Rent

Poor Anthony. Poor Adam. Poor Gwen. The trio is still hungry and still can’t pay the Rent. You got it — the Tony award-winning musical about young starving artists in New York City’s East Village, Rent, is in town, and it features original Broadway cast members Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal and Gwen Stewart. (The three first played the roles 13 years ago, with Rapp and Pascal later appearing in the movie version of the show.) A modern-day version of Puccini’s La Bohème, Rentfollows a small circle of friends over the course of a year. Rapp's character, Mark, an aspiring filmmaker whose girlfriend left him for another woman, videos the group’s struggles with love, death, drug addiction, AIDS, poverty and out-of--control hormones. Pascal's Roger is a songwriter who’s HIV-positive. He sings “One Song Glory,” about his desire to write one great song before he succumbs to his disease. Listen for Stewart's solo in “Seasons of Love” (“five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes”), the centerpiece to the score. 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Through May 3. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713-558-8887. $26 to $70. THOMAS RUNDLE
Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Starts: April 29. Continues through May 3, 2009