The hit musical “Rent” will premiere at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Kennedy Theatre in February, and will showcase the directorial talent of a Hawai’i-born Broadway artist.
Joshua “Baba” Kamoaniʻala Tavares is from Hōnaunau, Kona on Hawaiʻi Island and a new associate acting professor at UH Mānoa.
He is no stranger to the performing arts. “As a person, any show you do teaches you something,” he said.
Tavares grew up immersed in music and dance. His father was a musician and singer, while his mother was a hula dancer. However, his passion for theater didn’t emerge until his junior year of high school.
His first musical was “High School Musical” where he played Ryan Evans. “From then on, I kept doing musicals and plays at school,” he shared. “After a trip to New York City, my first time really being exposed to professional theater, I knew that’s what I wanted to pursue.”
Tavares earned his undergraduate degree in performing arts and drama, with a minor in Hawaiian studies, from UH Hilo. He then made the bold choice to move to New York City where he trained at the American Musical Dramatic Academy (AMDA) for a year and a half.
He stayed in New York for eight years before moving back to the islands and became an assistant professor at UH Mānoa.
He is now making his directorial debut with the university’s production of “Rent,” set to premiere on Feb. 28, 2025. There is much excitement around this musical because it is the first in-person musical to be held at the university since before COVID-19.
Tavares has personal ties to “Rent” as he was a part of the 20th anniversary national tour, playing the role of Angel, which was his breakout role and even visited Hawai’i and performed at the Blaisdell Center.
The musical just started pre-rehearsal last week. “My favorite part so far has just been reconnecting to the play and story and find out how I want to interpret it and what I want to bring to the story,” Tavares explained.
Ainsley Shearer, who plays Maureen in “Rent,” said “Rehearsal has been so good so far, we’ve been doing a lot of stuff just getting to know each other because it’s an intimate show. This show is heavy, it talks a lot about the HIV/AIDS crisis.”
“I’m super excited for “Rent,” the whole theatre is super excited,” said Landon Mccann, Kennedy Theatre Publicity Assistant. “I think we’re telling a really important story here it’s all around the AIDS crisis in the 80s and 90s and its a topic that Kennedy Theatre has touched on before with shows like ‘Memorial Day’ but I think that doing a musical like this especially as popular as the musical is, were going to really to be able to get the word out there more.”
“Rent” premieres on Feb. 28, 2025. Ticket pricing and more information is available at manoa.hawaii.edu/liveonstage/rent.
