage I will be so grateful for the chance to perform in this incredible show, I will be reminded to enjoy every minute I can with the people I love.
It’s onwards now to a few whirlwind public appearances, last minute costume fittings, media interviews, technical rehearsals, dresses, previews, and opening night – here goes….

Announcing the Rent Lottery!

We’re thrilled to announce that a limited number of $15 seats will be available for all performances of RENT. The tickets will be drawn through a lottery one and a half  hours before all shows. Please see below for the rules. Please note that tickets are for partial view seats on the side of the stage.

RENT Lottery POLICY: Each day, two hours prior to show time (12:00 p.m. for 2:00 p.m. matinees; 11:30am  for 1:30 p.m. matinees; 5:00 p.m. for 7:00 PM performances; 6:00 p.m. for 8:00 p.m. performances), people who present themselves at the Presentation House box office will have their names placed in a raffle drum. Thirty minutes later, names will be drawn at random for 10 seats at $15.00 each. Winners must be present in order to win and this lottery is available only in-person at the box office, with a limit of 2 tickets per person. Winners must provide photo ID at the time of purchase. Only one entry is allowed per person.

Exciting Announcement – COMING SOON!

Hey everyone,

We’ll have a very exciting announcement in the next day or so, and we’ll be announcing it here on the blog… hopefully you’ll keep checking back so we can share it with you…

Just not yet!
Cast & Crew of RENT

A Blog Entry

For those of you who follow our Facebook group you know we did a contest that – if you bought tickets in advanced – would get you the chance to win the opportunity to attend a Rent rehearsal. One such fan won and here’s his account.

‘Rent’ is about to blow the doors off the Vancouver Musical Theatre scene. Five hundred twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes … how many ways can you measure … a show? Well, tonight I had the chance … thanks to the innovative marketing of Ryan Mooney and his troupe at Fighting Chance Productions. I had bought my tickets early just so my name could be entered into a draw to watch a rehearsal. Great marketing on so many levels … When I opened my email last week to read that I had been chosen to come to a ‘Rent’ rehearsal and could bring three of my friends, I was thrilled but had no idea what to expect. Of course, I was familiar with the story line but couldn’t imagine what Ryan would pull out of his hat in order to put his unique stamp on the show. I called Archdeacon Al Hosking, patron of the Arts, Helen Volkow, actor and almost-charter-member of Studio 58, and Gail Urquhart, president of Royal City Musical Theatre … and off we went to watch the first musical rehearsal with the orchestra of the Vancouver production of ‘Rent’. Holy guitars, Batman! Vancouver is in for one hell of a treat! From the moment the drummer and three guitarists tore into the first bars of the opening … to the haunting chord progressions from the keyboards of the final number, I was left in tears, begging for more. I was on the edge of my seat with emotion. Where does such talent come from? There wasn’t one weak voice in the cast! A few of the actors were familiar to me as anchors of the Musical Theatre scene, but the majority of fresh faces left me marvelling at the talent pool available. My hat is off to Ryan Mooney. The things he has done in this town constantly leave me wondering how we are so lucky to have people like him in Vancouver. The pictures I have posted do little to convey the magic spell that is woven by this cast. We were privileged to be able to see the looks on their faces as … they too for the first time … heard the five incredible musicians playing with the expertise and verve reserved for groups three times the size. This show is a must see for everyone. I remember well the group of University friends who pulled up in front of my house to cart me off to Woodstock. I remember well the Beatles concerts. I can guarantee you that I will remember well the day that ‘Rent’ came to Vancouver and the day that my name was drawn to attend a rehearsal. Vancouver history is being made as we speak. Don`t you dare miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime! Remember Woodstock? Ever wish you were there? Randy McCormick, July 22th, 2009

Blog Post – Ryan Mooney

Well, we are just over three weeks from opening… things are clipping along really well and I am truly loving this cast. I can honestly say I’ve never worked with such a universally strong, enthusiastic cast in my life – as an actor, as a director or as crew. This has been – and continues to be such a special and unique experience. I know we all know that. You can see it in people’s faces, hear it in their voices and experience it in their performances.

