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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2002)
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She »s teer c lical Center, #h® nfort seriously I :ir families. >m. a 21-yeaHil d the one-on-® cGaffic had *4 death and dy® memorial for I that died, and sle vith us all as« our loved ones.’ President Pew ■e were no in®- change seen® he 34,000-studd Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 ♦ Tuesdsay, October 29, 2002 Broadway, College Station MSC OPAS brings “Rent,” a Broadway production, to Texas A&M University By Kendra Kingsley THE BATTALION When Justin Rodriguez luditioned for the Broadway iroduction of “Rent,” he felt a ittle out of place. “I showed up wearing boots and jeans. Other people there (atthe audition) were in dance of justice offe shoes and sweatpants. Rodriguez said. “From what I saw, (others who were audi tioning) were very talented. In New York, so many people are very trained in dance and drama. 1 had never thought about trying to take lessons, so Ihad no dance experience.” At the time of the auditions, 20-year-old Rodriguez was a salesman at Bang Bang, a cloth- store in New York, and was reluctantly preparing to return to his hometown of Las Vegas. “The reason I tried out for Rent’ in the first place was because I didn't want to go back to Vegas yet,” he said. Regardless of his motive and k of training, Rodriguez con tinued to get call-backs from the casting directors. ’d never auditioned for anything,” Rodriguez said. “I just showed up at auditions and kept getting call-backs.” Now cast as “Angel” and equipped with dancing, singing and acting experience, Rodriguez will join his fellow ich includes t‘| I cast members to perform in the sing school. | off-Broadway touring produc- in an apartMto of “Rent.” Presented by , miles from s f iy other stud® manager Joe Bi! i been there!' /ear and was' Flores had W isited during it nates said :x-wife and t"- -om page 1 that Vision2Di ■nd this scholar diversifying®; his campus ich as resident of mts Councils this Universib th minority pt- ;tate of Texas- -ship fund is it direction. number of otto rgeted. It IS that we 11 am fully c f nt Gates tuilar said. OPAS, the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning pro duction will take the stage at Rudder Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and Wednesday, Oct. 30. Kaycee Taylor, a manager of publicity and advertising for OPAS and a sophomore business major, said Rent has already received a posi tive response from students. “We give out surveys every season to see what shows students are interest ed in, and we always see a big interest from the college crowd to bring “Rent’,” Taylor said. “This season, we finally got the chance to bring it to College Station, and I think a lot of students are excited to see it.” Despite Rent’s controver sial themes, including alterna tive lifestyles and AIDS, Taylor said audiences will appreciate the production as a fonn of art. “I think that it’s really wonderful that OPAS is bringing ‘Rent’ because it’s such a valid piece of art,” she said. “Even if some parts of it are seen as controver sial, it’s still an important part of bringing art into the Brazos County area.” Rodriguez agrees audiences should be accepting of Rent's message, rather than judging it by themes they may find controversial. “Some people might not be familiar with some of the sub ject matter that’s in “Rent”, but just because it doesn’t exist in their town doesn’t mean that it doesn't exist,” he said. “I’ve seen people leave during inter mission, and they walk away without understanding what the play is all about. Rent's message is to live life day by day because no one knows what will happen tomorrow. I hope people will open their eyes and minds and let that message get through.” Sharing Rent’s message has meant serious time away from the comforts of home, but Rodriguez said performing more than compensates. . “I moved out of my house at 18, but I still talk to my mom every day,” he said. “I miss the comforts of being at home. On the road, you can’t always do laundry or grab something to eat. But when you get on stage, it’s all worth it. I love it, and I feel so lucky.” While tonight’s per formance is a long way from Broadway, Rodriguez said he enjoys traveling. “It’s so much fun on the road,” he said. “I always wanted to go see the country, and that’s been so amazing for me.” To keep him going from performance to performance, Rodriguez said he draws energy from his fellow cast members as well as those behind the scenes. Rodriguez names Jonathan Larson, who wrote Rent and died of an aortic aneurysm the night of the performance’s final dress rehearsal, as one of his major inspirations. “The week before we went on tour with Rent, Jonathan (Larson’s) dad took the entire cast out to Life Cafe, which is from a scene in La Boheme and also the place where Jonathan used to eat with his friends,” Rodriguez said. “Everything in Rent is basical ly a true story. It was so amaz ing to meet the people behind the scenes and put faces with characters to see how they related to (Larson’s) life.” Since its first performance in 1996, “Rent” has connected with audience members such as Marty Hopkins, a senior politi cal science major. Hopkins, who saw “Rent” last summer in New York, said she plans to see the show again at Rudder Auditorium. “When I saw ‘Rent’ on Broadway, it was a phenomenal experience,” Hopkins said. “It’s an awesome musical and it deals with a lot of modem society’s problems so I think a lot of peo ple can relate. I just can’t wait to go back and see it all again.” Rodriguez hopes audience members will walk away from the production with the same sentiment. “(Audience members) shouldn’t expect a standard Broadway performance, but they should expect to have a good time,” he said. “Most of the time, the audience will walk out smil ing with tears in their eyes.” For each performance, 28 seats on the first row will be available for purchase for $20 the night of the show. These “rush” tickets will go on sale two hours before each show. Additional tickets can be pur chased by calling the MSC Box Office at 845-1234. rutcher , Chief