Theater League opens season with Rent

Older than most of her castmates, Alana Cauthen can almost remember a time when there wasn’t “Rent.”

“When it first had its Broadway debut, I was like 8 years old,” said Cauthen, a member of the traveling cast of the musical, stopping for three performances at Century II Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. “I did experience some of the music (through its cast album) then. My parents were very well-versed in theater, and they kind of exposed me to the arts when I was very young.”

She finally got to see “Rent” on stage when she was in college – beginning her collegiate acting career at Howard University and finishing at Western Connecticut State – before its 2008 closing and “it was one of the best experiences I’ve had in theater.”

“It was so transformative,” the Connecticut native said. “I was there, and I felt every moment and I knew it was a story I’d love to tell – and here I am, telling it.”

Cauthen is among the ensemble for the 20th Anniversary Tour of “Rent,” staying on the road until next June, although technically the show opened off-Broadway and then Broadway in 1996.

She has a featured solo in “Rent’s” most recognizable song, “Seasons of Love.”

“Rent,” which reimagines Puccini’s “La Boeheme,” follows a year in the lives of seven struggling artists in New York, hoping to follow their dreams without selling out.

During its Broadway run, it received four Tony Awards, including best musical, best book and best original score, as well as a Pulitzer Prize.

The success of “Rent” was bittersweet, as its composer, Jonathan Larson, died of an aortic dissection the night before its off-Broadway premiere.

Besides the “Rent” tour, the musical continues to be performed across the country. Fox will air a live, televised version in January.

Dancing since she was 5 years old and acting since she was 11 or 12, Cauthen said listening to “Rent” struck a chord in her.

“I loved the sense of community it gave me. When I watched it, when I listened to the music, I knew I wanted to be a part of something like that,” she said. “It informed how I went forward, thinking about choices I wanted to take within musical theater.”

Cauthen’s stage credits include “Ragtime,” “Hairspray,” “Beehive” and “Smokey Joe’s Café.”

“The things I love to be in have such a soul to them, and I feel like a lot of the shows I’ve done and the ones I want to do not only have that same gripping beauty to them, but they have a real grasp of soul that a lot of people can relate to,” she said. “I’m ready to spread that message.”

The 20th anniversary tour of “Rent” includes the same staging as its Broadway genesis.

“It’s beautiful how it can be reinvented within the same confines that hold from 1997 until now,” Cauthen said.

Cauthen said most of her castmates have never known a life without “Rent,” and some were even born since its Broadway debut.

“People have struggles and issues of their own that they can genuinely put forth on stage and tell the story from their own experience,” she said. “I feel we as a cast do that really well, regardless of their age and where they’re from. We do have this innate understanding of the material and how it relates to us as people.

“It’s a message that still holds true.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Theater League opens season with Rent."