Tabitha Nauser pole dances for RENT

A few weeks ago, Tabitha Nauser, 24, attended her very first pole dancing class in preparation for her role as Mimi in the upcoming Pangdemonium production of the famous Broadway musical, RENT.

“I loved it but it was so tough. Literally half an hour after the class ended, my arms and legs just started hurting so badly. The next day was even worse. I was all bruised up.

“It was so painful, but it was the good kind of pain,” Tabitha said, while curled up on a couch with her phone during an interview with Youth.SG in the green room of the Pangdemonium office.

RENT is a rock musical that centres around a group of impoverished young artists that are struggling to create a life in New York under the shadow of HIV.

Mimi falls in love with Roger and after a while, the pair admits to each other that they are both HIV positive. What follows is what could be considered rather dysfunctional as Roger repeatedly pushes Mimi away, only to get back with her again soon after.

“I’ve always thought that theatre acting was something that was just so interesting and it was something I’ve personally always wanted to do. That said though, I always turned down offers because I never felt like I could bring something to the play. However with RENT, I just knew in my heart that I would be able to bring the character to life,” the bold fashionista said with a smile.

RENT, which is a high energy play that requires dancing, singing and acting – all at once – has certainly kept the cast busy. “I’ve actually had to start working out,” Tabitha exclaimed, much to our surprise (did she really not work out before?).

She continued by saying: “Honestly I was worried that I would not be able to keep up. Some songs in the show, especially ‘Out Tonight’ are really vibrant and require an intense amount of energy.”

Tabitha recently returned from a trip to Washington DC where she attended a State Lunch at the Ben Franklin Room and then sang at the after party. She performed some of her latest singles including an upcoming one entitled, ‘Body Language’.

“The whole experience was just amazing. I mean the people in DC were just so warm and receptive,” the vibrant singer gushed.

When asked if she got to meet President Barack Obama, Tabitha loudly burst out saying: “No! It was such a pity we didn’t get to meet Obama. I really wanted to. We got to meet Joe Biden though, which was really great.”

Tabitha, whose primary focus right now is RENT and her singing career, is ready to go full steam ahead. In the upcoming month, she is planning to release some singles as well as a music video.

“We will see the response and then start working on the album… I’m just so happy with the people I’m working with and I’m so excited to see everything finally come together eventually,” she said with a smile.

RENT (rated R18 and Advisory 16 for certain shows) opens Oct 7 at the Drama Centre Theatre.