Landmark American Musical "Rent" to be Performed at UB Feb. 22-23; Tickets Go on Sale Sept. 24

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning landmark American musical Rent, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif, is coming to the Mainstage Theatre at the Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo for two performances, to be held Feb. 22-23 at 8 p.m.

Tickets for all performances will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24. Tickets may be purchased from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's and Ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 852-5000. For group information, contact 645-6771. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location.

Inspired by Puccini's "La Boheme," "Rent" is a joyous, breathtaking and often bittersweet musical that celebrates a community of artists as they struggle with the soaring hopes and tough realities of today's world.

"Rent," considered by many the most exuberant and original American musical to come along in a decade, has single-handedly reinvigorated Broadway and is taking the country by storm. Sweeping all major theater awards, including the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent captures the heart and spirit of a generation.

The show received its world premiere off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop on Feb. 13, 1996, to ecstatic reviews. It rapidly became a sold-out hit. The show transferred to Broadway on April 29, 1996, and continues to play to standing-room-only audiences. On Feb. 10 this year, "Rent" surpassed "Fiddler on the Roof" to become the 10th-longest running show in Broadway history.

The most honored musical since "A Chorus Line" in 1976, "Rent" is only the fifth musical to ever win both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award.

The success of "Rent" is always tempered by the death of its creator, Jonathan Larson. Larson died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on the morning of Jan. 25, 1996, just hours after "Rent's" final dress rehearsal off-Broadway, and 10 days before his 36th birthday.

Rent features musical direction by Tim Weil, choreography by Marlies Yearby, set design by Paul Clay, costume design by Angela Wendt and lighting design by Blake Burba.

Tickets for "Rent" are $49, $43 and $37. Additional show information can be found at http://www.rentthetour.com.