The long loved musical ‘RENT’ will be playing in late September at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. Blackout Theatre Company have the task of bringing the iconic musical to both new and old audiences.
Angela Hanna, the assistant director for the show, says she is feeling great about her role in the production. “I've worked on quite a few shows both professional and amateur, it's really nice to step back and let someone else work their magic. Jordan Anderson, our director, is a first time director for a musical, so he has taken a massive bite into this world. It's quite commendable to be perfectly honest.”
Image © Angela HannaAngela hopes the team can provide audiences with the same feeling she had when experiencing ‘RENT’ for the first time. “The first time I experienced ‘RENT’ myself was when I was sixteen and I fell in love with the music first and foremost,” Angela says. “My best friend bought it for me for my birthday and I have been in love ever since. The music is what drew me to it, and I have a feeling a lot of other people have the same experience. The music is different to a lot of other musical theatre productions, and It tells the right story. It speaks to a lot of people for varying reasons, and everyone takes something personal from it. It's always really relatable and I think that's what makes ‘RENT’ so relevant today. It's really awesome that we get to put it on.”
The production’s cast and crew are doing all they can to put on a great show and to provide audiences with the great show. “We are an amateur theatre company but we like to hold our standards quite high. We like to conduct ourselves as professionally as possible so we can give people that experience,” Angela says. “Especially considering most of the production team have worked professionally before and have studied. The best part about what we do is we give people a chance. I think that's the difference between a professional company and what we do. We give a look-in to people who probably wouldn't have gotten a look-in. They're so incredibly talented, they should be getting a look. It's nice to know we’re getting a wonderful response from our cast. They walk away from rehearsals and they're smiling.”
Image © Angela HannaThe cast also feel a particular significance in their roles. “We've got a lot of LGBT people in our cast, and we have a lot of younger people in our cast who have friends that are LGBT orientated,” Angela says. “They are all really passionate about this show. Everyone who auditioned, auditioned for a reason. They didn't come in not knowing what the show was about or what the story was telling. It was really great to have so many people, especially young people, come in and want to be a part of a production that is focused on something that is still so prevalent today. It's really wonderful.”
Blackout Theatre Company are also excited to add their own creative strokes to the work without taking away from what makes ‘RENT’ great. “We're adding a bit more choreography to the elements, to try to make it a little bit more of a dance show as well,” Angela says. “Our choreographer Steph Bell Chambers has had a beautiful vision for some of the pieces, and we're very excited to put a little bit more dance back into a singer's show.”
Image © Angela HannaThis has provided some highlights from the production for Angela who is a self-confessed lover of ballads. “The choreography for ‘Will I?’ is going absolutely beautifully. It's going to be very powerful and moving, and it’s probably one of my favourite songs. Steph possesses such stunning work so it's going to be really lovely. ‘I'll Cover You (Reprise)’ is also going to be gorgeous.”
‘RENT’ plays at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre 28 September-1 October.
