It has been close to 14 years since Jonathon Larson’s Rent debuted on Broadway and launched the musical about a group of friends dealing with life, love and HIV at the end of the 1980s. On Dec. 1-6, the musical comes to Orlando’s Bob Carr Performing Arts Center and stars Adam Pascal, who was Tony-nominated in the role of “Roger Davies” in the original Broadway cast.
Along with his co-star Anthony Rapp, who plays “Mark Cohen,” Pascal has spent most of the last year traveling the world with Rent: The Broadway Tour for what may very well be his last time in the role that changed his life. Talking to Watermark from a tour stop in Des Moines, Iowa, Pascal gladly chatted with about the musical and the impact it has had on his life.
WATERMARK: What are the biggest differences in your life now, both personal and professional, since Rent opened on Broadway all those years ago?
ADAM PASCAL: I got married and have two children, so that’s definitely the biggest change in my life. The show really sent me down a path that I was meant for and one didn’t know I was supposed to be on. In the years that have passed since we opened Rent a lot has happened and I’ve done a lot of different things and I’ve become much more comfortable with who I am as a person and as a performer.
How does it feel knowing you have such a big gay following?
It feels amazing. Some of my closest friends in the world are gay people. In all honesty, I really feel that they’re more advanced artistically and more advanced culturally to a certain extent. So it’s almost like a stamp of approval from the gay community is the best review that you can get. I feel so honored that this community of people that I’m so impressed by and love so much finds me entertaining. (Laughs) I just think that’s a really cool thing.
What is it about Rent that has kept you coming back for more?
We are so connected to it and we’ve just been lucky enough to have the right opportunities at the right time to revisit the material. I left the show in ‘97, opened the London production in the beginning of ‘98 and it wasn’t until the movie in 2005 that we really revisited the material. A couple of years later the opportunity to do 10 weeks back on Broadway with Anthony (Rapp) was just the perfect time and the perfect opportunity to try it on again and that was the impetus for the tour. The tour really does seem like this is the final chapter in Rent, or at least my personal performing in Rent. I can’t imagine I will ever do it for any sustained period of time again after this tour. Eventually we will be too old (laughs).
Is there a song from the show that you never tire of performing?
Um, (laughs) I’d have to say no only because at some point you’re tired of everything. It’s not the same song every night, luckily, but performing in a musical for so long and when you’re on the road you never know what you’re going to be excited by or be bored by on any particular night during the show. It’s our job as professionals to certainly not let the audience in on our boredom or lack thereof. I look forward to La Vie Boheme because it’s a really fun song to perform and everyone generally is having a really good time.
Are there any roles on Broadway, past or present, that you would like to take on?
When I got to do the Emcee on Broadway in Cabaret it was the most incredible experience that I’ve ever had on stage and I just loved it so much that it made me sort of crave doing more adventurous parts. Maybe I have an inner transvestite but I really would love to play Hedwig. I would love to play Frankenfurter. You know what I mean? I would love to play those kinds of characters. Those androgynous, Rock Star-esque type characters I find really appealing.
What is it about touring that you like the most?
It’s very easy to do the job because your only responsibility is to show up and do the job every night. So if I want to sit on the couch, in the dark in my underwear all day until show time, I can do that. (Laughs) I can’t do that at home because I have my life, I have my family, I have my kids and I have my responsibilities.
What are your plans after this tour?
I have a musical that I’m producing for myself that will definitely be down the road a bit. I’ll probably be doing some more sporadic touring with my own music as I was doing before the show. In this business, hopefully, things fall in your lap (laughs). At least that’s been my experience. So I’m hoping that something good will fall in my lap.
S+H
What: Rent
When: Dec. 1-6
Where: Bob Carr Performing Arts Center
Tickets: BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Orlando
