On Friday, November 18 and Saturday, November 19, Kent Place Upper School students will present their fall performance of Rent. The play will be performed at 8:00 p.m. in the Hyde and Watson Theatre on campus and is general admission. Drama Department Chair Robert Pridham will serve as director, Music Department Chair Edel Thomas as musical director and Dance Department Chair LeAnn Yannelli as choreographer.
Rent’s featured performers from the Class of 2012 are: Eleanor Haglund, Julia Cicchino, Shannon Campbell, Rachel Miller, Brianna Morgan, Janie McGraw and Morgan Hoit; Class of 2013: Juliette Norrmen-Smith, Annie Hilton, Cayla Kusnierz, Samantha Narciso, Emma Forstenhausler, Kristen Cotter, Katja Yacker, Jordan Cobb, Emily Bridges, Gabby Arias, Maddie Pensiero, Alana DiSabatino and Mahogany Aminzia; Class of 2014: Natalie Rathgeber and Denae Wilkins; Class of 2015: Gabby Mottesi, Abby Espiritu, Lizzie Fountain and Rachel Cohen.
Other notable stagehands include: Amanda Corey ‘13, stage manager; Claire Lynch ‘14, assistant stage manager; Baily Blanchard ‘12, assistant stage manager; Kendra Jain ‘14, special assistant to the director; Danielle Mills ‘12, dance captain; Janeen Browne ‘13, sound assistant; Jordyn Myers ‘13, board operator; Victoria Criscione ‘12, dance assistant and Angela Lu ‘12, dance assistant.
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Young men from Oratory Prep, Seton Hall Prep, Columbia High School, Ridge High School and New Providence High School will also join the cast of Rent.
Stage Manager Amanda Corey ‘13 of East Hanover shares her enthusiasm for the play, “When I heard Kent Place School was going to do Rent last spring, I froze… From that moment on until the end of the summer, I could not contain myself. It was all I thought about. Now that it is finally over, and I have seen the actors as well as the characters grow and develop right in front of me, I know that this is a show that I will never forget.”
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“Rent is a story about the will to live, despite what goes on around you. And I don’t mean just breathing day in and day out. I mean really striving to do what you love, be who you want to be, and enjoying every minute until the end. What makes Rent special is the fact that it brings people together with its never-ending flow of emotions,” continues Corey.
The theater program at Kent Place is committed to the production of musical and non-musical theater and maintains a special focus on the creation and performance of new plays. In tri-state competitions, Upper School theater productions have received multiple awards for excellence in production and performance. For more information please visit www.kentplace.org/drama.
