Theater News

MJ Rodriguez Wins 2011 Clive Barnes Award

MJ Rodriguez in Rent
(© Joan Marcus)
MJ Rodriguez in Rent
(© Joan Marcus)

MJ Rodriguez, who plays the role of Angel in the Off-Broadway revival of Rent, has been named as the winner of the 2011 Clive Barnes Award, which honors talented young performers from the worlds of theater and dance.The award was presented today by 2010 Barnes Award winner Nina Arianda, now starring on Broadway in Venus in Fur, at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre.

The award is administered by the not-for-profit Clive Barnes Foundation, named after the late theatre and dance critic who died in 2008 at the age of 81. Barnes’s work appeared in The New York Times, New York Post and many other publications.

Rodriguez, who is 20 years old, has also performed in shows such as Dreamgirls, The Pajama Game, Once on This Island, and others.

For more information on the Clive Barnes Awards, click here.

For more information on the Off-Broadway production of Rent, click here.