We've spent 25 years waiting for the perfect moment to bring RENT to life, ensuring this production gets the justice it deserves. Now, with an incredible cast and crew, we're ready to share this powerful story. 

Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning RENT is more than a musical; it’s a movement. A celebration of love, resilience, and the power of community. This unique production will feature the Lineage Dancers, their artistry breathing a new life into the show.   Forget regret, or life is yours to miss — so don’t miss your chance to experience this landmark production at Lineage.

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.

Due to adult content including strong language, sexual references, drug use, and HIV/AIDS, parental guidance is suggested. Children under 8 are not allowed.

Book, Music and Lyrics by
JONATHAN LARSON
 
Musical Arrangements
Steve Skinner
 

Original Concept/Additional Lyrics
Billy Aronson

 
Music Supervision and Additional Arrangements
Tim Weil
 

Dramaturg
Lynn Thomson
 

RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway
by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon
and the New York Theatre Workshop

Lineage is your home for connecting through the arts; a place where you're invited to find your creative voice through dance, music, theater, and other performing arts. We produce our own performances, we serve as a home for visiting artists to produce their own work, and we create opportunities to grow and advance through education.

Lineage’s 25 year history is that of a dance company that grew into a community cultural hub and performing arts center for Pasadena and the surrounding areas. Founded by Artistic Director Hilary Thomas in 1999, Lineage began as a dedicated group of artists committed to raising funds and awareness for local nonprofits with dance performances, and incorporated into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2007. In 2009, thanks to a connection to the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for Parkinson’s program, Lineage’s dancers learned about the power of dance in managing symptoms of neurological challenges like Parkinson’s, and launched a series of free weekly dance classes for neurotypical adults. 

​The company acquired its first home in Old Town Pasadena in 2010 and began expanding its offerings of performances, community events, and dance education. As the lease in Old Pasadena expired in 2018, Lineage negotiated a long-term lease in a new, much larger, 6,200sf building in Northwest Pasadena–an area identified by residents as under-resourced in arts opportunities. After a year of intensive community outreach that confirmed that our presence was desired, Lineage completed a $650,000 capital campaign which transformed a long-abandoned property into a new community arts hub. 

​Now, Lineage is hosting dance and creative arts classes onsite six days a week, producing more than eight dance and theater shows a year, hosting partnering artist and organization residencies, and holding community meetings and events in our new home. Our thriving Artists in Schools program now works with over 350 public schools students in Pasadena to create a pipeline of dance in the Pasadena Unified School District. We’ve held many community events in our space, including city council-member and neighborhood meetings, and a climate-change concert. In addition,  Lineage gives back to the community by  providing a theatre facility for other nonprofits who do not have their own venue.  

At Lineage, we are focused on being a home for our diverse community to connect through the arts, and we achieve this through several pillars:

“Dancing Through Life” and Dance for Joy programs where we provide free specialized acting, singing, and dancing classes for adults with Parkinson's, MS, Stroke, and other developmental disabilities.

​Our teaching artists program where we provide professional dance teachers at John Muir HS, Eliot Magnet, Pasadena HS, and Blair.

​Our company of artists who perform with local nonprofits, at community events, and in Lineage productions. These artists also teach classes, and lead our kids/teen summer broadway camps. 

​Providing an affordable rental space to local nonprofits, and artists to execute their workshops, classes, and performances.

​Collaborating with local nonprofits and public figures to provide resources for the community.