RENT - LYNDIE MOE MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY MOMENT
Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking musical RENT returns to Broadway in Chicago’s CIBC Theatre for eight performances October 5 through 10 for the 25th Anniversary “Farewell Season of Love” Tour. The 2021 touring cast includes a few familiar faces from the pandemic abbreviated tour that was put on ice by COVID-19.
Returning to the role of Maureen that she played in the 2018-19 tour will be Lyndie Moe, an actor who has a personal backstory as fascinating and inspiring as the complex character she portrays. Growing up on a farm in Emporia, Kansas, Moe attended a year at Rider University and then landed a role in RENT in 2017 at her first open call audition. The two-year tour experience that followed was both a series of formative and life-changing events for the actor.
I spoke with Moe during a rehearsal break in New York recently. Early on in our phone conversation, I asked how she has been preparing for the relaunch during lockdown since receiving the casting call.
Lyndie Moe: I've been drinking a ton of water and spending time with my family, because I'm not going to be seeing them once I hit the road. Throughout COVID, I wasn't really thinking at all that I was going to be returning to the tour. I received a call from the casting director last December and she asked how I would feel about getting back on the road with RENT. I was ecstatic.
Ed Tracy: A 50-city tour that runs through mid-2022 is a big commitment. What preparation led up to rehearsals beginning September 1?
LM: We had one zoom meeting with our hair and makeup and our wardrobe supervisor. It was the whole cast. That was actually the first time we saw everyone who was going to be on the road.
ET: And you're returning to this cast with three other cast members who were in the previous tour.
LM: Jayvon King (Angel), Cody Jenkins(Mark) and James Shoppe (Ensemble/Steve) all return. It's nice to be in the same room with all of them, to remember what we went through and also being able to do the tour with this new lens that we all have. It's interesting to see how everyone's character has progressed.
ET: Talk a minute about that lens. Your initial run began in 2017. You are an actor of a different generation than this show and it has its own set of challenges. The word “virus” now pops out of this musical with even more meaning and you're coming back into it with a whole new experience of your own with that term. From a life standpoint, you perhaps haven't, to this point, had to deal with the finality of losing a friend, but this pandemic has affected all of us. How has this experience changed what you're bringing to the role now?
LM: When I first went on tour, I was fresh out of high school, went to one year of college and then auditioned and got the role. So I hadn't had much life experience. I was sort of in my own bubble, as some say, growing up in my hometown with no idea what was about to happen. Then I did two years on tour and it was sort of like my own college experience. I feel like I learned a lot about how to stay healthy, how to keep my voice ready for eight shows a week and the things that I would have learned in college, I was able to learn on the road. I'm thankful for that.
After COVID hit, I lost my grandma, which was the first heavy loss that I've ever had. And that sort of shook up how I looked at everything in the world. I am able to view RENT as more than this amazing musical that means so much to so many people . I look at it more as an outlet for artistic expression and all of us being in a community together. Feeling these intense emotions. It's easier to go through with people and not alone. I'm very thankful that I get to do this again with this new perspective.
ET: It is a show that speaks to a time of loss, love and friendship and made a mark in the theatrical community. Tony Award. Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Jonathan Larson story. Can you talk a little about what makes this production unique?
LM: Our creative team and the people helping us put this show together and ready for the public includes almost everyone who was working with Jonathan Larson, were great friends or knew him or talked to him so that they constantly share stories about him or show us videos of him which is really beautiful. We do feel like we have a very close connection with his story. And I know his dad has come to see the tour a few times, and it's always very emotional when he comes. He always mentions that he would give it all back if he could see his son again, which is a crucial aspect of the show as well. You never know when your last year or your last month will be. So it's important to make the most of every moment for sure. His legacy follows the show. We can feel it whenever we sing his songs, like “Seasons of Love. We feel the energy in the cast and throughout the crew. There is also a sign in our backstage that says: “Thank you, Jonathan Larson.” We see it whenever we are in a theater.
ET: “Seasons of Love” comes at an interesting point at the top of Act 2 and is one of the most identifiable songs from the show. How does that particular moment feel to you following the first act where you've built momentum and created a series of interconnecting relationships between each other and then everyone breaks out in this jubilant anthem?
LM: I love that number. You really see everybody (in the audience) and you see that RENT is a cultural touchstone for a lot of people because they're all singing the words. Some people are crying. Some people are laughing. It means a lot to everyone. And being able to see people's reactions is one of the only times in the show that we're able to do that. It just makes the whole theater feel more like a family that is in it together which is really important for the show.
ET: Everyone on stage talks about Maureen for 20 minutes before you enter so we're really looking forward to seeing her for the first time. Talk about the protest appearance and “Over the Moon”.
LM: There's no other song out there in musical theater that I would rather be doing. It's just so wacky, but it's also so real. It's like this one woman show that Maureen has been planning over and over again. A giant metaphor to sort of protest what the character Benny has been doing. I love it every night. It just feels very real and I can't wait to be doing that again.
ET: Jonathan Larson had a marvelous mind. I'm not the first person to say without RENT, there is no HAMILTON. It was a groundbreaking deliverance of a sung-through rock musical of a time and topic with all these characters from different backgrounds. Maureen has a very interesting development throughout this story.
LM: She definitely starts out very confident in whatever state that she's in. She's confident about who she is, what she wants as the show progresses. However, she does learn to be a little bit selfless, which is necessary. At Angel's funeral she gives a eulogy. You can see that she cares deeply about other people. And she is able to take that spotlight away from herself, which I don't think she would have been able to do in the beginning.
And Maureen and Joanne are off and on, off and on. There's definitely a relationship that is like a ping pong game. You never really know what's going to happen. I wouldn't say she evolves into really anything besides just being her herself unapologetically. She is always herself. She is so confident. I really admire that about her.
ET: What is a favorite moment for you?
LM: “Seasons of Love” or the finale when we're all at the table and we're all together and we're singing and the lights are coming up in the audience a little and you can see people are starting to get emotional. It just feels very whole. I feel very complete with all of these people around me singing this beautiful music.
ET: I wish you well for the upcoming run. It's a massive undertaking. The 50-city tour of RENT starts September 30th and arrives in Chicago at the CIBC Theater on October 5th for eight performances through October 10. I hope you find Chicago as enjoyable as you did the first time around.
LM: I really appreciate that. I've had a wonderful time talking with you. I am very excited for Chicago.
ET: What's the first thing you're going to do?
LM: Oh my gosh. Probably just walk. Just walk and see where my feet take me.
This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
PRODUCTION PHOTOS:
Lyndie Moe-Carol Rosegg
Cody Jenkins-Amy Boyle
BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Presents
RENT
The 25th Anniversary
“Farewell Season of Love” Tour
PODCASTS available on Apple Podcasts, Audacy and Libsyn
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