Participating in the Rent School Musical was a wonderful experience, full of new friendships, lots of singing, and many wonderful new memories.

As the first time Logan Park has put on a musical in a while, no one was quite sure how well it was going to go (but hopes were high). I'm sure I'm not alone in saying it was a success.

It was largely student run. The incredible dance choreography was all the work of students. The hardworking stage managers were students. The tech crew was almost entirely students. All the actors and dancers were students. A massive congratulations to all of my fellow students for their incredible work and effort in the musical. It was a lot of work, for sure. But I for one enjoyed every minute of it and I hope everyone else felt the same.

As the first musical Logan Park has done in several years nerves ran high (not that they'd run much lower if we'd done a musical previously, nerves are nerves). Nothing quite beats spending a week with a group of people who are all panicking about missing props and faulty microphones. The times in between your songs when your adrenaline is running high, just sharing chips with another actor is a moment only found in theatre.

Overall it was a very fun experience and I can't wait to do more Logan Park productions. With luck they'll be as successful and fun as Rent was.

- Quinn Wilson

It was my pleasure and delight to perform in the school musical RENT. Starting out, I didn’t know any of the music or songs but since then it has grown to be one of my favourite soundtracks of all time. I could listen and sing my lungs out to “ill cover you (reprise)” on repeat all day- if my family would let me!

Initially I auditioned for Angel Dumatt-Shunard, a fun loving, racy, drag queen. Little did I know I would end up playing Angels lover, Tom Collins, who soon grew to be one of my favourite characters in the show. He was a passionate, loving, and soulful individual.

During RENTs show season, I really learnt what it meant to be a “theatre family” . I developed a strong bond with lots of my cast members and further developed some pre-existing friendships through our shared love for musical theatre. They don’t call us musical theatre kids for nothing, and I absolutely loved the impromptu sing-alongs backstage, the tears of laughter over obscure inside jokes. But I also remember the bad times or the slip ups- 10 minutes before the song “Santa Fe” I having a black out of all the lyrics, and hyperventilated into the arms of my Angel (played by the wonderful Sophia Mclennan).

And then there was Thursday night, when I began to get a cold. Being in the understudy cast, Thursday was what we had all been waiting for. Our opening night, and our moment to shine! Here I was, backstage, sucking on about six throat lozenges and loading myself up with Panadol, voice beginning to break. My entire family was in the audience. I knew I had to pull through. It turns out that starting to lose your voice is quite helpful for when your on-stage girlfriend dies, as it makes the emotion all the more real and powerful. Because I was fighting back real tears of stress and sickness, as well as the emotional and power of the scene (I’ll cover you reprise).

Overall, I don’t regret anything about the Rent season, everyone and everything filled me with such joy and happiness, after considering not even auditioning. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but it also seems like just yesterday. But either way, it feels like an era of my life that sadly isn’t coming back, but I relish the very thought of it even now.

A big thanks to Ms K and all the cast and crew for creating a show with me!

- Charlie Milne

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