Rent Party
Mid-summer tour 2023 - program, credits and bios
SETTING: Harlem, NYC, 1920s
CHARACTERS:
Jazz Cat
Rose, a young lady
Jenny, her best friend
Tulip, Rose's mother
Mae, Jenny's mother
Ricky, Rose's younger brother
Miss Lisa, an older girl who lives in the neighborhood
Mr. Lowe, a mean old man
Ice Man, a seller of ice
Carter Jenkins, a horn player
Q, another horn player
Mamma Q, his mamma
Many of the shadow images used in the play are taken from the artwork of Aaron Douglas.
Please see the full RENT PARTY website for more info, photos, and more!
RENT PARTY received a
Henson Foundation Family Grant.
The premiere production was co-produced and presented by The TANK.
Download the PRESS and RESOURCE pdf
Download the EDUCATIONAL handout pdf
Do a fun slang scavenger hunt!
THE RENT PARTY ARTISTs...
Jenny and Q...
anju hyppolite
AnJu Hyppolite is an award-winning Haitian-American actor, writer, and educator who works at the intersection of theater arts, technology, and social equity. During her 2020-2021 artist residency with Haiti Cultural Exchange, she explored the Haitian-American identity through captivating short stories and evocative poetry. She is a member of the esteemed Conch Shell Productions Artist Collective and is expanding a short play she penned in 2020. AnJu is thrilled to reprise her role as Jenny in the upcoming Rent Party tour and excited to play with such a talented cast and crew!
@anjuhyppolite
Rose...
CHArlotte lily gaspard
"Part celestial creature, part sophisticated human” is how Charlotte has been described by Faerie Magazine when contemplating the ethereal artist and her work in one of their features. A “multi-faceted enchantress… the fanciful mastermind behind Midnight Radio Show” {Broadway World}, she is the founder and artistic director of Midnight Radio Show, a shadow puppet sci-fi fairytale theater company based in Brooklyn. Currently in residence at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, Charlotte and her collective are known for devising innovative avant-garde enchantments, infused with puppets, poetry, music and dance, for the stage and beyond. She is also a puppet and costume designer, as well as an avid teacher.
Shadow puppet artist, educator and children’s entertainer, Charlotte’s mission is to activate imaginations and celebrate playfulness wherever she goes.
Jazz Cat, Mae, Ricky, and Carter Jenkins...
emmanuel elpenord
A queer, first-generation Haitian-American born and raised in Coney Island, Emmanuel Elpenord graduated magna cum laude from Brooklyn College. His puppetry career spans nearly a decade to include credits off-Broadway, nationally, internationally, and New York City-wide. He's a proud member of the 2023 Lakou NOU Artist Residency with Haiti Cultural Exchange.
@sword.of.elpenord
Tulip, Miss Lisa, Mr. Lowe, Ice Man, and Mamma Q
Marcella murray
Marcella Murray is a Brooklyn-based theater artist from Augusta, Georgia. She is a writer, performer, puppeteer, deviser, and collaborator. Recent work includes Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed (2020 Obie Special Citation) at Abrons Arts Center, Primer for an Impossible Conversation for MCA Chicago and UW Madison, Fire in the Head for French Institute Alliance Française's Crossing the Line Festival, Our bodies like dams at Mabou Mines, and Water Prayer with Experiments in Opera. She is currently developing Other Atlantas: A Prologue with the support of a 2023 Henson Workshop Grant, as well as being commissioned in collaboration with David Neumann and Tei Blow to make a new piece through Southern Futures at Carolina Performing Arts.
@marcirenee04
Playwright...
amina
Henry
Amina Henry is a Brooklyn-based playwright. Recent productions include: The Animals, Ducklings, Hunter John and Jane and The Johnsons, all at JACK (Brooklyn, NY), P.S. produced by Ars Nova (New York, NY), Little Rapes at Long Island University (The New Group), Nothing, Nothing produced by HERO Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), The Great Novel produced by New Light Theater, Happily Ever at Brooklyn College, Bully produced by Interrobang Theater (Baltimore, MD), An American Family Takes a Lover, produced by The Cell: a 21st Century Salon (New York, NY), Water and Rent Party produced by Drama of Works (Brooklyn, NY), Cindy and Sleeping Beauty produced by Project Y Theatre. Her work has been featured on The Kilroys List. She has been a member of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writers Group, Page 73’s Interstate 73, and the 2017-2018 Ars Nova writers group. She is a 2020 recipient of the Sarah Verdone Writing Award and is an affiliate artist of New Georges. She is a member of the Women's Project 2022-2024 Lab.
Director and Designer...
gretchen
van lente
Gretchen is the Artistic Director of Drama of Works, a freelance theater director and a full-time theater teacher. She has been working in the field of puppetry and visual theater since 1995. Since this time, outside of the over a dozen award-winning shows she has created with DOW, she has been a freelance director, designer, and teaching artist. She was the youngest president of UNIMA-USA since Jim Henson when she served on the board. She received her BFA in illustration from Parsons School of Design, her BA in theatre from Eugene Lang College, an MFA in directing from Brooklyn College, and an MS in Education from Pace University. She is currently a full-time elementary theater teacher for district 75 in New York City.
Composer, Music Director and Saxophonist...
jessica lurie
JESSICA LURIE is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, producer, teaching and recording artist, based in Brooklyn, NY and Seattle, WA. She leads her own band, and co-leads the Tiptons Sax Quartet & Drums, the Living Daylights trio, Sephardic group Sofie Salonika, Ethiopian-inspired jazz group Freethiopiques and the improvising Slingshot duo. She is a Sundance Composers’ Fellow, regularly nominated in Downbeat’s “Rising Star for Alto Sax” poll, most recently in 2021. She is known for her love of exploring a wide range of musical influences, including folk, funk, rhythmic Eastern European folk music and improvisation-heavy jazz with a dose of free-wheeling avant-groove-meets-grind. As a composer she has received support from South Arts Jazz Roads; Brooklyn Jews; NEA; BRIC; Meet The Composer; Artslink; Earshot Jazz; 4Culture; MidAtlantic Foundation, including commissions from the Percussia Ensemble, Sound Symposium Festival (Nova Scotia), Circus Amok, Great Small Works, Drama of Works, and Pioneers Go East. Jessica has released eight solo albums with her Jessica Lurie Ensemble, among others. She is currently working on a new Jessica Lurie Ensemble recording for a Fall 2023 release. www.jessicalurie.com
Asst Designer, Costumer, and Jazz Cat-maker...
TAYLOR HARRISON
Taylor Harrison is a costumer, and puppet maker. After graduating from NYU Tisch School of Performing Arts she interned at The Jim Henson Company and winning an Emmy for Sesame Street she has used her skills and talents to teach in Austin and in the Austin theater community. She currently lives in Brooklyn and runs a forest school art class.