Leighanne Littrell lands role in Rent
Source: Broadway Weekly
What happens when RENT is due? Well, many young actors and actresses were asking themselves that one week ago Sunday, whlie trying out for the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, RENT.
Up first, we have the role of one of our main characters, and the narrarator, Mark Cohen, an up and coming film maker, and ex boyfriend of Maureen. Up for the roles were Skylar Finch, Tyler Guerrero, and Jason Lykelyn. After rehearsing for a long hour, the next character came on.
Meet Roger Davis, the main character, love interest of Mimi Marquez. The part of Roger is one of extreme importance, and this part is a major one. Competing for this part are Brandon Mayr, and Jamison Robbins. Two songs and 45 minutes later, the judges get ready for the lightening performance of Angel Schunard.
Angel is a black, cross dressing street musician, who plays drums for a living. At the beginning of Act 2, Angel becomes deathly ill with AIDS, and ends up dying, in the arms of her true love, Tom Collins, also HIV positive. The two actors that auditioned for Angel are Sanam Kyropecki, and Jonathen Wood. Up for the part of Tom Collins are Marcus Dewitter, and Jesse Martin, who played Collins in the original production of Rent.
The parts of Maureen Johnson and Joanne Jefferson are possibly the most difficult parts to play, if not the most. On stage, their personalities are completely different, two star crossed lovers with completely different views on life. Maurren is furious that their beloved Bohemia is closing, and starts a protest, starring none other than her. Joanne is a Harvard Law School graduate, and after meeting Mark, is terrified that Maureen will cheat on her, like she did to Mark. Up for the extremely controversial role of Maureen are Leighanne Littrell and Idina Menzel, and up for Joanne are Shannon Salvner, and Maggie McLuen.
Benjamin Coffin III is who starts the entire rucus, forcing Mark and Roger to pay their RENT, and who is turning the Lower East Side into a recording studio, and the reason why Maureen is scheduling her protest. He is the character that adds the spicy pizzazz to this Romeo and Juliet type story, the one that keeps everything moving. Sean Martin and Taye Diggs go up, Diggs playing the original Benny.
Last, but certainly not least, comes the simply irresistable Mimi Marquez, love interest of Roger, also infected with the AIDS virus, has a tragic ending. Without her, RENT would not be possible. Daphne Rubin-Vega, who portrayed the stunning Mimi in the original screenplay, and Marisa Morton, are up for this.
So the curtain gets called, and during each of their segments for the character they will be portraying, they come out in groups. The final cast listing is as follows:
Mark- Jason Lykelyn "Tango: Maureen"
Roger- Brandon Mayr "One Song Glory"
Mimi- Daphne Rubin-Vega "Out Tonight"
Maureen- Leighanne Littrell "Over the Moon"
Angel- Jonathen Wood "Today 4 U"
Collins- Jesse Martin "I'll Cover You"
Benny- Sean Martin "You'll See"
Joanne- Maggie McLuen "We're OK"
-Andrew Johnson, Broadway reporter
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