Central Bucks High School West Proudly presents RENT School Edition

Winner of the 2022 Philadelphia Independence Award for Best Musical (Amélie), the Central Bucks High School West Harlequin Club is proud to present Rent School Edition November 17-20, 2022. Rent School Edition, with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, opened off-Broadway in January 1996 and three months later went to Broadway for the start of its twelve year run. Tragically, Larson died the night before Rent premiered off Broadway so was never able to see the show’s success and how its themes of love, acceptance, and living in the moment resonated with audiences.

Based loosely on the opera La Bohème, Larson spent six years working on the musical that would encapsulate a specific era of young artists in the East Village of NYC. Dealing with the issues of the day such as the AIDS epidemic, homelessness, and drug addiction, RENT has been called a love letter to Larson’s generation. Jessica Bostock, the show’s director, remarked, “It is a privilege and joy to work on Larson’s material now, focusing on his message of hope in a time unfortunately full of division, lack of acceptance, and strife.”

Rent School Edition tells the story of a group of friends living the bohemian life (La Vie Bohème) in the East village, New York City, in 1989. This group consists of Mark Cohen, played by Senior Riley Malone, the filmmaker and narrator of our story, his roommate, Rodger Davis, played by Junior Jackson Manning, Mark’s ex-girlfriend and outgoing performer, Maureen Johnson, played by Senior Anna Shea Safran, Maureen’s girlfriend, Joanne Jefferson, played by Sophomore Alyssa Cooke, dancer, Mimi Marquez, played by Junior Ella Patras, professor Tom Collins played by Sophomore Brian File, drag queen Angel Dumott Schunard played by Junior Evan Carroll, and former member of the group, now landlord opposite of everything the group stands for, Benjamin Coffin III, played by Sophomore Jordan Blaszczyk.

When asked about the experience of working on this show with high school students Bostock responded, “We have loved every moment, and you will see that on stage and in all of our faces!”

Rent School Edition is playing at Central Bucks High School West, 375 West Court Street Doylestown, PA 18901 and runs Thursday November 17th through Sunday November 20th. Curtain time is 7:00pm Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and there is a 2:00 matinee on Sunday. The ticket link can be found at www.cbsd.org/harlequinclub. Adults $15. Children/Seniors $10. Cash or check only at the door. See the trailer here: