Thirty-eight years after they were first established, and four years since they last took to the Galway stage, GMS will return to the Town Hall Theatre to perform Broadway classic RENT, from Tuesday April 11 to Saturday April 15.
The pandemic unfortunately necessitated in an immediate halt to rehearsals for GMS’s planned 2020 production of Jonathan Larson’s opus magnum, RENT, less than a month before it was set to premiere. After several potential restarts over three years, GMS will finally bring RENT to the stage. Led by director Paul ‘Nippy’ Norton, choreographer Jay Molyneux and musical director John Roe, the society began rehearsals at the beginning of the year, and they've been hard at work ever since.
Based on Puccini’s 1896 opera La Bohème, RENT follows a group of struggling young artists living in Manhattan’s East Village at the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Tragically, Larson passed on the eve of the show’s 1996 premiere. RENT went on to become one of the most successful shows in Broadway history before closing in 2008, and it's been a key influence in musical theatre ever since.
GMS’s production will feature Brandon Collier (Mark ), Keith Hanley (Roger ), Hannah Wright (Mimi ), Niall Conway (Collins ), Jay Molyneux (Angel ), Helena Brosnan (Maureen ), Gabrielle Reid (Joanne ) and Jay Hall (Benny ) in lead roles. They will be backed by an absolutely incredible ensemble of both GMS veterans and newcomers.
It has been a couple of tough years for musical theatre in general, but GMS is so excited to bring this production to life after such a long time. How apt that they make their return with a production focusing on artists and performers struggling to live and create as a pandemic rages around them – a show that demonstrates that even in the darkest of moments, hope and love are worth fighting for, and that there is “no day but today” to “measure your life in love”.
The show will take place in the Town Hall Theatre from Tuesday April 11 to Saturday April 15. Get your tickets online at tht.ie
