A musical set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice, and living for today. Presented by One Stage Family Theater, Rent: The Musical opens at 7 p.m. Friday, April 14, at the Elks Theatre, 117 E. Gurley St., Prescott.

There are two additional performances at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 15.

Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent has become a pop cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages.

Director Nolan Sturdevant explained that a few years ago One Stage Family Theatre was close to getting this musical on stage in Prescott for the first time but the licensing and the pandemic got in the way.

“Licensing is hard to do and then the pandemic happened, everything shut down and so finally this year we got it,” said Sturdevant. “It’s perfect timing because it’s just such a great story of sharing the message of understanding others and being open to other ideas and just really spreading love, which I think is such a great message to be sending out, especially now with the political climate and everything that’s going on.”

“This storyline is great for not only back then when it was made, but now even, people are still struggling to this day to pay their own rent,” Niekamp said.

“We do have so many people struggling from all of these different themes that are portrayed in the story that aren’t necessarily talked about. So, this musical is very heavy on the theme side and it’s very realistic.”

The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of the story’s characters, Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art, while her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young people negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread of this groundbreaking musical.

For tickets and more information, call 928-777-1370, or visit www.prescottelkstheatre.org.

Jesse Bertel is a reporter/videographer for the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter @ JesseBertel, email him at jbertel@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 2043.

Sturdevant has wanted to bring this show to Prescott since he saw the movie in high school.

“It’s just a very different kind of musical that you don’t often see anywhere really, let alone in Prescott,” Sturdevant. “I looked at different companies to try to put it on throughout the years and everybody kind of shied away from it because it is a little controversial.”

Based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, Jonathan Larson’s Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Lower East Side under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

According to Creative Director Lexe Niekamp, one of the story’s main themes, paying rent, is just as relevant to audiences today as it was when it came out.

“This storyline is great for not only back then when it was made, but now even, people are still struggling to this day to pay their own rent,” said Niekamp. “We do have so many people struggling from all of these different themes that are portrayed in the story that aren’t necessarily talked about. So, this musical is very heavy on the theme side and it’s very realistic.”

The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of the story’s characters, Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provide the narrative thread of this groundbreaking musical.

For tickets and more information, call 928-777-1370, or visit www.prescottelkstheatre.org.

Jesse Bertel is a reporter/videographer for the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter @ JesseBertel, email him at jbertel@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 2043.