The student-run production of the Jonathan Larson rock musical has been canceled.
The student group Narwhals on Broadway was forced to cancel its performance of “Rent” last week after it failed to acquire the rights to the rock musical.
The student organization — which acts as “a space for students to discuss, enjoy, appreciate, and see musical theater” — began planning the performance this past spring, with funding and faculty advice provided through the Student Leadership and Involvement Office (SLI). Narwhals on Broadway held auditions for the musical in mid-April, and began rehearsals on Aug. 29. The production was scheduled to open on Oct. 14.
The student performers had been rehearsing multiple times per week until last week when they received the news that they had not obtained the legal rights and could not go through with the performance.
The devastating news came only days before their technical rehearsals began, and a week before their planned opening night.
“Our board at Narwhals on Broadway were like, ‘we should do a show where it’s not necessarily just the drama program, but anyone can audition from any program in the school’,” said Isabel Criado Barrios(she/her), vice president of Narwhals on Broadway, and the director of the student production of “Rent.” “Because we’re a student organization, instead of working with the drama program, or the drama faculty, we worked with SLI.”
Criado, who is a drama student at the College of Performing Arts, believed SLI’s position was to “help us with the money and with the production, and they were to be our faculty if we needed faculty.”
The cast had carried out rehearsals under the impression that SLI had already secured the rights to the production — until last week when they were told otherwise, she said.
Criado added that certain leadership at SLI wasn’t aware of the workload required to assist with the student production.
“So it turned out that at the end, we weren’t able to get the rights for the show so it’s canceled,” she said.
All three show dates, Oct. 14, Oct. 15, and Oct. 16 were dropped.
Students and others who had already purchased tickets to the production have been issued refunds, though the money may take three to five business days to show up in their accounts, Criado said.
“I’ve also let people know that if they haven’t gotten it refunded already or they’re having any problems, talk to me or the SLI department because they should get refunded,” she added. This was confirmed by SLI leadership in an emailed statement sent only to the members of Narwhals on Broadway.
When asked for comment on the production’s cancelation, Gilles Stromberg (they/them), the assistant director of Student Leadership and Involvement at The New School, said that the SLI Office is “working to provide as much information as possible.”
An email from Stromberg was sent out to the members of Narwhals on Broadway on Oct. 18 with information regarding the process of reimbursement. Included in the message was an assurance that a “larger campus communication is expected.”
They did not specify when any further information would be available.