The Masquerade Theatre opens its version of the modern musical icon,
RENT, which opens Thursday, July 22nd and runs eight weekend performances through Sunday, August 1st at Zilkha Hall in The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston. The curtain rises at 8:00pm Thursday - Saturday and 2:00pm on Sundays. You can purchase tickets
online or by calling 713-861-7045
RENT is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. It tells a story of a group of eight young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the last days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS, relationships and life.
Two of Don Puryear's team are performing principle roles. Agent, Michael Ross is portraying the role of Mark Cohen, Documentary film-maker and narrator of the show. Marketing Director and stager, Beth Lazarou is portraying the role of Joanne Jefferson, Lawyer and new girlfriend of Mark's ex-girlfriend, Maureen. Watch them together perform the comical Tango Maureen recounting their trials and tribulations with the same woman.
The Masquerade Theatre was established in 1996 by Founding Artistic Director Phillip Duggins, and obtained non-profit status in July 2001. One of the theatre's founding principles is that it will hire highly talented actors from the local area so that actors, musicians and stage crews can develop their careers in Houston, rather than having to relocate to New York in order to pursue a career in musical theatre. It is Houston's only resident musical theatre employing artists exclusively from the local area.
