Rent's Original Stars Go on Tour

Rent stars Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp will reprise their original Broadway (and film) roles in a 2009 national tour of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Jonathan Larson musical, which will begin in January, according to Playbill. Rent is due to end its 11-year run on June 1 at the Nederlander Theatre. Mr. Pascal and Mr. Rapp originated the roles of Roger Davis and Mark Cohen at the New York Theatre Workshop, on Broadway. In Entertainment Weekly, the actors reminisced about working Mr. Larson's musical before it became a smash hit.

Anthony Rapp, Mark: I was working in a Starbucks on the Upper East Side. I hadn't done a musical in years, and I went in and auditioned for this Off Broadway rock opera — and that phrase, admittedly, didn't fill me with a tremendous amount of confidence. After doing the ['94] production, it was very clear to me that this was something extraordinary. I kept saying to my friends, ''I think this is gonna make kind of a splash.'' These stories had not been told in a mainstream way. Two HIV-positive gay men, one of whom was a drag queen, falling in love. A lesbian couple. A straight couple who were HIV-positive. There was an authenticity that people could really connect to — suburban housewives, and small-town teenage girls, as well as gay men.

Adam Pascal, Roger: I was working as a personal trainer. I was just intrigued by the concept of auditioning for something — which I've come to not be quite as intrigued by. After my first open call, I had three auditions, all in the same week. After the third time, I got a call: ''They want you to come back again.'' I was like, ''Are you kidding me? After seeing me three times they can't decide? F--- that!''

More testimonials from Rent's artistic crew and cast at Entertainment Weekly.