Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning Rent took New York by storm when it debuted off Broadway in 1996 – now it is taking Stanford on Feb. 18-21 and 25-28. Jonathan Larson’s rock opera, based on Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, sold out weeks before opening – even before organizers had launched the publicity. An extra midnight (11:59 to be exact) performance was added for Friday, Feb. 26 – and sold out within hours.

The production’s director, Drama Professor HARRY ELAM, says the show, which has an international cult following, has generated more buzz than any other Drama Department offering in the two decades he’s been here. He’s not surprised: “There’s a misconception out there that all musicals are not ‘serious theater,’” he says. “Rent is serious theater. It’s complex. It’s work that deals with critical cultural and social issues. It’s a show that speaks to ideas that have currency and importance today: that there is ‘no day but today’ and that we need to think about this and what it means.”

Don’t give up hope: Every night there will be a waiting-list signup at 7 p.m. at the Roble Studio Theater. Tickets unclaimed by 7:45 will be released at that time.