Rent Remixed is a stage production that opened at the Duke of York's Theatre

Duke of York's Theatre

The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 on October 16, 2007. The show was directed by William Baker

William Baker (fashion designer)

William Baker is a fashion designer, stylist and author and theatre director, best known for his work with musician Kylie Minogue....

, who is best known for his work with international pop icon Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

. This production used a similar script to that of the original Rent

Rent (musical)

Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...

but was modernized for 2007.

Cast

The cast included Oliver Thornton

Oliver Thornton

Oliver Thornton is an stage actor and singer who is best known for his contributions to musical theatre in London's West End. He currently stars in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre.- Early life :...

 (Mark), Luke Evans

Luke Evans (actor)

Luke Evans is a Welsh theatre and film actor. He is known to theatregoers for his stage roles in Rent, Miss Saigon Small Change and Piaf, and to filmgoers for his roles in The Three Musketeers, Clash of the Titans, and Tamara Drewe.-Early life:Luke Evans was born and raised in Aberbargoed, a small...

 (Roger), Craig Stien (Benny), Leon Lopez

Leon Lopez

-Biography:Leon Lopez is an English actor, singer-songwriter and occasional model, best known for playing the role of "Jerome Johnson" in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside from 1998 to 2002. He is a former student of the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, established by Sir Paul McCartney...

 (Collins), Francesca Jackson

Francesca Jackson

Francesca Jackson is a musical theatre actress. She took part in the Reality television show I'd Do Anything and lost out the role of Nancy to Jodie Prenger.-Background:...

 (Joanne), Jay Webb (Angel), Siobhán Donaghy

Siobhán Donaghy

Siobhán Emma Donaghy is an English singer-songwriter of Irish descent. She was a founding member of girl group the Sugababes, although she left in August 2001 and was replaced by Heidi Range. Donaghy left the group after one album...

 (Mimi), Denise Van Outen

Denise van Outen

Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.- Early life :Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the...

 (Maureen) and Lydia Perrow. The ensemble consisted of Ruth Augilera, Lewis Griffiths, C.J. Johnson, Antony Luperi, Earl Perkins, Jamie Sampson, and Philippa Stefani. Following a throat infection, Van Outen was forced to cancel several performances, and the role of Maureen was played by C. J. Johnson. From December 24, 2007, Maureen was played by former EastEnders

EastEnders

EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

actress Jessie Wallace

Jessie Wallace

Jessie Wallace is an English actress best known for her portrayal as Kat Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...

.

The production, aimed at the late teenage to young adult age group, received generally bad reviews. The Guardian gave it one out of five stars, saying "They call this Rent Remixed. I'd dub it Rent Reduced, in that the late Jonathan Larson's reworking of La Bohème, while never a great musical, has been turned into a grisly, synthetic, pseudo pop concert with no particular roots or identity."

Although initially booked until April 5, 2008, the production closed on February 2, 2008.

Characters

Mark Cohen

A struggling documentary British filmmaker and the narrator of the show. He creates a final movie which details his friends' lives and journeys throughout the story. He is Maureen's ex-boyfriend and Roger's roommate.

Roger Davis

An HIV-positive musician who is recovering from heroin addiction. His girlfriend April committed suicide after discovering she had HIV. Roger is Mark's roommate and Mimi's love interest.

Tom Collins

A gay philosophy teacher and anarchist with AIDS. Tom is a friend and former roommate of Roger, Mark, Benny, and Maureen. He is Angel's lover.

Mimi Marquez

A British HIV-positive exotic dancer and heroin junkie who is Roger's love interest. She used to be involved with Benny.

Angel Dumott Schunard

An upbeat and enthusiastic gay British drag queen street percussionist/musician with AIDS, and Collins' lover.

Joanne Jefferson

A Harvard-educated lawyer, and Maureen's girlfriend.

Maureen Johnson

A bisexual performance artist, currently Joanne's girlfriend and Mark's ex-girlfriend.

Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III

Landlord of Mark, Roger and Mimi's apartment building. He is an ex-roommate of Mark, Collins, Roger, and Maureen. Now married to Alison Grey of the Westport Greys and thus considered a yuppie sell-out.