The forthcoming off-Broadway return of Rent will feature Broadway vets Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal) as Mark Cohen and Annaleigh Ashford (Wicked) as Maureen Johnson. Complete casting has been announced for the production, which will begin previews at New World Stages on July 14 and open on August 11, directed by original helmer Michael Greif.
In addition to Chanler-Berat and Ashford, the Rent cast will include Margot Bingham (Alexi Darling, Roger's Mom, and others), Nicholas Christopher (Tom Collins), Arianda Fernandez (Mimi Marquez), Marcus Paul James (Mr. Jefferson, Paul, and others), Tamika Sonja Lawrence (Mrs. Jefferson, woman with bags), Corbin Reid (Joanne Jefferson), Michael Rodriguez (Angel Schunard), Matt Shingledecker (Roger Davis), Ephraim Sykes (Benjamin Coffin III), Ben Thompson (Christmas caroler, Mr. Grey, The Man, and others), Michael Wartella (Steve, Gordon, Waiter, and others) and Morgan Weed (Mark's Mom and others). Also in the company is Sean Michael Murray, Xavier Cano and Genny Padilla.
Written and composed by the late Jonathan Larson, Rent is the story of friends and artists struggling to make a home in the East Village in the early 1990s. The show transferred from off-Broadway to the Nederlander Theatre where it opened on Broadway on April 29, 1996, winning both the Best Musical Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The original Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008.
The creative team will include choreography by Larry Keigwin, set design by Mark Wendland, costume design by Angela Wendt, lighting design by Kevin Adams, sound design by Brian Ronan and projection design by Peter Nigrini.