When the students at the Barstow School don their ragamuffin Alphabet City gear and belt "Seasons of Love," roughly 6,307,200 minutes will have passed since the Off-Broadway debut of Rent and its soaring minutes-in-a-year opening number. In 12 years and change, Jonathan Larson's best-known (and, sadly, final) musical swept Broadway, Hollywood and any town sizable enough to book a touring production — impressive for any show, let alone a rock romance of bohemian New York City in the age of AIDS. Now, all those years and minutes after the initial hoopla, director Bob Kohler and the theater department at the Barstow School (11511 State Line Road) are putting on Rent: School Edition where it fits: on a smaller stage, performed by young and passionate actors for a like-minded audience eager to soak up its messages. The musical starts at 7:30 p.m. in the school auditorium, tonight through Saturday. Tickets cost $5; for reservations, call 816-942-3255.
Thu., Nov. 6, 2008
