Rent

I'm your host and West End Frame editor, Andrew Tomlins, and each week I speak to someone from the world of theatre.

Today's guest is Olivier nominee, Danielle Fiamanya, who is starring as Joanne in the West End revival of Rent, coinciding with the show's 30th anniversary.

Danielle's early theatre credits include The Colour Purple and Anne Juliet.

She went on to cover Elsa in the original West End cast of Frozen, before starring in Mandela, Macbeth and The Secret Life of Bees.

so genuinely the honest answer i'm looking at that photo on my frame because that is where it begins

tell me

everything so I like being a young girl growing up in Glasgow I went to like a theatre school since I was like 8 years old and I didn't actually come to rent until maybe like 12 and I remember watching the film for the first time and it was like me and a bunch of the girls from the theatre school that I was going to and we watched it for the first time and I have never had such a visceral reaction at 12 years old as well like you don't even really understand like all like life at that point but i just was like blown away and also just something resonated so deeply like looking at all these the lives of these people and you know joanne and maureen specifically like you know being a queer women like it was just so i alivening to me and I still remember the experience and I remember after it watching seeing the credits come up and just like crying like so profusely like I have that memory it got me like in the gut and then you know you do your thing you go to drama school you're a performer and you know I was carried with Rent throughout those times because you know the score is just inevitably unbelievable

And Rent, like, you know, has popped up.

La Boheme

If Cuccini's opera about happy but poor artists seems familiar to you from the musical Rent, it's no coincidence.

That's because the plot of Rent was lifted from La Boheme.

Next week on Classics for Kids, musical theater that's taken directly from classical music.

I'm Naomi Lewin.

So that is on the So Bad It's Good With Ryan Bailey Instagram account if you want to refer back to that.

I actually just finished watching – I talked about this on Monday's episode – Rent the Musical had its 30th anniversary production benefit concert in New York tonight.

I couldn't get tickets, but they did this thing where you could pay $30 to watch the live stream.

And it went to a great cause.

And so Rebecca didn't hang for the whole production, but I did.

And it was a beautiful mess, you guys.

If you've ever seen Rent, it's such an amazing musical.

I've told the story many times.

Officials say the three suspects were arrested after a shootout in which they were all wounded.

The musical Rent is having a Broadway party Monday to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

A special performance of the show will be held at the Richard Rogers Theatre and it will include several of the original cast members.

Proceeds will be given to charity.