By Kirsty Ross
ALTONA City Theatre’s latest production will stay true to its creator’s wishes, by providing cheap tickets for the homeless.
Tickets to Rent, the rock musical, are on sale to the unemployed, pensioners and anyone with a health care card for $5 for one show on Thursday 28 September.
Full price tickets are $35 and $30 concession for other shows.
Rent will run each weekend until 14 October at the Altona Theatre.
The musical is about a group of struggling young artists squatting in a run-down, disused warehouse in New York’s East Village.
The friends strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic, at a time when no one knew much about it.
A certain legend, cult and mystique has surrounded Rent over the past 10 years, due to its tragic beginning.
Jonathon Larson, a talented playwright, composer and pianist spent seven years writing Rent, which he loosely based around the story of La Boheme.
But he collapsed and died alone in his apartment on the day of his musical’s off-Broadway preview at the New York Theatre Workshop.
He never got to see it transfer almost immediately to Broadway, or collect his Pulitzer Prize for the production that shot the young cast to more stardom than he himself ever saw.
One of the stars in this local theatre group is rising talent Paul Scott-Williams, from Newport.
“It is interesting that his (Jonathon Larson’s) family have laid down in the contract for the hire of the show things that Jonathan was going to incorporate into all the performances,” said Mr Scott-Williams.
“One performance had to be dedicated to the unemployed and have cheap tickets available so it is accessible to all,” the accomplished actor and director said.
“Larson really has tried to speak to the whole range of society by insisting on this.”
If you need another reason to see the show, do it for Altona Meadows actor and musician Rex Sutton, who plays another lead role.
The musician said he could identify with his character, Charlie, but didn’t want to get himself in trouble.
“He’s had a pretty sordid past and I’ve had an interesting past myself so I guess I can relate to him on that level,” said Mr Sutton.
“It’s not all that hard to connect with the character – without shooting myself in the foot too much.”
Altona City Theatre is dedicating its first show on Thursday 28 September to people who are unemployed, homeless, pensioners or have a health card.
For tickets, call 0425 705 550.
