Students prepare for Princess Theatre production

The cast of more than 100 students along with crew, band and staff have all been working hard at the College since early February and are now having their last rehearsals at the Princess Theatre before opening night on Wednesday.

Director Cheyne Mitchell said that with the way of the world for the last few years it was more timely than ever to choose a musical with themes of health and housing.

"In theatre we always talk about why this show and why now, we look at a bunch of young people trying to make sense of their lives in the late stages of a global pandemic set against the backdrop of a rental crisis where people are getting evicted from their homes, there is not a more relevant work to be exploring," he said.

"RENT tells the story about a bunch of young artists living in New York who are struggling to make sense of life set against the backdrop of the last great pandemic, HIV and AIDS in the late 80's.

"Rehearsals have been absolutely fantastic, we have one of the strongest casts that we have ever had. Everyone has been deep in rehearsals since February this year."

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Mr Mitchell said that the musical, which was one of the longest-running shows on Broadway, was an important story of the trials and tribulations of life.

"RENT is one of the most powerful musicals of the last 25 years. It is a story of hope and survival," he said.

Launceston College student Isaac Leslie plays the role of Roger, one of the lead roles in the production.

"Roger is a complicated guy, he has a lot of emotions that he's keeping down," he said.

"He's got some past demons that he is trying to work through during the show.

"This is my first production, I have watched the Launceston College productions for a while, since I was little and have always dreamed of being in one so this is great."

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Fellow student Chelsea Dean plays one of the female lead roles of Mimi, a dancer with HIV.

"Mimi is a dancer in a club, she is also struggling with a pretty hard drug addiction and she has also contracted AIDS so she comes with a lot of baggage," she said.

"She is full of life and she is an electrifying character. She truly lives each day like it's her last, which is very different to how her life actually plays out.

"You fall in love with her character and she just lives in the moment. This character has been hard to dive into as you see her slowly start to descend into her drug addiction."

RENT will be performed at the Princess Theatre from this Wednesday August 10 until Saturday, August 13.

For tickets visit the Theatre North website.

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