What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/945438
FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 3, 2018 WHAT'S UP! 9 "The main message of the musical finds that the most important things in life are acceptance and love," Albornoz adds. "Another one of Larson's intentions was to foster support and awareness toward the fight against AIDS, as well as making people realize: 'It's not how long you're here, but what you do while you're here.'" Now, two decades have passed, and more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV today. And the young actors on "Rent's" 20th anniversary tour — which started in 2016 — were preschoolers — or younger — when an aortic aneurysm killed Larson on Jan. 25, 1996, the night before the show opened Off-Broadway. "My mom is a huge Renthead. She doesn't really like a whole lot of musicals, but 'Rent' was one that's really her style, so I grew up with it," says Kaleb Wells, who plays aspiring songwriter Roger Davis in the production stopping March 2-4 at the Walton Arts Center. "We would sing 'Seasons of Love.' I knew it as the 'Numbers Song,'" he told Playbill. "It was a family car-ride album that we would listen to. It's three hours of music. That was my first introduction to it." Growing up in New Hampshire, Wells started singing when he was 6 — that would be about two years into "Rent's" 5,123-show Broadway run — took piano lessons and "had to constantly be making noise," he says from a tour stop in frigid South Dakota. "When I went to college, I focused on studying acting — which nobody had ever really taught me — and I used both of those skills to get work in this industry." As much as he loves performing, he says, he's also the manager of his own business. "You've got to create a brand for yourself, be seen, have people remember you. It's not easy. Really, it's about being in the right spot at the right time — and you can't plan for that. You just have to keep showing up as prepared as you can be, and pretty soon there will be a job …" Wells has been with the anniversary tour since August of 2016 and is nearing the end of his contract. Part of him, he says, is excited to see what's next. And part of him knows he'll carry this show with him forever. "The heart of the show is really about life and living," he says. "I think that's why everyone can connect with it in their own way. It's about living with your friends and being family and living every day as if it's your last — not in an 'avoid responsibility' way but by appreciating every day, every moment, appreciating everything. There is always something to appreciate." FYI Ticket Lottery Set For 'Rent' A lottery before each performance of "Rent" will offer a limited number of $23 tickets. Two and a half hours before each performance, lottery entrants may visit the McBride Studio and print their name and the number of tickets (1 or 2) they are requesting on a card provided by Walton Arts Center staff. Two hours before curtain time, names will be drawn at random for a limited number of tickets priced at $23 each. Winners must be present at the time of the drawing and show valid ID to purchase tickets. Limit one entry per person and two tickets per winner. Tickets are subject to availability. The tradition of discounted tickets began in 1996 in New York when the show moved to Broadway. The producers of the show are committed to continuing the tradition of offering discounted orchestra seats in each city where the show will play. FAQ 'Rent' WHEN — 8 p.m. March 2; 2 & 8 p.m. March 3; 2 & 7:30 p.m. March 4 WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville COST — $36 & up INFO — 443-5600 FYI — "Rent" includes adult language and adult situa- tions. The movie version was rated PG-13. Courtesy Photos Originally from New Hampshire, Kaleb Wells has performed in various projects around the U.S. and internationally, including "Rock of Ages," "Burn the Floor" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," before touring as Roger in "Rent." Kaleb Wells plays aspiring songwriter Roger Davis in the production of "Rent" stopping March 2-4 at the Walton Arts Center. Skyler Volpe is Mimi, his love interest, who is, like Roger, HIV positive.