STEPPING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
After years paying her dues, performer back in Canada – with a starring turn in Rent
When she was 11 years old, the first words Samantha Mbolekwa ever sang on stage were, “Five-hundred twenty-five thousand six-hundred minutes.”
It was those words, the opening to Seasons of Love — the bestknown song from the Broadway smash Rent — that helped send Mbolekwa on a path devoted to music and performing that would eventually land her a role in that very show.
This month, the North Bay, Ont., native took over the role of Joanne Jefferson in Rent’s 20th anniversary North American tour.
The musical will be staged in Saskatoon on Aug. 20-21 at TCU Place and in Regina Aug. 22-23 at the Conexus Arts Centre.
After embarking on a career that has seen her perform on cruise ships, in Disney shows and for music outreach organizations, this is the first role for Mbolekwa in a major touring production.
And she’s straying a long way from Disney for her debut.
Rent follows the lives of a group of diverse friends — black, white, Latin, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, junkies, recovering addicts — over the course of a year as they try to follow their artistic dreams in New York’s East Village circa the late 1980s/early 1990s, during the height of the AIDS crisis.
Mbolekwa plays Joanne Jefferson, an Ivy League-educated lawyer and the newest member of the group, navigating a new relationship with her girlfriend Maureen, an unpredictable performance artist. While the couple’s opposite personality poles lead to memorable numbers for Mbolekwa, like Tango Maureen and Take Me Or Leave Me, she goes back to Seasons of Love when asked about her favourite song to perform.
“It just has such a great message,” she said.
The entire show, she believes, will resonate with all audience members in one way or another. But its rather heavy material can be emotionally draining for performers.
While generally an upbeat, high-energy production, the show also tackles the issue of HIV/AIDS with scenes taking place at support groups and funerals for those who were lost to the disease.
“It’s surprisingly exhausting in a rewarding way,” Mbolekwa said after going through a full run during rehearsals.
“It’s interesting to see how it affects you. The subject of the AIDS epidemic is still relevant, even though my generation has a different understanding of it than my parents’ generation did.”
But she and her fellow cast members (only three in her cast are returning members) have received help from the highest level while preparing.
During rehearsals in a space near Times Square, the group was mentored under veteran Broadway director Evan Ensign, as well as the Rent Broadway production’s original choreographer and Tony nominee Marlies Yearby, original costume designer Angela Wendt and original music supervisor Tim Weil.
“Their understanding of the show is beyond anything you could get your head around — it is so immense. They really open your eyes to how you want to approach your character,” Mbolekwa said.
Given that those artists worked with the show’s creator, Jonathan Larson (who died suddenly the morning of Rent’s first off-broadway staging), Mbolekwa knows there’s plenty to live up to. But she couldn’t be happier bringing the show to Canada — her first time performing professionally back home.
“It’s surreal, really,” she said. “It really is a dream come true, and there’s big shoes to fill, but we’re excited to do it.”