Rent tour offers $20 ticket lottery

April 28, 11:32 PMHouston Theater ExaminerJulia Temlyn

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Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal in Rent. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

The official tour of the groundbreaking, award-winning Broadway musical Rent is coming to the Hobby Center for Performing Arts for a special 5-day engagement, as part of the Theatre Under the Stars current season. The show opens tomorrow, Wednesday April 29, and closes on Sunday, May 3.

This tour features Adam Pascal (Roger) and Anthony Rapp (Mark), both veterans of the original Broadway cast.

Throughout its 12 years on Broadway, Rent was notorious for its special $20 ticket offer, which was on a first-come, first-serve basis. The tradition continues with the tour, as well, though tickets will be available via a lottery system, due to difficulties with the first-come, first-serve premise.

This deal, which has always been especially considerate for those theatre-lovers who cannot afford the extravagant prices of orchestra seats, is perfect considering our nation's current financial crisis in the midst of the recession.

Kevin McCollum, original producer of Rent, says “In keeping with the spirit of the show and the vision of Jonathan Larson (the show’s creator) we are happy to be able to offer prime seats to people who otherwise would not be able to purchase them. Jonathan was himself a struggling artist and his dream was to create a universal piece of musical theatre that’s available to everyone.”

For all performances, 32 seats in the front two rows of the orchestra section will be available for the lottery. (These seats easily go for $50 and up!)

According to TUTS, certain rules apply:

1. Patrons must register for the lottery at the box office (Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby, Houston, TX 77002).
2. Registration for each show will begin the morning of each specific performance when the box office opens, Wednesday through Friday at 10:00 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
3. Patrons must be present at the time of the drawing, or they will forfeit their tickets.
4. Each lottery winner will be allowed to purchase a maximum of TWO $20 tickets and will be required to pay in CASH ONLY, at the time of the announcement, which will take place 90 minutes before curtain time (when the show begins).

Rent is based on Puccini’s opera, La Boheme and, according to press notes, "tells the story of a group of young artists struggling in New York's East Village in the early 1990's and the obstacles they face, including AIDS, homelessness, poverty, lack of healthcare, and homophobia."

Rent was written by Jonathan Larson, and first premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop, where it quickly sold out. After its limited engagement was extended, it finally moved to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996. It closed on September 7, 2008 after more than 12 years, and is currently the 7th longest running show on Broadway. Its relevance to today's culture has garnered the show a huge following of fans who are known as Rentheads.

According to TUTS policies, "an audio described performance is available Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 2 p.m.; open captioning Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 7:30p.m. The Hobby Center is wheelchair accessible.  Student and senior (60+) discount tickets are available one hour before performance at the box office only.  Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more and may be purchased by calling (713) 558-8888 or via email at  groupsales@tuts.com."

Note: Due to mature themes and language, this musical is not recommended for children under the age of 13.

For more info: Call TUTS at (713) 558-8887 or (888) 558-3882, or visit their website at www.TUTS.org.