Today we had some cleaning to do from our Act I run through last week. There are two big numbers that needed to be cleaned, and one that needed to be worked out. I’m a pretty organic director – I like to see what the cast can bring to a table as opposed to coming in with strict blocking. Some people might call me a lazy director. I’m okay with that.

One number in particular – the opening number – I’ve never been happy with. I never liked it what I had done while we were staging it originally – it appalled me in our run through last week and when I asked the cast to run it tonight I hated it. Now – this is no fault of the casts. I had no idea what I wanted at first – I just knew it had to explode. I watched the documentary of Jon Larsen’s life (and the life of Rent) that’s on the movie dvd today, and they talk about Rent and the talk about how Jonathan wanted the audience to be blown out of their seats. I realised that’s what I wanted – I realised it’s not what I had.

So, with some re-tooling, some focusing and some cleaning – I think we’re a lot closer – and the cast seemed to agree. It’s humbling to be able to look at something you created, and realise it’s just crap and needs a re-do. And it’s part of the reason I am glad that I don’t spend hours working through in my head how something’s going to look. I just love creating with a room full of energetic and enthusiastic individuals. Directing is not about process for me – it never has been. I don’t have a “vision” – I don’t have books and books of research. I have my eyes, my ears and my heart – they haven’t failed me yet in this business.

Our Poster/Postcard Design!

I am just thrilled with our poster & postcard design for the show. I met Odessa through a production of Dog Sees God last summer (which we’ll be reimaging for the Vancouver Fringe Festival.) Odessa’s talent as far as graphic design was super evident to me from the poster and postcard she did for that show and so I felt we had to bring her on board for our productions. Since then she’s designed tick… tick… BOOM! and our Neil Labute shows. I’m thrilled with the poster design, and I’m also thrilled with the idea that was brought to me a couple months ago. As you’ll see on the poster there’s some writing that reads “Text 604-807-9268 to receive this information to your phone.” I’ve always felt posters were pretty useless, but when this idea was brought to me, I thought – now THERE’S something that would make a lot of sense. So we’ll see how it works for our production of RENT. We also got a spectacular deal on our posters/postcards, that I have to tell you about. This company – Rayacom printed us 5,000 postcards for $375.00 and 1,000 posters for $120.00. It helps somewhat that our postcards and posters are black and white – however it’s still an incredible price. Look for them in a coffee shop near you soon!

Blog Post – Craig DeCarlo

Have you ever been so moved by the beauty of something, that it’s rendered you speechless? We’re halfway through the rehearsal process and I’ve been reserved about writing, until now. I was worried that I would cheapen my experience by jumping the gun and writing that everything was amazing and that we’re all BFF’s, but it’s undeniable…maybe not so much the BFF’s part –an honor like that shouldn’t be thrown about with ease, it has to be earned over time, but we’re all getting on very well. 

This piece of art that Jonathan Larson has given the world is extremely special. There’s nothing like it out there. It took Broadway and the theatre world by storm, dominated the Tony awards, and even won the Pulitzer Prize for many reasons. To make a long story short, there are so many incredible life lessons, infused with heart, soul, passion, and love, all set to one of the most incredible scores in the world –and that’s a huge understatement. This score is intense, and I feel so privileged to be able to sing it in this artistic capacity with these incredible, beautiful people who are so talented, loving, supportive and dedicated to this project. 

On Monday at rehearsal, we were standing in line across the stage singing Seasons of Love. Erin Kanygin, our Alexi Darling/ u/s Mimi, was next to me and started to cry while we were singing. I put my arm around her. Everything about it felt so right, and we just let it be. There’s so much love, so much beauty and so much heart here that it moves people to tears time after time. This show is going to blow people away and I am so incredibly touched by it all.

