We make art that is of and for Los Angeles, with our unique Pay What You Want model that encourages accessibility in our programming, casting and in our audience makeup. We make art that centers people who have not been allowed to be centered—trans, black, fat, brown, queer, disabled, genderqueer.

Based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking musical.

Coming back from the pandemic, it felt right to produce a musical, to bring us together in a space that is familiar, that is nostalgic, that is unabashedly loud and celebratory, but that acknowledges the pain flowing through its veins. We are interested in embodying this community of people figuring out how to live when they are not the status quo. We believe that there is much more at the core of this play than is usually conveyed. As much as we loved the original (our Artistic Director slept on the street for $20 orchestra tickets), it was very much a product of its time, largely centering cis white men. But there is so much to be mined, so much that Larson saw in the world he inhabited that were stories that we find just as (if not more) compelling. That’s what we are looking for in this production—what is timely still.

We have just lived through a plague. Our queer forebears have now lived through two. We want our audiences to look that in the face. 30 years ago, there were no vaccines and the cries of AIDS activists fell on deaf ears. Now we live in a world where queer people can get married, where HIV is manageable, where drag queens read stories to kids. But we also live in a world where trans kids are villainized, where books on queer identity are banned, where terrorists plot to attack pride celebrations in U-Haul vans. 

We have so much more work to do. Producing one musical won’t fix everything, or even anything maybe. But by putting bodies on stage who have been forced to live on the edges, by centering our black, brown, fat, trans, queer, genderfree, disabled, and more and more communities, we hope that new and old audiences get to see themselves. We believe this play not only still works, but that it can be a play of right now - and have that great magic of also being a story of where we came from. We also believe in telling big stories in intimate rooms - that to find OUR story, we have to include you, physically. So come sing at the top of your lungs with us. Let’s step back into the light.

 

Coeurage was founded in the fall of 2009, when 12 graduates from California State University, Fullerton met in the back of a pie shop to form a theatre company. Our philosophy was simple: the cost of a ticket should never prevent anyone from seeing high quality theatre in Los Angeles. With our Pay What You Want ticketing model in place, we produced our first piece in early 2010, an original series of monologues written for an all female cast titled “Head Over Heels.” The late Steve Julian attended and wrote a widely shared article with the headline, "Six people see Head over Heels, millions show no Coeurage." The writeup, which lauded our work while lamenting small LA theatre houses, helped put us on the map, and our attendance rose to a rare level of consistency amongst LA's intimate theatre scene.

We would have never conceived that the work we originally produced out of garages and now- condemned buildings could ultimately lead us to acclaim in American Theatre Magazine and a slot in the mainstage season at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre, where Coeurage was awarded the inaugural production of their Block Party program.

 

The majority of the money we raise will go towards paying each and every collaborative artist working on this show. 

CONTRIBUTE | No contribution is too small, and every dollar will go directly to making this production a reality. See our incentives for a run-down of the perks you’ll receive in gratitude.

SPREAD THE WORD | Your enthusiasm and words of encouragement help a lot, too! Following us on social media and sharing our videos and page goes a long way. 

You can copy one of these posts below:

*Help @Coeurage bring RENT to life! Join them on @seedandspark: RentSomeCoeurage.org

*I just heard that @Coeurage is producing RENT this fall and I'm so excited to see this show through their eyes, you've got to support this production! Join them on @seedandspark: RentSomeCoeurage.org

*I'm so excited to see RENT at @coeurage this fall! Please help make thier musical theatre dreams come true and support them on @seedandspark: RentSomeCoeurage.org

We cannot tell you enough what your support means to us but we can tell you this: Thank you!