Former RENT star Adam Pascal is getting ready to return home to the Nederlander Theater. The venue that was home to RENT’s Broadway debut is now hosting his new musical, Disaster! (Seth Rudetsky). Now, with RENT Turing 20 and getting ready to go back on tour, Pascal is opening up about his love for the place that started it all.
Recently, Adam Pascal spoke to Playbill where he mussed about returning home to the Nederlander Theater:
"It was the perfect space for that show at that time. There was nothing else on this block. It was really gritty. It was off the beaten path. It was kind of nasty and really helped provide the right kind of atmosphere for what the show was trying to convey, which is what the world, the feeling and the existence was like on the Lower East Side at the time. But, for us, it was so exciting. It was home. Coming here every day felt like going home for us. It was so comfortable, and it was so natural. It just really felt like the right place. I remember when the decision was made to move to Broadway from the [New York Theatre] Workshop, everyone's biggest concern was, 'Is this show going to suffer in terms of perception by the audience? Also, in its rawness, is it going to suffer making a move to Broadway?' And it didn't. I think part of the reason that it didn't was because it found this space, and it was the perfect place for it."
The 20th Anniversary tour of RENT kicks off this winter and will be directed by Evan Ensign based on the original production direction by Michael Greif. Cast details are still to come.
The cast of Disaster! includes:
Faith Prince (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway)
Roger Bart (You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Young Frankenstein, The Producers),
Kevin Chamberlin (Addams Family The Musical),
Adam Pascal (Rent, Aida),
Rachel York (Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria, Kiss Me, Kate),
Jennifer Simard (Sister Act, Shrek the Musical),
Max Crumm (Grease, The Fantasticks),
Lacretta Nicole (Book of Mormon)
with
Seth Rudetsky (Disaster Co-Writer)
Disaster! starts Broadway previews on Feb 09 and officially opens on March 8 at The Nederlander Theatre, 208 West 41st Street New York, NY, 10036.
