Rent (musical)
| Rent | |
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| File:Rent.gif Window card for the production | |
| Music | Jonathan Larson |
| Lyrics | Jonathan Larson |
| Book | Jonathan Larson |
Rent is a Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical. It opened in New York City on April 29, 1996 at the Nederlander Theatre, and is currently playing on Broadway as the seventh-longest-running Broadway musical (as of March 1, 2006). Based on Puccini's opera La bohème, the musical centers on a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Alphabet City in the early 1990s, under the shadow of AIDS.
Rent was one of the first Broadway musicals to clearly feature Homosexual, bisexual, lesbian, and transgendered characters. Almost every previous production that dealt with such issues had generally been relegated to off-Broadway venues (an exception is La Cage aux Folles). It is also noted for its ethnically diverse cast, which includes many racial minorities in its ensemble and leading roles. Rent is considered revolutionary for bringing counterculture to a traditionally conservative medium, and is credited with increasing the popularity of musical theater in the younger generation.
The cast album from the show was the most successful recording of an American musical in almost 30 years, featuring both a double-disc "complete recording" collection with a remixed version of the song "Seasons of Love" featuring Stevie Wonder, and a single-disc "best of" highlights.
Rent was enormously successful on Broadway, enjoying both critical acclaim and word-of-mouth popularity, recently celebrating its 10th anniversary on April 24, 2006 with a special performance by its entire original cast.
Creative process
In 1988, playwright Billy Aronson originated the idea of writing a modern musical based on the opera La bohème. He wanted to create "a musical based on Puccini's La bohème, in which the luscious splendor of Puccini's world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern New York." In 1989 Jonathan Larson, a 29-year-old composer, began collaborating with Aronson on this project, and the two wrote a few songs together. Larson made the suggestion to set the play in Greenwich Village, an artsy avant-garde neighborhood where he lived, and also came up with the show's ultimate title. In 1991, he asked Aronson if he could use Aronson's original concept and make Rent his own. They made an agreement that if the show went to Broadway, Aronson would share in the proceeds.
Jonathan Larson focused on writing on Rent in the early 1990's, waiting tables to support himself. Over the course of seven years, Larson wrote hundreds of songs and made many drastic changes to the show, which in its final incarnation contained 43 songs. Unfortunately, Larson would not live to see its true success: he died from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm (believed to have resulted from Marfan syndrome) in the early morning of January 25, 1996, just a few hours after the musical had its final dress rehearsal at the New York Theatre Workshop. At the request of Larson's parents, the show did premiere as planned despite Larson's untimely death. The show proved extremely popular during its off-Broadway run, and moved to Broadway's previously derelict Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996.
Sources/inspiration
Larson's inspirations for Rent's content came from several different sources. Many of the characters and plot elements are drawn directly from the opera La Bohème, which was also about the lives of poor young artists. Consumption, the plague of La Boheme, is replaced by AIDS in Rent; 1800's Paris is replaced by New York's modern day East Village. The names and identities of Rent's characters also heavily reflect Puccini's original characters: Mimi, a seamstress with consumption (Mimi); Rodolfo, a poet (Roger); Marcello, a painter (Mark); Musetta, a singer (Maureen) Schaunard, a musician (Angel Dumott Schunard); Colline, a philosopher (Tom Collins); and Benoit, a landlord (Benny). Other examples of parallels between Larson's and Puccini's work include Larson's "Light My Candle", which is nearly a line-by-line translation of Puccini's writing, and "Musetta's Waltz", a melody taken directly from Puccini's opera.
Rent is also a somewhat autobiographical work, as Larson incorporated many elements of his life into his show. Larson lived in the Village for many years as a starving artist with an uncertain future sacrificing a life of stability for his art, and shared many of the same hopes and fears as his characters. Like his characters he endured poor living conditions, and some of these conditions (illegal wood-burning stove, broken buzzer) made its way into the play. Like the show's narrator Mark, Larson has also lost his girlfriend to another woman. In the play, the characters attend a support group for people with AIDS called 'Life Support', which is based on a real-life support group that Larson attended called 'Friends in Deed.' The people present at the Life Support meeting in the show, such as Gordon, Alli, Pam, and Sue, carry the names of Larson's friends who died of AIDS.
In her 1998 book Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America, author Sarah Schulman claims that plot elements from Rent were lifted from her 1990 book People In Trouble. In an interview, she said, "The gay part of Rent is basically the plot of my novel". Schulman claims that upon reading her novel, Larson stole her ideas and altered them to make them more consumer oriented and "gay friendly" in order to turn the best profit. [1].
