"RENT," the 1990s update of "La Boheme" that has attracted a new generation to the Broadway theater, carries on a theatrical tradition by giving Jewish audience members a little something extra.

So says Jed Resnick, the Jewish actor who plays Mark Cohen, the filmmaking narrator of "RENT" and alter ego of the musical's Jewish author, Jonathan Larson. Resnick is a member of the cast of "RENT" that plays Kansas City, Mo.'s Starlight Theatre Aug. 15-20. For tickets, visit www.kcstarlight.com, or call the box office, (816) 363-STAR.


"I think there is a piece of the writer\'s own identity in the character Mark," Resnick said in a telephone interview this week. "Jonathan Larson was Jewish, and this was a way to put some of his own identity into the play. As a play about New York City, for that Jewish population getting to watch the show, it\'s a character they can identify with."


Resnick knows from New York City. He was raised on Roosevelt Island, that little strip of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. He\'s been on the road with "RENT" since January, taking a break from his senior year at Brown University. He\'ll go back to finish up his bachelor\'s degree when the tour ends in September.


"I have one semester left," Resnick said. "I\'m practically there. Then I\'ll move back to NY and start auditioning." He got the gig as Mark through "pure luck," Resnick said modestly, "through a big, old open (casting) call when I was home on Thanksgiving break."


His first road show "is a huge break for me," he said. "I\'ve loved the show since it came out, and I\'ve always wanted to be in it. It\'s a wonderful opportunity for me. We\'ve hit all the huge cities so far, and ... because we\'re a non-union tour, we are able to go to some smaller venues, colleges and that sort of thing, and meet all sorts of people. Members of (the late) Jonathan Larson\'s family came to see the show in LA, as well as some of the original cast members."


Resnick said the tour "is sort of a response to the (2005) movie; so many people have been made aware of the story."
Virtually all of the dialogue in "RENT" is sung, as in an opera. But if the libretto plays the character Mark\'s Jewish heritage mainly for laughs, Resnick still sees it as "a little tribute to the faith."


"I find that that is one of the only things about ethnicity that the play openly discusses," Resnick said. "It has a lot of characters of many different religions, races, ethnicities and social classes. But there is no lyric that says Benny is black and Roger is white ... Race issues don\'t really come up, other than seeing the show and the differences in skin color. ... Audience members really appreciate that; that it\'s not shoved in your face lyrically. It contains inter-racial dating merely as a fact of life."
Resnick said some of the references in "RENT" have become dated. For example, AZT is no longer the best drug to fight AIDS, with which the characters struggle.


"The time period is kind of late \'80s, early \'90s," Resnick said. "It certainly is a time capsule of sorts. ... But that doesn't take away from the message. What has kept \'RENT\' alive for the last 10 years is that the messages in the play are universal and timeless in their way - living each day to the fullest, valuing your community and friendships and, as the lyric says, measuring your life in love."

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