RENT

Low-Cost Previews: May 21 – 29

First Friday for the Military:  May 22, 7:00 PM
Complimentary tickets for active duty and veterans.

Opening Night:  May 30, 2026 @ 7:00PM

Pre-Show Event — Backstage Thursday: Designer Spotlight:  June 4, 6:00PM

Pay-What-You-Will & Industry Night:  June 8, 7:00PM

Pre-Show Event — Backstage Thursday: Director’s Happy Hour: June 11, 6:00PM

Daily: Before and after performances
Come to the show early to enjoy our Clark Cabaret, open one hour before the show time and will remain open after the show.

ROGER DAVIS
Gio Coppola (he/him) is beyond excited to be making his Diversionary debut in Rent! He is an NYC based actor who recently got his BFA in Musical Theatre from Pace University, and is a proud trans man. Recent roles include Gangster in The Drowsy Chaperone at Carnegie Hall and Ensemble in Something Rotten! at The Barnstormers Theatre. Thank you to his incredible mom, sister, girlfriend, and friends for all of their love and support, and to the Diversionary Theatre for this opportunity to tell authentic trans and queer stories. This performance is dedicated to his dad, who he knows is rocking out with him from the best seat in the house. @gioo.coppola giocoppola.com

MARK COHEN
Jontahan Sangster is an actor, director, writer, and the Associate Artistic Director at San Diego Musical Theatre. Jonathan was seen on the Broadway National Tour of The Book of Mormon as Elder Cunningham, as well as in Regional Theatres all over the country. He was most recently seen as Ogie in Waitress at Moonlight Stage Productions. Other recent credits nclude Grim (NYC Workshop/La Jolla Playhouse upcoming), Jinx in Plaid Tidings (Theatre Workshop Nantucket, SDMT), Igor in Young Frankenstein, Malcolm in The Full Monty (SDMT), and Patsy in Spamalot (Cygnet). Jonathan dedicates this one to his friends, who have given him 525,600 reasons to smile and love each and every day, year after year.

TOM COLLINS
Andre Heimos has performed in such musicals as Sweeney Todd, Most Happy Fella’, Kinky Boots, Once On This Island and The Hunchback of Notre Dame; on stage in Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons, Love! Valor! Compassion! He danced contemporary jazz and bollywood dance styles across North America and on tv shows like Speechless and The New Girl. Stream him on shows like Mindhunter, Dollface and The Politician. He just finished being a performing understudy for two roles in the world premiere of FOURSOME with IAMA+Celebration Theatre. You can catch him returning to the Ryan Murphy family in his new show The Shards. He would like to thank his friends, family and theater-lovers abound as well as the whole Diversionary Team for this incredible opportunity; dream come true!

BENJAMIN COFFIN III
David was last seen at Diversionary Theater in “86-d” (Harry/Gustav). Other Diversionary credits include: “10% Review” (when he was 19 years old), “The Gays of Our Lives,, “The Boys In The Band” (Harold), “The Rocky Horror Show (Frank N Furter), “Psycho Beach Party” (Chicklet), “The Mystery of Irma Vep” (Lady Enid/Nicodemus), “Bunbury” (Bunbury), “Sextet” (Mary/Don 2/Tripp), and “Twist” (Fagin). Other selected credits include: “La Cage aux Folles” (Albin), “Christmas Carol,” and “Fully Committed” (Craig Noel Award) at Cygnet Theater; “The Remarkable Mr. Holmes,” “Glorious,” and “Travels With My Aunt” at North Coast Rep.

JOANNE JEFFERSON
Nio is so excited to take part in telling the story of Rent! Their previous regional credits include: Celie in The Color Purple and Cece in The Apiary with New Village Arts, Young Phyllis in Follies with Cygnet Theatre, Beth in Little Women and Squeeze in Our Dear Dead Drug Lord with Moxie Theatre, and as an U/S in The Untitled, Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson The Musical with La Jolla Playhouse. Their student credits include: Nemasa/Rainha in Motherloss with the Wagner New Play Festival along with Janet in The Rocky Horror Show and Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with Muir Musical. You can find them on instagram @niohasafro.

