No Day But Today! Mullingar Youth Theatre presents, Rent the musical

In September 2021, Mullingar Youth Theatre was born. Setting up a youth theatre was a natural progression for Mullingar Arts Centre, after the success of 18 memorable productions for Mullingar Student Players paved the way for an interest among the students of the community to attend a weekly theatre group.

Every Sunday, under the guidance of music tutor Síofra O’Farrell, dance tutor Alika Lynch and drama tutor Steve Hartland, local students from TY and upwards have been honing their performance skills in preparation for the group’s first full-scale musical.

Rent the Musical is set in New York in the mid-1990s, in the midst of the AIDS crisis. It follows a year in the life of a group friends, and all of the trials and tribulations that they face throughout.

It is a story about life, love and loss, and finding sparks of joy and strength among life’s struggles.

There are eight characters in the principal cast, facing challenges of eviction, addiction, sexual identity, materialism and the yearning to leave a meaningful legacy.

After the successful 2021 release of the film ‘Tick, Tick, BOOM’, the biopic of Rent’s composer Jonathan Larson, choosing ‘Rent’ for Mullingar Youth Theatre’s first full-scale production was one that made sense to the production team involved.

They’re hoping to bring this Broadway classic to a new audience, especially now that more interest in Larson’s work has been piqued by the film.

The cast have been working hard over the past few weeks to bring this musical to life on the stage.

It’s packed with energetic dance numbers, heart-wrenching musical numbers and poignant scenes, and it is definitely a musical with something for everyone. Don’t miss the opportunity to come and support these talented, young performers give it their all.

Rent the Musical runs from Thursday May 12 to Saturday May 14 in Mullingar Arts Centre, curtain up at 8pm.

Tickets are available at mullingarartscentre.ie; 044934 7777; and boxoffice@mullingarartscentre.ie.

CAST MEMBERS