It’s hard not to smirk at the idea of a Christmastime musical playing during Arizona’s sweltering summer, but we’ll have to suspend our short-sleeved disbelief for a sweet holiday gift: the touring production of “Rent” that stops at the Orpheum Theatre for this weekend only.

We’ve seen “Rent” — that deliciously grungy AIDS-era update of “La Boheme” that debuted on Broadway in 1996 — in the Valley before, in its bigger-budgeted Equity tour form, but critics across the country have raved about this non-union bus-and-truck show since it hit the road a year ago.

Get Out spoke with Marcus Paul James, 23, who plays Tom Collins in the show. Though Collins is a secondary character (he falls in love with a cross-dresser named Angel, who dies of AIDS), it’s James’ reprise of “I’ll Cover You” at the memorial that has wooed critics and audiences:

Get Out: You’re earning the biggest accolades on the tour. So here’s the typical non-Equity tour question: Where’d you come from?

James: (Laughs). I don’t know. I grew up in church, I guess I was briefly introduced to musicals in high school, but I didn’t get it. Then in college I learned, ‘Oh, that’s what it is.’ (Laughs again). I was in an a capella music group and then I got this tour last August. It’s one of my dream roles. I’m also the dance captain in the show now. I love it.

GO: How are you able to tinker with your character? It’s such a well-known show, there are so many die-hard fans.

James: It’s interesting. There have been a lot of people in these roles, but I’ve learned that we can’t bring anything to the show other than ourselves. All I can bring to the character is humanity and the things I do, love and care for — feel for. I just try and be me.

GO: At this point, after the Equity tours have come and gone and Broadway buzz has died to the point where they have to bring in B-list celebrities, what does a tour like yours have to deliver?

James: I think what the tour delivers is a very new, energized cast. A lot of these people have not done the show or are new to touring and this life, period. That energy is something that feeds and fuels our show.

GO: It’s such a different musical in terms of what is required in its singing. There are no frills and trills. It’s more about pushing your voices.
James: It’s raw. But it’s put together to the point that safety is always, you know, safety first. They make sure we’re not hollering and screaming. We travel with a vocal coach. But I’ve been pretty good so far. I’m used to hollering. I’m used to being in church. (Laughs)

GO: The tour works like the Broadway version, where people can get cheap tickets in the front rows if they camp out at the box office well before the show. That’s pretty great. What’s it like to see those devoted, sometimes near-rabid, fans?

James: We see people that sleep outside in tents for days. Sometimes we pass by and buy them pretzels and water. It’s really weird. We’re just like, ‘Hey, we’re doing our job.’ You can’t do anything but go, ‘OK, that’s cool.’