Revolution Rent is HBO's newest documentary that follows the journey of, Andy Señor Jr, as he is tasked with directing a stage production of the Tony Award winning musical, Rent, which Señor Jr, starred in in the late 90s, as “Angel”.
Rent is Cuba's first Broadway musical, and was produced by an American company after more than 50 years. For Andy, making this historical movement was personal for him, as he wanted to be the one to bring the musical to the country.
"I feel relieved that it got done, that the story was able to be shared. Because it's such a personal story, in the back of my mind I always wondered who would really care about this," stated Señor Jr.
Señor Jr went on to say that seeing how much the story has resonated with the amount of people that it has, has been a validating experience.
"If you tell it with truth and integrity, it will resonate with people," stated Señor Jr.
Joining Andy on this journey was Victor Patrick Alvarez who co-directed the film. He received quite a shock, when he found out he was being asked to come to Cuba.
"I had a very similar conversation with my parents about going," stated Co-Director, Alvarez.
Both Señor Jr and Alvarez's parents were reluctant to see their children off on this journey, but the rewards have been all the pay off.
This production required casting artists without musical theater training. The cast was made up of actors who had never sung before and singers who had never acted before.
"I think the future, for myself, is to be able to use this momentum to continue creating projects there, in Cuba, working with actors, and being able to have them create lives that they love," explained Señor Jr.
Revolution Rent is now streaming on HBO Max.