Plot
The musical follows the lives of eight friends in New York City over the course of a year as they struggle with relationships, loss, creativity, the purpose of living, housing, and AIDS.
Characters include:
- Mark, a struggling filmmaker
- Roger, an HIV-positive musician who is recovering from heroin addiction; Mark's roommate
- Mimi, an HIV-positive dancer and heroin junkie; Roger's love interest
- Maureen, a performance artist; Joanne's girlfriend; Mark's ex-girlfriend
- Tom Collins, an HIV-positive philosophy teacher; friend and former roommate of Roger and Mark
- Angel, an HIV-positive drag queen street percussionist/musician; Collins's love interest
- Benny, landlord of Mark, Roger and Mimi's apartment; ex-roommate of Mark, Collins, and Maureen
- Joanne, a Harvard-educated lawyer; Maureen's girlfriend.
Act One
On Christmas Eve in his loft, Mark decides to begin shooting a scriptless documentary about his friends, starting with his roommate Roger, who has picked up his guitar for the first time in half a year. Mark's mother calls from the suburbs, telling him that they'll miss him at Christmas and saying that Mark shouldn't care that his girlfriend dumped him for another woman (Voice Mail #1). Outside, their friend Tom Collins, a former professor of philosophy, comes to visit them but is jumped by thugs and lies bleeding on the street. Meanwhile, their former pal Benny, who married wealthy Alison Grey of Westport and bought the lot next door to Mark and Roger's apartment building (which he also owns), calls and breaks his promise to let them live in the apartment for free and asks for the rent, which he knows they don't have (Tune Up #2). The power to Mark and Roger's apartment shuts off, and they start burning manuscripts to stay warm, and vent their frustrations about their poverty and their inability to pay rent. Joanne is working on the sound system for Maureen's protest against Benny's plan to develop the lot, which is currently the site of a homeless tent city, when the sound system blows. Maureen then calls Mark to fix the sound system for her against Joanne's wishes, and Mark agrees to help desipte their breakup because he isn't over her. Frustrated, Mark and Roger decide to rebel against Benny and refuse to pay their rent (Rent).
Back on the street, Angel, a transvestite drag queen and street drummer, spots Collins and comes to his aid. They are attracted to one another and quickly discover that they both have AIDS. They leave the alley to tend to Collins' wounds. Meanwhile, Mark asks Roger to join him in going to Maureen's protest and out to dinner, but Roger declines. Mark reminds Roger to take his AZT, making the audience aware that Roger is also HIV positive. He also reveals that Roger's girlfriend, April, committed suicide after finding out that the two of them were HIV-positive (Tune Up #3). After Mark leaves, Roger sings about needing to write one great song to make his mark before he dies of AIDS, when he hears a knock on the door (One Song Glory). He opens it to find Mimi, a nineteen-year-old junkie who lives in the apartment below. We learn that she works as stripper at an S&M club called The "Cat Scratch Club." She asks him to light a candle for her, because her electricity has also been shut off. Mutual attraction is obvious, but Roger is hesitant as this is his first romantic situation since his girlfriend's (April's)recent death (Light My Candle).
In Maureen and Joanne's loft, Joanne's parents call (Voice Mail #2), but she is not home to hear it.
Soon after, Collins finally makes it to Mark and Roger's apartment, bearing gifts. He introduces Angel, in full drag, flashing a large stack of money. When Mark questions where (s)he earned it, Angel explains that a wealthy woman paid him/her to play his/her drums outside her apartment to annoy her neighbor's yappy Akita, Evita, and cause it to jump off a window ledge (Today 4 U). Benny arrives and tells Mark and Roger that he will let the rent slide and sign papers saying that they can live in the apartment rent-free if they get Maureen, a performance artist, to cancel her protest. However, Mark decides not to agree to the deal. After Benny leaves, Angel and Collins invite Mark and Roger to attend a Life Support (a local HIV support group) meeting (You'll See).
Mark arrives at the lot, meets Joanne, and they agree that living with Maureen is like dancing a complicated tango (The Tango Maureen), in that Maureen plays her lovers for all they are worth. After successfully fixing the sound system, Mark joins Collins and Angel at the Life Support meeting, where members share their thoughts and fears about living with AIDS (Life Support). Meanwhile, Mimi wants Roger to take her out (Out Tonight), and returns to Roger and Mark's apartment. Roger roughly turns her down and drives her out of the apartment (Another Day). Roger then decides to go join the others at the Life Support meeting, where the attendees are singing of the fear and uncertainty that comes in facing an imminent death (Will I).