ANGEL SCHUNARD
Lucky is excited to return to Diversionary for this special production. Lucky was last in the reading of Pure Glitter (Blair) and Eighty-Sixed (Joey) with Diversionary. Other SD credits include Cygnet Theatre: La Cage Aux Folles (Jacob), Cabaret (Emcee US / Helga), Rocky Horror Show (Ri Ra ), and A Christmas Carol (Fred, Young Scrooge, Others). Thank you to the Diversionary Team, Sherri, Coleman, and Kiki for this wonderful opportunity. Thank you to his manager Jennifer, for her guidance and support. Lastly, much love to his husband David and his family for their never ending support. Instagram: @allenluckyweaver

MIMI MARQUEZ
Maya Sofia Enciso is a bilingual actress based in Southern California. Credits include: (Yoli u/s) The Old Globe: One of the Good Ones, Murder on the Orient Express (Ensemble), Cinderella in Cinderella: A Salsa Fairytale (The Coterie), Becky Silva in Oy to the World: Christmas with a Twist (El Portal Theatre), Felicia in Star of Ocotillo (OnStage Playhouse), Mimi in Rent (San Diego Musical Theatre), Anita in West Side Story (Teatro San Diego), Jazzlyn in Pásale Pásale (TuYo Theatre).

MAUREEN JOHNSON
Michael Amira Temple is over the moon to be making her musical theatre debut in Rent. She is deeply grateful for every ‘yes’ it took to get here and thanks the creative team for their belief and support. Recent credits include: The Strangers (Chalk Circle), Merry Me (Diversionary), and The Overgrown [Reading] (The Old Globe). Her current arts engagement work includes the Globe’s Reflecting Shakespeare — this year featuring Romeo and Juliet — and Imagine Theatre’s forum theatre production Zion’s Story. She thanks her loving partner for her immeasurable contributions to Amira’s sense of success and peace.

ENSEMBLE
Faith Carrion (they/she) is thrilled to be back at Diversionary and with such an icnonic show! They were previously seen as “Henrietta” in TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix and “Pythio” in Head over Heels. Their favorite San Diego credits include “Eddie” in The Rocky Horror Show (Cygnet), “Johnna” in August Osage County (Backyard Renaissance) and “Dromio of Ephesus” in Comedy of Errors (The Old Globe). She is currently the Head Trainer for Ans Gelato, the #1 ice-cream shop in America (USA Today). Follow them on IG: Faithecarrion

ENSEMBLE
Adelaida Maria Martínez  is so grateful to be performing alongside such a talented group of actors. She was last seen on the Diversionary stage playing the role of Philoclea in Head Over Heels. Other credits include: Pilar in The Apiary (New Village Arts), Jael in In Pieces (Teatro San Diego), DJ Tiana in Pásale Pásale (La Jolla WOW Fest, TuYo Theatre), Brenda in Catch Me If You Can and Missy in Winter Wonderettes (SDMT). Thank you to my amazing partner, friends and family for always being in the audience to support me, time and time again. Instagram: @adelaidamartinez._

Sherri Eden Barber (Co-Director) is a director, Artistic Director of Ricochet Collective, and former Resident Director of Hamilton (And Peggy Company). Recent productions: Tiny Beautiful Things with Nia Vardalos (Pasadena Playhouse), To Let Go and Fall (Theater Latté Da), Esperanza Spalding’s Emily’s D+Evolution (Development on European Tour), Happily After Ever (Ricochet Collective – 59E59, Edinburgh Fringe Festival), good friday (The Flea Theater), Only You Can Prevent Wildfires (Ricochet Collective – Teatro Circulo), Gordy Crashes (Ricochet Collective – IRT), Mr. Landing Takes A Fall (The Flea), Herman Kline’s Midlife Crisis (The Beckett), 24 Hour Plays on Broadway with Pablo Schreiber, Laverne Cox, and Melanie Griffith (American Airlines Theatre). Sherri is a recipient of The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Directors Fellowship, a Drama League Directing Fellow, and recipient of the US/UK Exchange Award. RicochetCollective.com. SherriEdenBarber.me

Coleman Ray Clark (Co-Director) is a director and theatermaker who moved to San Diego in 2023 by way of New York City. His work is often highly collaborative, inventive, and full of love. He’s thrilled to be back at Diversionary after appearing as Pvt. Willy Memnon in Merry Me last year. Previous directing includes Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Backyard Renaissance), The Strangers (Chalk Circle Collective), a site-specific production of Bare: A Pop Opera (St. John’s Lutheran Church, NYC), Clue (CoSA), Sweeney Todd (Arts One Presents), Jesus Christ Superstar (Fordham), and The SpongeBob Musical (Marymount Manhattan College). His work as a director, designer, technician, and teacher in San Diego has taken him to Cygnet Theatre, Diversionary, Backyard Renaissance, Chalk Circle Collective, CCAE Theatricals, Carlsbad Playreaders, and CoSA! While in NYC, he worked in various capacities on and off-Broadway on plays and musicals with 101 Productions (DEAR EVAN HANSEN, CABARET, ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE), The 24 Hour Plays, Manhattan Theater Club, Classic Stage Company, The Tank, The Brick, and more. Manhattan Theater Club Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow. Proud graduate of Marymount Manhattan College. www.colemanrayclark.com, @colemanrayclark.

