Adam Kantor

Set in New York City's gritty East Village, the revolutionary rock opera RENT tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. "Measuring their lives in love," these starving artists strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.

Four stories collide over one Friday night in Manhattan in this lyrical snapshot and celebration of the manic, intoxicating diversity of New York City.

Nate Shepherd, late 40's, and Jenny Sparks, early 30's, meet in a fancy New York eatery. Complete strangers who have had a rotten day, waiting for their better halves, they reveal to one another that they are going to meet new people tonight. They quickly realize they are waiting for each other. When Nate loses his girlfriend (after getting fired from his cushy job at an ad agency) and Jenny loses her boyfriend to a drug overdose, Nate's girlfriend suggests that they should move in together as friends to split the rent and ease each others pain. As their friendship grows into something more, their relationship becomes a loving but complicated experience.

Hoping to gain a sense of security, a group of queers head upstate to learn how to shoot a gun. But when the first shot goes off, the day of mishaps and mayhem devolves into something much darker.

A heartbroken man never leaves his apartment, finding his only solace in memories of the past. Then a mysterious couple moves in next door. Eavesdropping on them becomes his new entertainment—and his new obsession. Soon he finds himself drawn into a web of love, lies, deceit, and danger. Inspired by classic film noir, this new musical is written by Broadway artists Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow and directed by Darko Tresnjak.