‘Rent’ is Due – is the Bible Belt Ready?

"Rent," the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical, complete with drag queens, HIV, homelessness, and homosexuality, makes its regional debut tonight at the Robinson Theatre at the Moss Performing Arts Center.

"Rent" has managed to make waves around the world, capturing audiences and critics alike.  Jeremy Gerard, in his review in Variety, writes "Rent is the best show in years, if not decades."

Sandwiched between other recent productions at the Robinson Theatre, including the ultra-squeaky-clean "Oklahoma" and the social-conscious "The Diary of Anne Frank," this contemporary musical may be met with mixed feelings by theater goers. "Rent" packs an "R" rating for language, drug content, sexuality, and other adult situations. In order to accommodate audiences not interested in the racier subject matter, producers created the far-more-family-friendly version, "Rent: School Edition." However, the original version is what will be seen during the two-week run at Robinson.

This is not necessarily the first time the Robinson Theatre has pushed the envelope.  Over the years, Robinson has seen the likes of "Urine-Town," and "Rocky Horror Picture Show."  While these productions were well-received and sold tickets, they were also accompanied by legions of chrome-domes getting up and exiting the theater after the first musical number, followed by a barrage of nasty-grams sent to "Letters to the Editor."

"Rent" is showing at the Robinson Theatre at the Moss Performing Arts Center Thursday, September 27th through Saturday, October 6th.  Tickets and information available at (970) 248-1604.

Is Small Town U.S.A, located right in the heart of the Bible Belt, ready to pay the "Rent"?