Jonathan Larson’s “RENT” changed the world. The rock musical first urged audiences to choose love over fear in 1996 and has reminded fans there’s no day like today ever since.
The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning show follows a group of friends fighting for their dreams during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Their story takes place over the course of one year, which after a quarter century is widely known as 525,600 minutes to “RENT” fans across the globe.
That includes entertainer Derek Baxter, who discovered the LGBTQ and theatrical staple at 16. The show “gave me a place to look and see myself, my community and my struggles,” he says.
“I was raised with a friend who was HIV+ from birth, I was a queer teenager trying to figure my own stuff out and I felt that I didn’t belong to the mainstream but didn’t quite know how to express myself in the middle of St. Petersburg,” Baxter explains. “I was introduced to the Bohemian lifestyle and I found my people because of this musical. Not only did ‘RENT’ change Broadway and musical theatre, it changed me and my friends.”
Now in his 40s, Baxter is bringing “RENT” to the stage to help do the same for others. He’s leading Eight O’Clock Theatre’s production of the musical as director and choreographer.
EOT has produced Broadway, Off-Broadway and original productions in Tampa Bay since 1982. It has called Largo’s Central Park Performing Arts Center home since the year “RENT” premiered.
Baxter has worked with the community theatre before, both as a performer and director. He says “RENT” has long been on their radar.
“I was excited to lead this production because there is something about touching a work so closely that meant so much to you,” he says.
“It is important that work exists on Broadway and in NYC; however, it is more important the work exists throughout the world and local companies, so performers and audiences get to have the work affect them firsthand as well,” Baxter continues. “That is why I jumped at the opportunity to bring this work to Pinellas County and to a whole new generation of people that will find themselves in this work as well.”
“RENT” features eight roles and an extensive ensemble. Baxter calls them “one of the most ridiculously talented casts I have ever had the privilege to direct.”
“Every person in the room from cast, production staff, theatre staff, to crew are so excited and stoked to be working on this show,” he explains. “It is such a theatrical and LGBTQIA+ staple that everyone is working to respect the show, the process and each other.”
They even created their own motto for their production: “Live with no shame, Love with no boundaries.” Baxter notes that “every single person involved has embraced it.”
Primary cast includes Matthew Morris as Roger, Cody Carlson as Mark, Shelly Johnson as Mimi, Topher Warren as Tom Collins, Sarah Roehm as Maureen, David Eaton, Jr. as Angel, Liberty Mack as Joanne and Gabe Flores as Benny.
Playing the show’s zany performance artist Maureen is a dream come true for Roehm. The actress says she’s eager for audiences to see what EOT has been able to create.
“My favorite thing about working with Derek is the way he honors the favorites that everyone knows and loves, while managing to breathe new life into each scene,” she says. “I love how this show is being presented … I feel like it will be fresh even for people who have seen the show a million times.”
Bringing its struggling musician Roger to the stage was “one of the most challenging, rewarding and exciting experiences I have ever been a part of,” Morris notes.
“Derek has crafted this iconic show in a way I think many people won’t be ready for, and they will be ecstatic with the results,” he adds. “This show is timeless, but the messages of the story need to be heard now more than ever.”
Mack agrees. She plays headstrong lesbian lawyer Joanne, whose tumultuous relationship with Maureen takes center stage in the musical.
“I wanted to be a part of ‘RENT’ because I absolutely love this story and definitely not because I wanted to sing ‘Take Me or Leave Me,’” she muses, referencing the couple’s fan favorite duet. She’s thankful to be part of a production that “couldn’t have been made possible without the countless amount of queer people of color who came before us.”
It’s a sentiment the full cast seems to embrace, including Topher Larkin. The performer is one of nearly 20 other talents who round out the impressive ensemble.
“From day one we established ourselves as a family, a safe place, and I’ve never been in a cast where so many queer identities and visibilities are celebrated,” he says. “This production is a love song to the fans who have embraced ‘RENT’ from the beginning and still an opportunity to teach a whole new generation.”
That’s Baxter’s ultimate hope.
“I can’t imagine going through life without seeing ‘RENT’ and experiencing the lessons that this show teaches,” he says. “This group of characters and these amazing actors are living their lives unapologetically, and you need to experience the bohemian ideals for yourself, if only for two hours.
“We are currently in a climate, politically and socially, where so much of what we have worked for is being taken away,” Baxter stresses. “There are people trying to make ‘us’ sit down and be quiet. I refuse to and so should you. There is nothing else like ‘RENT’ … a very modern musical still confronting social change and humanity at its core.”
“RENT” plays Aug. 5-14 at Eight O’Clock Theatre, located at 105 Central Park Dr. in Largo. Shows are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
For more information and to purchase tickets, call 727-587-6793 or visit EightOClockTheatre.com.
