Lincoln, Neb.--Elise Anderson, a junior voice major in the Glenn Korff School of Music, has been cast in “Rent in Concert,” which will be at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Jan. 18, 2025.
“Rent in Concert,” directed by Broadway’s Sammi Cannold and conducted by Sarah Hicks, is a full symphonic concert evening performed with live vocalists and Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra and celebrates Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking Tony and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning musical.
“I was so excited,” Anderson said of her reaction to learning she had been cast in the production. “It had been about four weeks since my callback, and I was starting to think maybe I wouldn’t hear anything and just stop thinking about it. But I had just walked out of Suna Gunther’s office after our lesson when I got the e-mail. We got to open it together and read the news. And (sorry to everyone in surrounding rooms) we jumped up and down, screamed and were so excited. I immediately called my family and was just so proud and excited.”
Anderson heard about the auditions from the voice faculty.
“I am a HUGE fan of Rent, and so I knew I had to audition,” she said.
The auditions were all by video submissions. Anderson performed a cut from “The Greatest” by Billie Eilish for the initial audition in July. She received a self-tape request immediately following her audition submission and was asked to sing “Take Me or Leave Me.”
“My final callback was Sept. 30, and I was given four sides to learn from the show and brought in ‘Call Me’ by Blondie for my rock cut,” she said. “This was the first time I got to meet and interact with the directors. And then I heard back on Oct. 29 that I had been offered a featured ensemble part in the show.”
Assistant Professor of Voice Suna Gunther said this was a tremendous opportunity for Anderson.
“I’m so excited for Elise to work with world-class talent from some of the biggest stages in the country,” she said. “She’s worked very hard to prepare for an opportunity like this, and it will be wonderful for her to share her gifts and tap into the wealth of experience all around her through this process.”
Anderson is excited to perform on the Lied Center stage.
“I grew up in Lincoln so I’ve performed on the Lied Center stage a handful of times for dance recitals, choir, NMEA All-State, etc.,” she said. “This will definitely be the biggest performance I’ve ever done, and I’m so excited to perform a musical on the stage. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid, and I can’t believe the time is here.”
The rehearsals will take place from Jan. 13-17 with the performance taking place on Jan. 18.
“A lot of the preparation I do will be familiarizing myself with the music before we get into rehearsal,” she said.
Anderson is a featured ensemble member.
“Which means I’ll be in the chorus, but will have little solos in some songs,” she said. “I won’t really know which exact lines I’m singing until the rehearsals in January.”
Anderson is a huge fan of the show, which she has seen performed on the Lied stage.
“I saw it the last time it came to the Lied Center and have been obsessed with the music for so long,” she said. “Growing up there was never really anything I could sing from ‘Rent’ in my voice lessons (besides just for fun) because I was so young and couldn’t relate to the story. So getting the opportunity to now as an adult is a dream come true.”
Anderson said ‘Rent’ is definitely a rock musical.
“It’s really inventive for the time it was made,” she said. “It’s the type of music that immediately impacts you when you hear it.”
Anderson expects this experience will benefit her a lot.
“I’m really looking forward to making connections with the directors and other members of the cast and to just get to learn what it looks like to work in musical theatre professionally,” she said. “While auditioning, I was just thinking about how no matter what the outcome was, I was learning so much just by putting myself out there and auditioning and using my voice in a different way than I usually do in my studies at UNL. Rehearsals are going to teach me so much just by being involved, and I think it’s going to be a great starting place for my career.”
She appreciates the training she has received from Gunther.
“Suna and I do a little bit of musical theatre every semester to keep those skills working and improving while focusing so much on classical repertoire,” Anderson said. “I think the biggest thing Suna has taught me is how to adapt my voice in the moment to be able to achieve what someone is asking me. This will be a huge factor in rehearsal since we only have four days to put the music together. My general knowledge of music and how it works has expanded so much since starting at the Glenn Korff School of Music. It has definitely prepared me to be able to walk into this experience with confidence, excitement and readiness to create music.”
Anderson, who is an alumna of the Lied Center’s Triple Threat Broadway Intensive, said she has been singing since she could talk.
“It’s always been my biggest passion,” she said. “Both of my parents are musicians so it wasn’t surprising to anyone that I was a musical kid. I started musical theatre in high school, and I quickly fell in love with it. It takes the concept of music being storytelling and expands it so that anyone can understand it and follow it. When I was in high school, I had originally wanted to go to school for musical theatre. While I decided to go in a different direction, my love for it hasn’t died, and I’m extremely excited to get back to it.”
Tickets are available from the Lied Center Box Office or online at https://go.unl.edu/rent-concert. The cast includes Tony Award nominee A.J. Shievely (Broadway’s “Paradise Square,” “Bright Star” and “La Cage Aux Folles”) singing Mark; Tony Award nominee Crystal Lucas-Perry (Broadway’s “Ain’t No Mo’” and “1776”) singing Joanne; Tony Award nominee Sidney DuPont (Broadway’s “Paradise Square,” and “Beautiful: The Carol King Musical”) singing Collins; “America’s Got Talent” finalist Jimmie Herrod singing Angel; and Lincoln native and Broadway performer Mary Kate Moore (Broadway’s “Into the Woods” and national tours “MJ the Musical” and “Les Miserables”) singing Maureen.
“The Lied Center is thrilled to be among the first venues in the nation to present ‘Rent in Concert,’” said Bill Stephan, the Lied Center’s executive director. “This extraordinary production features an exceptional cast of top-tier talent from both New York City and Nebraska, performing alongside Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra. This promises to be one of Nebraska’s most unforgettable concerts of the year, celebrating the music of one of the most beloved musicals of all time.”
“I would love to see you there,” Anderson said.
