‘Rent’ director dedicates DeKalb performances to late troupe member Jeff Hall

DeKALB – The Stage Coach Players will open its next DeKalb production, the musical “Rent,” on Sept. 19, and its show director is dedicating the run to a late troupe member.

The musical is scheduled to run for two weeks.

“Rent” tells the story of a group of poor musicians and artists struggling under the HIV and AIDS shadow in New York City’s Lower East Side. The disease’s emotional and physical complications penetrate Angel’s, Roger’s, Tom’s and Mimi’s lives. Maureen handles chronic infidelity through performance art and Joanne, her partner, wonders about their relationship. Mark feels like an outsider to life while Benny abandoned his Bohemian ideals for money and is drifting from his old friends.

Director Cortney Jo Newby said she’s dedicating “Rent” to the memory of theater troupe member Jeff Hall, who helped ensure the musical was brought to the SCP stage. Hall, of Sycamore, died March 16 after battling brain cancer.

“Even though he is no longer with us on earth, he is with me every step of the way, trying to bring his ideas and mine together and collaborate on something gorgeous and profound has been the best part of this whole process,” Newby said in a news release.

“Rent” is based on the 1896 opera “La Boheme” by Giacomo Puccini and the 1996 musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson. Newby previously directed the Stage Coach production of “Jekyll and Hyde” in 2018.

Performances of “Rent” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 through Sept. 21 and Sept. 26 through Sept. 28 at the Stage Coach Theatre, 126 S. Fifth St., DeKalb. Matinee performances will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 22 and 29.

Tickets cost $23 for seniors and children ages 12 and younger, and $25 for everyone else. “Rent” contains intimate relationships, adult and sexual themes, and extreme and explicit language.

“It’s sad that this show is more relevant today than I think it was back in 1996,” Newby said. “The amount of struggles that we are still facing almost 30 years later from addiction to poverty to disease ... Rent is not only about these struggles, but it’s also about outcasts and minorities, and the LGBTQ-plus community. It’s for everyone who feels alone and afraid, even though they’re aware that they are millions of people who feel the exact same way.”

Pit direction is provided by Rex Meyer, vocal direction by Abi Mogge and stage management by Angela Schiola.

“The importance of Rent and the effect that its popularity had on societal acceptance, grace and understanding of a maligned and monstrously misunderstood population of beautiful humans and love cannot be understated.” cast member Meg McGarry said in the news release.

The cast features Cory Schreiner as Roger, Anaya Evans as Mimi, Ryan Marcotte as Tom, Grant Milam as Angel, Shannon Becker as Maureen, Tamara Heath as Joanne, Denis Vorobyev as Benny, and Jordan Christopherson as Mark. The rest of the cast includes Chelsea Banks, Daerielle Balika, Cody Bratcher, Evan Ewing, Leigh Foulk, Karla Gulke, Kelly Hart, Brian Heffernan, Cheri Heinz, Ryan Hoffman, Kaitlin Jacobson, Jon Jaworowski, Angel Larson, Kevin Loeper, McGarry, Brooke Montavon, Skylar Montavon, Patrick Murphy, Jackson Nielsen, Isaiah Panke, Kasey Pennington, Riley Powers, Jason Reed and Denver Starznski

For information, visit stagecoachplayers.com.