In celebration of their upcoming production of Puccini’s La Bohème (January 31 & February 2 at the Tennessee Theatre), Knoxville Opera is teaming up with Central Cinema to present Jonathan Larson’s La Bohème-inspired RENT! (Showtime below is for our standard encore screening; we’ll also be hosting a special Sing-Along event on Sunday, January 12.)

In this musical, set at the dawn of the 1990s, a group of New Yorkers struggle with their careers, love lives and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their community. Mark (Anthony Rapp), an aspiring filmmaker, and Roger (Adam Pascal), an HIV-positive musician, scramble for money to pay rent to their landlord and former roommate, Benny (Taye Diggs). Meanwhile, their friend Tom (Jesse L. Martin), a professor, has fallen for Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), who is slowly dying of AIDS.

“Chris Columbus’s film affirms that Rent belongs in the pantheon of immortal musicals celebrating the self-dramatizing and resilient spirit of youth.” – New York Times

Showtimes