There’s a vast contrast with Moulin Rouge, the big anniversary musical realized by a number of cultural associations and performed back in June of 2011. That story was about the love between a poor writer and a beautiful courtesan, whereas this year’s themes are much rougher. “Moulin Rouge was a wonderful success and a beautiful production on the main stage of the Parktheater”, says Moulin Rouge lead Wouter van der Horst looking back. “But we wanted to do something very different this time, a kind of ‘in your face’ type of theater. Not just by telling an appealing story, but by opting for a small-scale setting as well.”

Van der Horst and director Geert Niland, who also directed Moulin Rouge, decided on Rent, based on Puccini’s opera La Bohème. The story is set in a rough neighborhood in 90s New York City, where a group of friends try to cope with the bumpy road to adulthood. Some of them are infected with HIV, an incurable disease at the time.

Van der Horst: “Rent has always been a risky musical. It’s a very uncompromising ‘rocky’ piece – you won’t be hearing any Andrew Lloyd Webber violins, tin drums, and flutes. Instead Rent offers electric guitars, drums, a heavy bass, which attracts a different audience.”

The audience shift can already be felt, he says. “I’ve received a number of e-mails from people who want to audition, saying they passed on Moulin Rouge two years ago because they couldn’t relate. This story ties in with modern people’s everyday world and that of students especially.”

Van der Horst and Niland have cast 21 people for their musical so far. The final auditions will be held this Friday, and they hope to be able to add another five or six actors. “Preferably men, because we still need some. Auditions are just more popular with women, but ideally we want a balanced team.”

The cast consists of quite a number of TU/e students. Partly, they’re familiar faces from cultural associations Doppio and Quadrivium, but according to Van der Horst, there are a surprising number of new talents as well. “We’re slightly shocked by the amazing talent of some of the people who’ve never before done anything in this line of work.” We’ve purposely decided to take almost a year for this production: “That way we have ample time to work on ourselves and on our players”.

The producers want to perform their musical in the high-voltage lab of the Department of Electrical Engineering, although they’re still in discussion that location with the university. “We were looking for a squat-like location, not to smooth, not too theatrical, no red carpet. This location is perfect for that. The audience will be extremely close to the actors.”

The – English – musical won’t be performed until the end of the year, but in the build-up to the premiere, Rent will be popping up all over TU/e. For example, Studium Generale wants to organize a number of lectures based on the themes of the musical. The producers are also planning to film the goings-on on campus year-round, so those can be used on the actual show.