Blog Posting – Kholby Wardell

So,
Rent!

I’m doing Rent?

I suppose I am!

There are these moments in rehearsal when Ryan will say, “Remember when we’re doing ‘Rent’?”  And we all sort of pause. And remember: Yes, we ARE doing ‘Rent’!
Now, I must admit, I was never really a ‘Rent-head’. The first time I heard the music was in University, two years ago? Maybe?¿? I liked it, but I didn’t fall in love with it. Well… Now… Let me tell you… my opinion has changed. There’s nothing like a musical that actually provides a lot of challenges to the performers. There are some pretty intricate harmonies peppered here and there, some fairly high male parts, some disgustingly beautiful solo’s, duets, female parts, and some difficult rhythmic frustrations!  When this cast sings a song like, I’ll Cover You (reprise) or Seasons of Love, or really any song for that matter, my heart melts, then leaps up with joy (I must admit, tears were definitely shed on Monday during our staging rehearsal for Seasons of Love). The sheer power of this amazing cast is mind-blowing and the emotion infused into every singers voice is just awe-inspiring.
The experience so far has been wonderful – truly – the first run was scary and rewarding, the staging has been stressful and imaginative, the dancing has been exhausting and sexy, and the cast has been all of those and more. Well, maybe not scary… Except Sharon Ong Crandall.  Kidding.
Actually. For such a large cast it’s astounding how instantaneously we all clicked.  We all keep saying that and it probably sounds hoaky, schlocky or ridiculous, but come on! Seriously! We get along this well? We love each other this much? We work together this amazingly? Can’t we have one fight? Just one? Someone here needs to get some plastic surgery…
…Right, Craig?…
Well… Our time together thus far has been such a wonderful start, we’re running for the finish line and boy are we picking up speed.  It’s not all rainbows and unicorns from here, but hell, that’s the fun of it all.
To Dogs!

Blog Post – Sean Parsons

Ok folks, one month until we open. Oh lord! Rehearsals are going so well, and I have never worked so effortlessly with a director. It feels like these numbers are just “happening” without really being artificially created and staged. Does that make sense? The cast is not only the most unbelievably talented group of people (seriously, wait until you hear everyone sing the shit out of these songs), but they are SO FUN! We have shared so many laughs already and Ryan has only had to scold us a couple times for talking too much… haha! At this point, I am not gonna lie, I’m a little terrified to have only a month left to solidify THREE roles (Ensemble, Angel U/S, Benny U/S). My script is a little bit of a disaster, as I attempt to notate blocking for all three, sometimes all onstage together… I think i have finally established a slightly organized system. Tonight is our first stumble through of Act One, which is scary, but between the principals, their understudies, and their swings, I think we should be just fine! We’ll keep you updated!

<3 Sean
PS: WE ARE DOING RENT!

Blog Post – Christine Quintana

Today was our first Act 1 runthrough, and it was my favorite rehearsal thus far.  Nearly 6 hours straight of staging and run, today definitely kicked my butt, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!  The rehearsal studio was super hot, but so was the work being done today!  It was such a treat to get to see some of the numbers I hadn’t seen yet – like Tango Maureen, I’ll Cover You, and Santa Fe – plus stage Another Day and La Vie Boheme.  La Vie Boheme is, of course, the number everyone was waiting for, and I was up and dancing on the table as soon as I got the chance!
It was also great to have Craig (my Roger) back.  He’d been away for the last few rehearsals, and I’ve been eager to start to develop the relationship between Roger and Mimi.  The more I pore over the script, the more I see their love is so complicated but so beautiful.  However, I’m becoming keenly aware of the finer points of onstage intimacy – have you ever tried to passionately hold someone while knowing you are sweaty and gross? Belt a B about 5 inches away from their face? Kissed someone with 30 people and a camera watching?  Ah, live theatre – what could be better?