Rent — Sydney Opera House, LPD Productions and Sugary Rum Productions

Overview

It's the 90s rock musical that's loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme and, come January 2021, it'll celebrate its 25th anniversary. We're talking about Jonathan Larson's Rent, of course, which follows a group of young artists trying to etch out a living in Lower Manhattan's East Village — and it's hitting up the Sydney Opera House to celebrate its big occasion.

From Sunday, December 27–Sunday, January 31, the Opera House's Drama Theatre will unleash this tale about seizing the moment, facing adversity and finding one's community — aka the production that's won a Tony Award for Best Musical and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. When it first hit Broadway, it ran for 12 years, making it one of the famed theatre district's longest-running shows.

The Opera House's version is an all-new Australian staging of Rent, too, starring Seann Miley Moore (The UK version of the The X-Factor) and Callum Francis (Kinky Boots).

And if you need a refresher on the story — or you're coming to Rent for the first time — then prepare to step back to New York in 1991. Over the course of the year, as their neighbourhood is being gentrified and HIV/AIDS casts a shadow, a group of friends chase their dreams and strive for their place in the world.