A drag queen, a homosexual college professor and an aspiring filmmaker walk onstage. No, it’s not the beginning of a terrible, and probably offensive, joke, but it’s the beginning of “RENT.” The musical, which won four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize during its run on Broadway for 12 years, chronicles one year in the life of seven friends struggling with life, loss, disease and, of course, paying the rent in early 1990s New York City.

Light My Candle

The air inside Rupel Jones Theater is electric. Surrounded by hot lights and old CRT television sets, a giant metal structure sits on the stage. The set is quiet at first, but then suddenly, the lights in the audience go out, a door slides open and the rollercoaster ride that is “RENT” begins.

“[Opening night] was the final step as far as the cast becoming one,” Storm Lineberger, the freshman from San Antonio who plays Benny, says. “As soon as I broke the barrier and came onto stage, I felt the audience and the energy.”

Most audience members are on the edges of the seats as they take in the sight in front of them. They laugh when Angel emerges decked in his Mrs. Claus drag outfit, complete with knee-high boots. They wince at Roger’s stinging refusal of Mimi’s advances. They shift and lean as Maureen pleads for Joanne’s acceptance. And some, perhaps most, cry real fat tears with Collins as he clutches a leather coat to his chest .

They’re living and breathing these characters along with the actors that portray them. The feeling as the cast takes the curtain call can only be described as magic and it’s a palpable electricity the audience and the cast share.

“We weren’t performing, we weren’t singing and dancing for our benefit,” Sophie Menas, a musical theater junior who plays Mimi. “We were telling a story in honor of the people that have died from AIDS.”

“RENT,” complete with raunchy humor and an honest portrayal of gay relationship, offends some and the empty seats at intermission show a small fraction of viewers didn’t appreciate the way playwright Jonathan Larson chose to tell his story.

The cast notices those who have suddenly gone missing, but they can’t say they’re surprised.

“We were kind of nervous for the Oklahoma crowd,” Menas says. “But all the feedback I’ve gotten has been nothing but kind words and compliments.”

Jamard Richardson, musical theater sophomore who plays Tom Collins, says that he expected people to leave during the performance but was pleasantly surprised at how many audience members stayed for the entire show.

“The connections were electrifying,” says Richardson, offering an explanation for what he calls a surprising audience reaction. “It made you want to stay and watch.”

Director Shawn Churchman says his only expectation was for his cast to tell the story in an honest way.

“You don’t ask for people to like what you do because that’s not going to happen,” Churchman says. “But people responded to the honesty of the story. And if people tell their story honestly, you can’t help but be moved.”

One Song Glory

At the first rehearsal of OU’s production of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Churchman pulled out a tri-fold poster board with seven pictures on it.

He told each person’s story to his actors and then informed them that all seven men represented on the board were friends of his that had died of AIDS. Churchman then invited each cast member to bring a picture of someone they couldn’t imagine living without and place it on the board. This process, he says, was integral to helping the young cast understand the immense feeling of loss that is at the very core of “RENT.”

“To do this show, they have to understand what it’s like to lose someone they love in their chosen family,” Churchman says.

But the actors who were part of what became a nightly ceremony, see deeper meaning in Churchman’s idea.

“It was an incredibly personal thing to share and just a great way to start this project,” says Skyler Adams, musical theater senior who plays Roger. “We were all invited into his heart.”

And Churchman’s heart, the cast unanimously says, is huge.

A native of Dallas, Churchman came to Oklahoma City University in the ‘80s to study vocal performance. After graduating, he moved to New York City and performed off-Broadway before stumbling onto directing for the stage.

“I knew from the first moment that I did it that this was what I enjoyed, even more than acting,” Churchman says.

He spent 20 years in New York City acting and directing, but once the novelty of the city wore off, he decided to return to the region he still calls home. Churchman had professional ties to some faculty at OU and, when his current position came open, he jumped at the chance to apply.

“I read the job description and I though, ‘They’re looking for someone just like me,’” Churchman says with a laugh. “They were looking for someone who wanted to teach about their experiences in New York in a variety of ways and that just happens to be who I am.”

And Churchman took his experiences to the stage when the Department of Musical Theatre presented “RENT” last fall. Sharing the stories of his seven friends whose lives were prematurely ended by AIDS was only part of the journey.

“Shawn’s brilliant,” Menas says. “We all learned about the show together but [because of his time in New York] he had a really firm grasp on what it was about.”

Adrianna Hicks, musical theater senior who plays Joanne, agreed with Menas and credits him for making her job on the stage easier.

“I have the deepest respect for him for bringing out the best performer in me,” Hicks says. “He produced a love factor that was essential to this show.”

I’ll Cover You

Jon Young’s work was on stage for the entire two-and-a-half-hour production of “RENT,” but you won’t see him taking a bow at curtain call, and you won’t find his name in the list of cast members.

Young, who is also an assistant professor of scenic design, conceptualized the massive steel structure that dominated the Rupel Jones stage during the show’s two-week run.

He said that beginning work on the show was hard because it has so much baggage attached to it.

“A lot of people know what ‘RENT’ is,” Young says. “I had to ignore that and really focus in on what the story is, who these characters are and what their environment is.”

He adds that the show also has some conventions that the set required. The need for two floors and a versatile look also affected his decisions when designing the set. However, the unique set up of the Rupel Jones Theater also allowed for innovations not seen in the Broadway production of “RENT.”

For example, Young designed a way to turn the stairs leading into the orchestra pit into a subway station. This allowed the actors to take the show more into the audience, something Churchman says was integral to bringing a current-day Oklahoma audience into 1990s Alphabet City.

“You want it to have a New York vibe, which means it has to be metal,” Churchman says. “I wanted the show to be very much in the audience. I wanted this to feel like a visceral experience for this Oklahoma audience. They couldn’t stand back and observe it — they had to be in it.”

After “RENT” closed on Oct. 3, the cast and crew gathered for strike, which involved tearing the set down. Musical theater senior Emily Mechler who plays Maureen, says strike was sad because each cast member had adopted the space as his or her own.

“It was just an ongoing joke during strike, we all kept saying, ’Stop taking down my home,’” Mechler says.

She adds that most of the cast and crew took some pieces of the graffiti to put on their walls to remember the show by.

And although Young doesn’t get to take a bow at the end of every performance, he says it really doesn’t matter to him, just watching every night is more than enough thanks.

“Without the actors, [the stage is] just lights hanging in the air and cardboard and steel, it doesn’t have a life,” Young says. “When the actors receive their award from the audience response, we’re part of that. We feel that.”

Without You

When asked if they would go through the entire process, from audition to strike, the cast members’ response was an overwhelming “absolutely.” Although the production only enjoyed a limited run on campus, the effects will last.

“It forced me to get out of my own head, which has been a tremendous step in my life,” Lineberger says. “I don’t think any show could transform me the way this one did.”

Richardson says this was one of the most enjoyable shows he has ever been a part of and he was not ready to say goodbye to the characters he grew to love.

“I wish these people were real,” Richardson says. “I’ve never walked on stage and had so much fun.”

To Churchman, “RENT” was a way to bring back memories. He was able to relive a lot of his youth spent in New York City, his story so similar to the stories of the characters in the show.

But Churchman says the most important part of “RENT” for everyone involved — cast, crew and audience — was the overarching theme.

“The most gratifying thing about directing ‘RENT’ is that I know that for every person on the stage and for the 4,000 people that saw it, the message that everybody loves the same way was heard,” Churchman says. “You don’t get that opportunity very often.”

This story appears in Sooner 2011. To purchase your copy, go to www.studentmedia.ou.edu or call 405-325-3668.