Showstopping Musical Rent, Returns to AHS
By Samantha Sun
STAFF WRITER
“Rent,” Andover High’s autumn musical, is coming back to present a rendition of Johnathan Larson’s take on the mid-90s AIDS crisis.
The musical follows the story of eight artists who, in a year, learn to navigate the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) crisis while also learning about human connections throughout a single year. It is an all-time favorite of Susan Choquette, the AHS drama director, who is returning the musical to AHS from thirteen years ago.
The play is loosely based on La Bohème, an opera about a poor seamstress and her friends. One of the musical’s themes is how time should be measured, more specifically in a year. The musical is set on December 24th and ends the same day a year later. “It’s not about dates or months. You measure [a year] in love, you measure [a year] in relationships that people have, it’s about people you know and love within a year,” Choquette remarked.
Nick Tuminowski, who plays Roger, and Kate Price who plays Mimi, captivate emotions to portray their characters during their rehearsal for Rent.
Today’s high schoolers didn’t experience the AIDS crisis, but the drama crew and cast aspire to bring it to life on stage. “If we can talk about these topics in our health curriculum…there’s no reason we cannot address them in our dramatic literature on stage,” Choquette said. “There’s a lot of history to be learned about the mid-nineties and what was going on in our country at that time.” Larson’s play was a groundbreaking musical of its time, addressing themes of friendship, community, and how the epidemic affected America.
Senior Abinaya Ganesh added, “The show is truly so beautiful. It’s both a heartwarming and heartbreaking story.” This year, Ganesh is taking on the role of assistant musical director by helping out Lauren Peithmann, the AHS choir teacher. “It’s almost entirely music,” Ganesh added. “It’s almost like rock opera.” With lots of music and moving parts, the cast and crew must work extra hard to cover the entire script. Thankfully they have the help of Marathon Sounds helping with audio and Tech Crew who have created the miraculous set being used. Everyone involved has been working hard nonstop to prepare a sensational show for everyone to see. Notably, it’s different from last year’s Cinderella production as Rent introduces more mature themes.
Audrey Fiore, a junior playing the role of Maureen, noted that “[Rent] was coming out of the golden age of musicals; it came out of nowhere. [The music] has things like electric guitar, heavy drums, and [it’s similar to] artists like Led Zeppelin and The Who.” Fiore is a dedicated Vice president of Drama Guild and works hard as a main actress in Rent.
Choquette added as a final thought, “It was a ground-breaking musical at its time. When John Larson wrote it there was nothing like it at its time. I hope that People walking away from the show really appreciate the work that Jonathan Larson put in and the actor’s performances. I hope they think more about what’s important in life.” Fiore offered a similar statement, “It’s going to be such a good production and we [hope] people [will] appreciate it as much as we do.”
Upcoming show dates: November 19 (2:00 p.m.), Tuesday 21 (7:30 p.m.)
