Renee Elise Goldsberry to Join Broadway's Rent as Mimi

Renée Elise Goldsberry, two-time Emmy and NAACP Image Award nominee for playing lawyer Evangeline Williamson on the ABC soap opera One Life To Live, will join the Broadway company of Rent on June 16 as Mimi Marquez. Tamyra Gray will appear as Mimi through June 15 at the Nederlander Theatre.

Goldsberry created the role of Nettie in the Broadway production of The Color Purple, won accolades including New York magazine's Distinguished Performance Award for her performance as Silvia in the 2005 Shakespeare in the Park production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. On Broadway, she also starred as adult Nala in The Lion King.

Rent, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif, opened on April 29, 1996, and now ranks is the seventh longest running show in Broadway history. It is scheduled to close on September 7.