TheState.com – Robin Cowie Nalepa
?All we have is this moment? philosophy resonates in ?Rent?
Warren G. Nolan Jr. saw the Broadway musical ?Rent? 10 years ago. At the time, the San Diego native didn?t know the impact the show would come to have in his life. Now 25, Nolan is performing the role of Collins in the musical?s raw landscape of New York City artists struggling to survive love, life and AIDS.
Refreshed after a five-week holiday break, Nolan and the rest of the cast of the traveling production will rev up the stage of the Koger Center on Wednesday and Thursday with the show?s gritty yet inspirational message.
We caught up with Nolan in New York, where he was spending time with friends.
When did you know you wanted to perform?
Almost since birth, at least since I was old enough to know what performing was. I always had a need to tell a story. I never thought I would be one in a million who sings or dances or acts. So I steered to the more practical. It wasn?t until college when I was still majoring in biology when I got the inkling I could do more than sing on the side. I returned to San Diego and spent the next four years performing and figuring out where art fit in my life.