On her graduation day, Izabella Montes will walk across not one, but two stages.
The Jamestown High School senior graduates the same day Williamsburg Players’ “Rent” closes.
“I do the show. I run. I graduate. I run back. I do the final show,” she said.
Montes wouldn’t have it any other way.
Performing in “Rent” is a dream come true for the 18-year-old, an opportunity she never thought she’d have.
“I never want to give my script back,” Montes said. “It’s definitely something that I will keep with me for the rest of my life.”
Williamsburg Players presents “Rent” for the first time from June 2-18. The groundbreaking Broadway musical closes the Players’ current season.
And for the cast, many of them in their twenties, “Rent” has shaped their lives both on and off the stage.
“We all have a real personal stake in this,” said director Dana Margulies Cauthen. “It’s not just another show. It really isn’t. ‘Rent’ goes beyond that.”
A modern classic
Inspired by Puccini’s “La Boheme,” “Rent” follows a group of young artists living in Manhattan’s East Village. Together, they navigate life, love, poverty, addiction and HIV/AIDS.
“It was incredibly groundbreaking when it first came out,” Cauthen said.
“Rent” snagged the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the same year.
“Now, it’s more of their reality – the kids who are in college these days are in a much more accepting generation,” Cauthen said. “I like to think that ‘Rent’ had an impact on society’s tolerance for different lifestyles.”
Valerie Zangardi, 27, portrays Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist. Zangardi used to live in New York City, and she’s seen “Rent” performed many times. She recalled listening to the soundtrack as a pre-teen, and singing “Seasons of Life” in choir.
“It’s interesting to see a younger generation enjoying it and getting it,” Zangardi said, referring to cast members younger than her. “It’s obviously still very relevant.”
Auditions drew 67 people. A third made the cut.
Alex James, 20, and Dante Perry, 23, described their characters — Angel and Collins, respectively — as roles they’ve always dreamed of playing.
Despite already knowing lyrics and characters by heart, cast members have worked to make “Rent” their own.
“(Cauthen) lets us play around with the characters and what the lyrics mean to us,” said Trey Heath, 25. Heath portrays musician Roger Davis, who is HIV positive.
“We have been able to do so much creation with this cast,” Cauthen said. “I love sitting on the edge of the stage with them, while they play, and I play, and we go, ‘Oh, let’s do this!’ It’s so much more authentic than saying I’m just going to recreate something that’s already been done.”
The iconic moments remain, Cauthen said, like the cast standing shoulder-to-shoulder across the stage singing “Seasons of Love.”
Still, “It’s really our own take,” Heath said.
‘No day but today’
The cast of 20 brings high energy to the stage each night.
It’s needed for the nearly continuous production Cauthen has staged, with no breaks for scene-changes, no pauses for applause.
“Time is one of those essential themes that the whole show revolves around. How much time do we have left, and what can we squeeze into the time we do have?” she said. “That’s why I’m doing it that way.”
It seems the cast has taken to heart that urgency, the musical’s message of “No Day But Today.”
“This idea where it’s like you can’t let things behind, you need to embrace every single moment for what it is, the good and the bad, and that’s what’s going to make up a life is just such a great thing,” Montes said.
“I really hope our audience would leave calling someone that they’ve never thought they could call before, telling someone that they love them, just really taking chances.”
Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-345-2342.
Want to go?
When: 8 p.m., Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m., Saturdays; June 2-18
Where: James-York Playhouse, 200 Hubbard Lane
Tickets: $20/adults, $12/students and children
Tickets available at 757-229-0431 or williamsburgplayers.org.