Jerrica Stone (Music Director) (she/her) is a bilingual musician and music director who focuses on story through music. Her focus on telling women, queer, and POC stories has taken her from San Diego to SC to NYC. Recent productions: Last Coffee in Rockville (Farm! Theater NYC), Songs About Trains (Public NYC), Telo (Signature NYC), Hijas (Ithaca University), 24 Hour Musical Broadway with Lena Gabrielle, Regency Girls (The Old Globe), Bright Star (Lamplighters Theater), Henry 6 (The Old Globe), Outsiders (La Jolla Playhouse and Jacobs Theater). Jerrica is also the Executive Producer for Miss San Diego Scholarship Organization. When not in a theater, Jerrica is usually at home on her micro-farm, or traveling with her partner and dogs.

Nigel Semaj (Choreographer) (they/them) is a Baltimore-based director, movement director, and educator originally from Washington,D.C. As an Assistant Professor of Performance and Affiliate Assistant Professor of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Nigel’s work is rooted in fostering inclusive and equitable theatrical spaces through anti-racist pedagogies and restorative practices. As a movement artist, Nigel’s work spans theatre, film, and opera. Their credits include Fidelio with Heartbeat Opera at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2022), Sarah Young’s horror short film Not Him—which premiered nationally and internationally—and a recent collaboration with Submersive Productions on Submerged! at The National Aquarium in Baltimore. Nigel approaches movement as a pivotal tool in storytelling. As a dancer, choreographer, fight director, and physical theatre artist, they employ a range of techniques to communicate narrative in unconventional and visceral ways. Their work is deeply physical, and they currently serve as the Resident Movement Director at UMBC. 

karl hawkins (Assistant Director) (pronoun fluid) is a Black, queer, and nonbinary director, actor, playwright, and producer based in NYC. They hold a BFA in Acting from Southeast Missouri State University. Their work, rooted in liberation and community, seeks to create space for everyone to be seen and heard. Selected credits: Can The Peruvian Speak? (Yale Cabaret/David Geffen School of Drama), A New Year’s Blessing (Afterlife Festival), boy meets boy meets girl (ART/New York Theatres), Hamlet (Classics OnThe Rocks), Night Cities: A Bayard Rustin Ritual (National Queer Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare Project of Alabama) To Thine Own Self Be True. For Granny. Love to everyone “on my couch” www.karljhawkins.com | IG: @littlekarl_

Mathys Herbert (Scenic Designer) work was seen on the Diversionary mainstage in To My Girls and Merry Me. Herbert’s work includes Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 as well as Evita at Cygnet Theatre. Other Scenic Design credits include Sweeney Todd, The Addams Family, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Catch Me If You Can, Rent, A Christmas Story, Sister Act, Freaky Friday, Young Frankenstein, Bring It On (San Diego Musical Theatre); Cabaret (SDSU); Million Dollar Quartet (Lamb’s Players). Originally from Dayton Ohio, he holds a BFA in Acting from Wright State University and an MFA in Scenic Design from SDSU.

Claire Peterson (Costume Designer) (She/They) is a Costume Designer for both Theatre and Film with an MFA in Costume Design and Technology from San Diego State University. With a main focus in theatre for social change, Claire strives to create a space where all people have the opportunity to feel safe and represented. She currently is working as a Costume Design Assistant at La Jolla Playhouse, along with doing freelance design around the country. Some design credits include Merry Me and Midnight at the Never Get (Diversionary Theatre), Colorín Colorado and Weatherbusters of Beachcastle (LaJolla Playhouse POP Tour), Man and Moon (MOXIE Theatre), The Fog (Montana Repertory Theatre), The House of Bernarda Alba and Cabaret (SDSU).

Annelise Salazar (Lighting Designer) is a San Diego-based designer by way of Los Angeles. Her work includes: Straddle, Merry Me at Diversionary Theatre, On Her Shoulders at TuYo Theatre, Desert Rock Garden at New Village Arts, Mother of the Maid at Moxie, San Diego Ballets Giselle, and Assistant Lighting Designer on Water by the Spoonful at Cygnet Theatre. Anneliese has a lot of upcoming projects in the San Diego Area; she invites you to visit her website for more information on her past and future work.  BFA, Millikin University; MFA, SDSU.

We are no longer requiring masks in our theater. Masks are still encouraged to help keep our performers and audience members safe, but they are not required.

NOTE: This policy is subject to change at any moment to reflect changing local, state, and federal regulations. Please return before your scheduled performance date to see our most recent policy.