A Janesville director casts the beloved musical with all-LGBTQ+ actors — including three of Beloit’s own — for the first time 和 received video messages of support from two original cast members. “This is the exact time you should be doing a show like this,” they said. “你是 租金 现在的家庭.”
For three Beloit seniors, the past few months have been a season of love.
Beloit seniors Jeremy 杜瓦, Cam 迈耶, 和 Graham 克拉 will take the stage 9月5日星期五. 30 as cast members of Jonathan Larson’s hit Broadway rock musical, 租金, 在 简斯维尔表演艺术中心r.
租金 tells the stories of friends living in New York in the early days of the HIV crisis. Director Stephanie Hormig’s production has received local media attention for being the show’s first all-LGBTQ+ cast. That was by design — 和 although the production has received hateful comments online, the cast received encouraging messages from a few actors from the original 1994 Broadway show 和 2005 movie adaptation.
The Beloiter trio — who attended some rehearsals remotely while living far from campus for the summer — almost didn’t audition, fearing they lacked the experience to be cast in any major roles. 奥伦和迈耶斯在 贝洛伊特作品 in the past, but didn’t have extensive experience performing in a musical. 杜瓦 co-leads campus a capella group Bits & Pieces, but never had much of a speaking role in a play.
“This is the first show where I have a character with a name,” says 杜瓦, a double major in 社会学 和 创意写作, who plays Tom Collins in the show. “I’ve always wanted to do theatre, but was not super confident. 现在我正在做这件事, it’s definitely giving me more confidence to go out 和 look for community productions.”
Hormig aimed to attract queer community members of all ages, which was a huge draw for 克拉.
“It’s important to have queer community in real life because a lot of times it’s much easier to just find it online,奥伦说。, who is also a 社会学 和 创意写作 double major 和 plays Mark Cohen. “It’s good to be around people who underst和, especially in a theatre environment. We’re always very good about boundaries 和 making sure everyone feels comfortable.”
In spite of online criticism for the production’s all-LGBTQ+ cast, Hormig stood by the decision. 一时兴起, she emailed former cast members with the hopes th在ir support would give cast members a morale boost. When she received video messages from Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who played Angel on Broadway 和 in the film, 还有特蕾西·汤姆斯, 谁在电影里扮演乔安妮, she 和 the rest of the cast were stunned.
“Both of them basically said that this is the exact time to be doing a show like this,” 克拉 says. “This show has always meant to piss people off. 你是其中的一部分 租金 现在铸造家庭.在镜头前, Heredia pulled out his acoustic guitar 和 sang “Seasons of Love,这是一个传统 租金 演员第一次排练. “每个人都在哭，”奥伦说.
“It really cemented that this is more than just us putting on a play,” says 杜瓦. In addition to raising funds for 反抗家庭暴力这一组 租金 will also bring in other local groups for talks before the show. A connection within the cast will bring an ASL interpreter for one of the shows.
克拉, 杜瓦, 和 迈耶 are excited to search for new community productions in the future after their experiences in 租金. Their advice for students who want to get involved but have never done theatre before? 只管去做.
“To students looking for opportunity 和 not knowing where to go: lead your own way,奥伦说。.
反抗家庭暴力 和 the 洛克县LGBTQ+委员会 sponsored the small show with a reported budget of $3,000. (Ticket sales have already broken even.)
租金 performances are 在 简斯维尔表演艺术中心r at 6:30 p.m. 9月5日星期五. 10月30日和星期六. 1，带1个p.m. 10月11日星期日日场. 2. Campus theatre organization Beloit Interactive Theatre Experience (BITE) has purchased 10 tickets to give to students on a first-come, 谁涨基础, 和 will provide transportation to JPAC for those students.
2022年9月27日
