Anwar Robinson

American Idol finalist and Rider alumnus Anwar Robinson ’01 is making his stage debut in the national touring company of the Broadway hit, Rent. A 2001 Westminster Choir College graduate, Anwar rocketed to television stardom in the fourth season of the pop-culture phenomenon, American Idol. Remembered by many as “the music teacher,” he earned high praise from the judges as “technically the best singer in the competition.”

His new album, The Truth About Love, was released earlier this year. He stopped by the Westminster campus in October, just before leaving on a tour that would take him to theaters throughout the United States and Japan from now until April 2008.

“I can’t thank everyone at Rider enough for everything that they’ve done on my behalf,” he said during his visit. “Acting – plus singing – will be a new experience for me, and one that I look forward to.”

In the role of computer genius Tom Collins, Robinson will be at the Dupont Theater in Wilmington, Del., February 8 and 10. However, local fans won’t have to wait that long to see him since he will perform in Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will be televised on ABC.

Now in its 12th season, Rent is a joyous, breathtaking and often heartbreaking musical that celebrates a community of young artists as they struggle with the soaring hopes and tough realities of today's world. Written by Jonathan Larson and based on the classic Puccini opera La Boheme, it opened at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre in 1996, following a history-making, sold-out, limited engagement at off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop. The musical went on to win every major best musical award, including the Tony Award, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

You can see the Rent tour schedule and learn more about the show at http://www.siteforrent.com/tourschedule.

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