Music Theatre of Connecticut (MTC) MainStage, Fairfield County’s award-winning professional theatre company, opens its 39th season with the groundbreaking, Tony Award winning musical, Rent. Based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, Jonathan Larson’s Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The production runs from September 26th through October 12th with performances on Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. There will be one Sunday evening performance at 7pm on October 5th.

Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent has become a pop cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages. The physical and emotional complications of HIV/AIDS pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking musical.