Pennsylvania Daybook

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<p>SCRANTON &#8212; If your wallet hints you have more in common with aspiring film maker Mark or struggling musician Roger than with say, Joanne the lawyer or Benny the landlord, here&#8217;s some good news.</p><p>You can arrive early, stand in line and perhaps land a seat for &#8220;Rent&#8221; for a slim $20 when the Broadway Theatre League of Northeastern Pennsylvania brings the show&#8217;s 20th anniversary tour to the Scranton Cultural Center Nov. 18-20.</p><p>The $20 tickets, for seats in the first two rows of the orchestra section, cost a fraction of the ordinary $40-$60 price and they&#8217;ll be available two hours before each performance to be sold in person, cash only, with a limit of two per customer.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to continue the tradition,&#8221; actor Danny Kornfeld said, explaining the &#8220;ticket rush&#8221; custom dates back to 1996, when the show moved to Broadway, and it makes the musical more accessible to people who, like most of its artist characters, aren&#8217;t exactly millionaires.</p><p>If you&#8217;ve never seen the musical, or the 2005 movie version, &#8220;Rent&#8221; will introduce you to Mimi, a strip club dancer who has the same first name as the title character in Puccini&#8217;s &#8220;La Boheme,&#8221; the opera on which the musical is loosely based; a teacher named Collins, a drag queen named Angel and a songwriter named Roger.</p><p>All four of these characters are HIV-positive during the late 1980s/early 1990s, when having AIDS was a death sentence.</p><p>&#8220;I was very young when the musical first came out,&#8221; said Kornfeld, who grew up in Michigan. &#8220;I never knew what AIDS was before the movie.&#8221;</p><p>In the show, Kornfeld portrays Roger&#8217;s roommate, Mark Cohen, a man with a camera who is less interested in commercial success than in making a quality documentary.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s an observer,&#8221; Kornfeld said, explaining Mark watches the drama in the lives of his friends.</p><p>&#8220;The worst part for him is seeing Roger and Mimi break up and having Roger push (Mark) away and run away from his problems,&#8221; Kornfeld said, suggesting Mark might find that even worse than losing his old girlfriend, Maureen, to an attorney named Joanne.</p><p>This being a musical, Joanne and Mark dance together and sing a duet about their mutual frustrations with &#8220;the dark, dizzy merry-go-round&#8221; where Maureen keeps people &#8220;dangling.&#8221;</p><p>The &#8220;Tango Maureen&#8221; is one of the best parts of the show, said Kornfeld, who also enjoys the energy of &#8220;La Vie Boheme,&#8221; when he and his cast mates get up on a table to sing and dance about their unconventional, Bohemian lifestyles.</p><p>&#8220;I love the fact that everybody is onstage together,&#8221; he said.</p><p>While the story has its sad moments that illustrate how short life can be, the actor said, its message is an uplifting one.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all about embracing the moment, about inclusion and community and family and celebrating,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And it doesn&#8217;t matter how long you live, it&#8217;s what you make of your life.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The impoverished &#8216;Bohemians&#8217; of the musical &#8216;Rent&#8217; sing and dance in celebration of their unconventional lifestyles during the &#8216;La Vie Boheme&#8217; number. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_RENT13.jpg</photo0><caption0>The impoverished &#8216;Bohemians&#8217; of the musical &#8216;Rent&#8217; sing and dance in celebration of their unconventional lifestyles during the &#8216;La Vie Boheme&#8217; number. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_rent.angel3_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Merino, as Angel, dances in the 20th anniversary tour of &#8216;Rent,&#8217; which will be performed at the Scranton Cultural Center Nov. 18-20. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_rent.angel3_.jpg</photo1><caption1>David Merino, as Angel, dances in the 20th anniversary tour of &#8216;Rent,&#8217; which will be performed at the Scranton Cultural Center Nov. 18-20. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photos </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_RENT2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Skyler Volpe and Kaleb Wells portray Mimi and Roger in a scene during which the two young people start to fall in love. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_RENT2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Skyler Volpe and Kaleb Wells portray Mimi and Roger in a scene during which the two young people start to fall in love. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photos </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_RENT1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Danny Kornfeld and Kaleb Wells portray roommates Mark and Roger, who are wondering how they will pay their landlord in the musical &#8216;Rent.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_RENT1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Danny Kornfeld and Kaleb Wells portray roommates Mark and Roger, who are wondering how they will pay their landlord in the musical &#8216;Rent.&#8217; </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photos </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Broadway Theatre League brings &#8216;Rent&#8217; to Scranton</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Rent&#8217;</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Scranton Cultural Center, 420 N. Washington Ave.</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 8 p.m. Nov. 18; 2 and 8 p.m. Nov. 19; 1 p.m. Nov. 20</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-342-7784</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>