originally published: 06/13/2023

Jordan Barrow as Benny, Matt Rodin as Roger, Zachary Noah Piser as Mark, and Leana Rae Concepcion as Joanne in Rent. Photo by Jeremy Daniel

(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse is presenting Rent by Jonathan Larson, now through July 2, 2023. The production is directed by Zi Alikhan and choreographed by Steph Paul. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent has become a pop-cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages.

Based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York City’s Lower East Side in the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

The production stars Jordan Barrow (PMP: Peter Pan; Broadway: Wicked) as Benjamin Coffin III, Leana Rae Concepcion (upcoming Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along; Radio City Christmas Spectacular) as Joanne Jefferson, Terrance Johnson (La Jolla Playhouse: Bhangin’ It; Dreamgirls national/international tour) as Tom Collins, Olivia Lux (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) as Angel Schunard, Mackenzie Meadows (Maltz Jupiter Theatre: A Funny Thing Happened…) as Maureen Johnson, Alisa Melendez (Broadway: Almost Famous) as Mimi Marquez, Zachary Noah Piser (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, KPOP) as Mark Cohen, and Matt Rodin (Milwaukee Rep: Hedwig and the Angry Inch; upcoming film: Beau) as Roger Davis. The ensemble features Rickens Anantua, Andrew Faria, Lauryn Alexandria Hobbs, Sami Ma, Adriana Medina Santiago, Liam Pearce, Michael Schimmele, Hannah T. Skokan, and Donte Wilder.

Alisa Melendez in Rent, photo by Evan Zimmerman

Leana Rae Concepcion as Joanne in Rent, photo by Evan Zimmerman

Mackenzie Meadows as Maureen in Rent, photo by Evan Zimmerman

Olivia Lux as Angel in Rent, photo by Jeremy Daniel

Rent features music direction by Amanda Morton, scenic design by Chika Shimizu , costume design by Rodrigo Muñoz, lighting design by Cha See, sound design by Matt Kraus, projection design by Nicholas Hussong & Jamie Godwin, and fight and intimacy direction by Alex Might. The Production Stage Manager is Gary Mickelson. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting.

Tickets start at $35 may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at papermill.org. Students may purchase $20 tickets. Patrons under 30 years old may purchase tickets for $30 to any performance.

Here are more photos from the production.

Matt Rodin as Roger in Rent, photo by Evan Zimmerman

Terence Johnson as Collins and Zachary Noah Piser as Mark in Rent, photo by Evan Zimmerman

Zachary Noah Piser as Mark and Terence Johnson as Collins in Rent, photo by Jeremy Daniel

PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is a nationally renowned not-for-profit theater under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Michael Stotts (Executive Director). A beloved New Jersey arts institution since 1938, Paper Mill creates and produces groundbreaking new musicals and reimagined classics. Several productions have gone on to Broadway and launched national tours, including Disney’s Newsies, Les Misérables, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Bronx Tale, and Bandstand. The theater is also the home to an award-winning center for musical theater education and artist training, with outreach programs that impact thousands of students each year. As one of the nation’s premier musical theaters, Paper Mill fosters a creative environment to advance the art form, educate students, develop future theater lovers, nurture inclusion, and provide access for all. We acknowledge that our theater stands on the traditional land of the Lenni-Lenape, and we honor the Indigenous people who inhabited it for thousands of years before European settlers arrived. Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.