This spring will be a “season of love,” as the Marquis Players will perform the critically acclaimed contemporary rock musical “Rent” this April.
The show was announced last Friday at the Marquis Players’ annual showcase with a rendition of “Seasons of Love,” an iconic song from the musical.
“Rent” takes place during the 1980s and follows a group of friends as they contend with life, love, poverty and disease while living in New York City at the height of bohemian culture and the AIDS epidemic.
Bella Crapanzano ‘26, the director for the Marquis Players, believes that “Rent” will expose the Lafayette community to important issues such as health epidemics, gender, sexuality and social and political movements in an intersectional way.
“It’s a show that brings people together, regardless of race, gender, sexuality and also homelessness and socioeconomic status,” Crapanzano said. “It’s just showing acceptance, and that’s something that people often don’t forget in a liberal arts setting, but maybe aren’t consistently shown.”
Going into this year’s spring musical, the students in Marquis Players emphasize the impact that last spring’s “Cabaret” had on their decision to do “Rent.” After tackling a show with such deep, resonant themes and narratives, the Marquis Players did not want to negate that and do a “fun” musical.
“We wanted to continue what ‘Cabaret’ had started, and make it a more impactful, important show choice,” said Marisa Carroll ‘25, the president of Marquis Players.
Carroll said that what drew her to “Rent” was the similar themes to “Cabaret” in its depiction of the tragedies and injustices that have befallen marginalized communities. However, it was also very distinct from “Cabaret” in how it creates an accessible show for general audiences in its style of music, popularity and hopeful messages.
“I feel like there is a lot more love in it,” stage manager Juliet Minadeo ‘27 said of the show. “The light comes in with the relationships between these characters. Yes, there’s heartache. Yes, there’s tragedy. And it still does deal with those very relevant and very important themes, but it brings a lot more of the joy of life as we know it right now.”
When deciding on the musical, the executive board for Marquis Players and the production team went down a long list of musicals and slowly eliminated them. Out of all of the musicals discussed, “Rent” was a standout.
“When people were talking about ‘Rent,’ it was just obvious that people wanted to tell this story over the other stories that were being presented,” Crapanzano said. “Everyone believes in our ability to present such a complicated show.”
Both Carroll and Crapanzano stated a commitment to having “Rent” reflect the level of talent and diversity in the Lafayette community. Crapanzano in particular said they have been playing around with ideas to incorporate more people in the design of “Rent” in order “to communicate and create a world together.”
“I feel like it really resonates a sense of unity and community, and if we aren’t executing that in the production side of things, then that’s completely hypocritical to what we’re trying to spread to the Lafayette campus,” Crapanzano said.
Currently, Crapanzano is looking for designers for “Rent.” Auditions begin early in the spring semester and the show will be held at the Williams Center for the Arts from April 17 through April 19.
