RENT 30th Anniversary Panel at The Museum of Broadway

Press release

RENT 30th Anniversary Panel
at
The Museum of Broadway

Featuring a special reading of Making RENT: The Story Behind the Music that Changed Broadway
by author Tim Weil

(NEW YORK, NY) The Museum of Broadway (145 W. 45th St.) will host a 30th anniversary panel of RENT alums and a special reading of Making RENT: The Story Behind the Music that Changed Broadway, written by RENT’s original musical director, Tim Weil on Wednesday, February 18 at 5:00PM.

The panel will be moderated by GQ Global Entertainment Director Dana Mathews, and feature creatives and cast representing different eras of the show’s 30-year legacy - from the original run and beyond.

Confirmed to join Tim Weil during the panel are original RENT director and five-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, original RENT Associate Director Martha Banta, RENT Broadway alum and Tony Award Winner Natalie Venetia Belcon, Tony Award nominee and Broadway’s final Tom Collins, Michael McElroy, and Broadway’s original JoAnne, Fredi Walker-Browne.

The panel will be live-streamed via the Museum of Broadway Instagram (@MuseumOfBroadway) and viewers will be able to submit questions live.

Tickets for the event can be reserved on the Museum of Broadway website.

The Museum of Broadway is the world’s first-ever permanent museum dedicated to the storied history and legendary artists, creators and stars of Broadway musicals and plays, past and present. The female-founded award-winning museum transports visitors visually through centuries of time, from 1700s-present day Broadway, highlighting more than 500 showstopping and hidden gem productions across three dazzling floors of exhibits. Founded in November 2022, The Museum of Broadway honors the legacies of those who paved the way for today’s Broadway and through each costume, prop, and artifact, entertains, educates, and inspires the next generation of theatergoers and creators. Open seven days a week in the heart of Times Square, the museum offers free educational programming, special events with your favorite Broadway casts and creatives, a membership program, merchandise from your favorite shows, and so much more.

ABOUT MAKING RENT

Thirty years after RENT, Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking rock opera, opened on Broadway, you would be hard-pressed to find a musical theater fan who doesn’t know at least some of the show’s iconic tunes by heart. “Take Me or Leave Me,” “Light My Candle,” “La Vie Boheme,” and the ubiquitous “Seasons of Love” revolutionized the kind of music heard on the Broadway stage. Much of the impact comes from the show’s musical style, a singular blend of grunge rock, power pop, gospel, and R & B that was brought to life by the show’s onstage band, headed by the legendary musical director, Tim Weil.

From his first day as audition accompanist through his elevation to musical director, Weil was a critical collaborator with Larson in developing RENT’s unique sound. And when, on the eve of the company’s first public performance, Larson died unexpectedly, Weil was there to finesse a still-unfinished show into the musical Larson had long dreamed of.

Making RENT reveals how the music that has shaped generations of new American musicals grew out of Weil and Larson’s intimate partnership and how, for the six years he worked on RENT’s Broadway run, Weil endeavored to preserve Larson’s musical vision. Previously untold stories about some of the show’s most iconic moments, accompanied by behind-the-scenes photos, capture the energy, ingenuity, and passion of RENT‘s company and creators while providing a unique level of insight into just how collaborative and innovative a process making RENT was and why it has had such a lasting impact on musical theater and fans the world over.