Britian’s 20th Anniversary ‘Rent’ Tour Stars Kerry Ellis, Rory Taylor

Kerry Ellis and Rory Taylor will star in the upcoming U.K. 20^th anniversary concert tour of “Rent.”

The tour kicks off April 25 at the Opera House in Manchester, and will continue through May 5 with a show in Southend. Other cities around the U.K. the tour will visit include Liverpool, Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham, Stoke, Glasgow and Leeds.

Ellis is probably best known as the first British Elphaba in “Wicked,” a role she also played on Broadway. She will play Mimi on the “Rent” tour. Taylor is best known as the runner-up on the ITV reality series “Superstar!” which set to find the lead performer for a U.K. concert tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar” last year. He will play Roger.

Other featured performers in the tour include Paul Ayers, Nikki Davis-Jones, Leon Lopez, Ian Stroughair, Jemma Alexander and Kenny Thompson. The tour will be produced and directed by Daniel Osland-Wood, and Rosalind Jones is the Musical Director.

Here’s how the tour’s official website describes this version of the popular musical:

Set in the East Village of New York City, RENT is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this musical has become a pop cultural phenomenon with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages. Based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, the show follows a year in the life of a group of friends struggling to make it in the big city under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

The famed musical originally opened Off Broadway in 1996 and transferred to Broadway the same year, where it played until 2008. Jonathan Larson wrote the music, lyrics and books for the production, which was adapted into a film in 2005 that starred many of the original cast members.