West Suburban Theatre Meetup

Summer Place Theatre: RENT

Sat, Aug 1 · 7:30 PM CDT

Naperville Central High School, 440 Aurora Ave, Naperville, IL, US

[Host Brian's note]: August has few local mid-month performances. So keep your party hats on and join us at month-start.
Please read this entire synopsis (read more...) for tickets, parking, what-not…

RENT
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
https://summerplacetheatre.org/

Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent has become a pop cultural phenomenon. with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages.

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.

This is theatre at its best – exuberant, passionate and joyous.

Genre: Musical
Not recommended for children (language, suggestive situations.)

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Tickets:
AduIt: $26.50 ($25.00 + fee)
Senior/Student: $23.50 + fee)
Or at the door.

GENERAL ADMISSION SEATING

Doors open at 7:00pm.

Purchase tickets for the August 1, 2026 performance through The Summer Place Theatre Ticket Sales
https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/summerplacetheatre/5468/event/1443243

Please Purchase your tickets early and before RSVPing

NOTE: Some members reported that, because the venue is in the High School, they assumed RENT is a school production. RENT is performed by a skilled adult troupe.

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How to Find Us:
I will be standing in the main auditorium holding the West Suburban Theatre Meetup Sign In placard from 7:00 P.M. thru 7:25 P.M.

I will have nametags for you. Please pick one up even if you choose not to sit with us as that is how I keep attendance.

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Venue:
The Summer Place Theatre is in the auditorium at Naperville Central High School, 440 Aurora Ave, Naperville, IL 60540. The auditorium is on the west side of campus, bordered by Aurora Avenue, West Street, and Hillside Road. Our banner is over the door. Door 24. The doors are numbered. ONLY door 24 is available for entering the theatre.
Note: If you put Naperville Central High School in your GPS, it will take you to the front of the school. That is not the entrance to the theatre.

Entrance and Parking
Finding the theatre entrance is a bit tricky.
The entrance to the theatre is NOT the entrance to the school. And there is no easy way to get from the school entrance to the parking area.

In words, turn South on West Avenue (a Stoplight appropriately west of the school), turn East at the next stoplight (Hillside) and enter the parking lot from Hillside Street.

(I've fashioned a map in photos section below. Try double clicking on the photo to expand.)

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Pre-show dinner gathering cancelled