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How N.J.’s Mj Rodriguez became ‘Pose’ royalty, and why she deserves all the flowers
Updated May 03, 2021;
Posted May 02, 2021
In the third and final season of Pose, Mj Rodriguez says goodbye to Blanca, the character who made her a name in TV. The Newark actor s star has risen significantly since the show debuted in 2018. Pari Dukovic | FX
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The crowd is hushed as a song cues up on the speakers.
“O say can you see …
“By the dawn’s early light …”
The spotlight is on Rodriguez. She lip-syncs each word of the national anthem sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a peach zip-up jacket reminiscent of Houston’s gameday look. As momentum builds, she smiles, clasping her chest. The room erupts in cheers.
Rent turns 25: How Jonathan Larson s unusual rock musical became a cathartic Broadway phenomenon Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY
It was 1994 and Anthony Rapp was working at a Starbucks when he auditioned for a new musical called Rent, a gritty update of Puccini opera La Boheme set in New York City s East Village. My agent described it as a rock opera based on La Boheme and the phrase rock opera didn t exactly fill me with confidence, Rapp says. At the time, musical theater was a lot of pageantry and the idea of a rock opera felt to me like big wigs and loud, obnoxious things. So I just didn t know what the tone would be.