Collins, Angel, Roger, and Mark leave Life Support and save a homeless person from a beating by a police officer, only to be reprimanded by that same person, who says she doesn't need their help (On The Street). As they walk away, contemplating her response, Collins get them all to think about what it would be like to live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the climate and the people are much warmer (Santa Fe).
Mark leaves to convince Roger to go to Maureen's show, and Collins and Angel sing about their romance (I'll Cover You). Joanne gets ready for the protest and her upcoming legal case (We're Okay), and Roger finds Mimi again and asks her to go to the protest and the dinner party planned for afterward (Christmas Bells). Mimi accepts Roger's invitation. Collins, Angel, Mark, Roger, Mimi, and Joanne attend Maureen's protest and watch as Maureen insults Benny for trying to evict the homeless from the lot just so he can build a cyber studio (Over The Moon). The protests ends in a riot that Mark catches on camera and the footage is purchased by a local news station. Afterward, the group goes to the Life Cafe, where they spot Benny and his investor, Mr. Grey, who is also Benny's father-in-law. Benny mocks the protest and tells them that they need to grow up, that Bohemia is dead. Mark gets up and delivers an amusing eulogy for Bohemia; then all the bohemians in the cafe rise up and tell Benny and his companions what La Vie Boheme (the bohemian life) is about. Through song, the bohemians explain that acceptance, love, and fun are critical parts of life. We discover that Benny and Mimi used to be in a relationship (La Vie Boheme A). During the song, Joanne, who has been cleaning up after the protest, reenters to ask Maureen a question, only to find her making out with a female ensemble member.
During the song, Mimi and Roger's beepers go off simultaneously, reminding them to take their AZT. They discover they are both HIV-positive and bond immediately, promising not to keep secrets and to love each other openly (I Should Tell You). Joanne enters a final time to break up with Maureen, and says that a riot has broken out in the lot and the police have been called in, sparking a new round of celebration (La Vie Boheme B). The act closes as Mimi and Roger "share a small, lovely kiss".
Act Two
The cast sings about "measuring their lives in love" (Seasons of Love), as opposed to measuring it in possessions.
Mimi, Mark, and Roger's building has been padlocked as a result of Maureen's protest. On New Year's Eve, Roger, Mark and Mimi try to break into their building with the help of Angel, Collins, Joanne, and Maureen. Mimi decides to give up her heroin addiction and go back to school, while Roger says that he is happy again because Mimi is in his life. Joanne and Maureen decide to give their relationship another try.
Mark, Maureen, and Joanne scale the fire escape and break in through a window. When they enter the apartment, they find that the electricity is on again (Happy New Year). They listen to an answering machine message from Mark's mother and then a message from Alexi Darling of "Buzzline," a tabloid news show. She has seen Mark's footage of the riots on TV and wants to offer him a contract (Voice Mail #3). Maureen, excited, decides that she will plan another protest and Mark can film it as a documentary. They go downstairs to meet up with the others.
Benny shows up as soon as the lock is broken and, after suggesting that Mark begin taping, offers Mark and Roger a new lease, rent free. When Mark says that his batteries were dead, Benny wants to reshoot, prompting Roger and Maureen to say that he only wants the good press that having this action on film would get him. Benny, incensed, implies that Mimi showed up at his place and had sex with him to get him to change his mind, while Mimi denies everything. Roger gets extremely upset, but Angel convinces everyone to calm down and make a New Year's resolution to always remain friends. They all toast Benny and go inside. Mimi, however, remains outside. She sneaks off to get some heroin from a dealer (Happy New Year B)
On Valentine's Day, the happy New Year's couples become not so happy. While rehearsing for the new protest, Maureen and Joanne have a fight and break up again (Take Me or Leave Me). Mimi comes into her apartment to find Roger waiting for her, tired of her excuses and convinced that she is cheating on him with Benny, her ex-boyfriend. However, they make up. In the spring, everyone senses that something is wrong and asks,"how do you measure a last year on Earth?" (Seasons of Love B). Roger leaves Mimi, deciding that she is definitely unfaithful.
All the while, Angel is growing more ill. Collins tries to nurse him/her back to health while Roger and Mimi and Maureen and Joanne get back together again (Without You). Alexi keeps calling Mark to try to convince him to join Buzzline (Voice Mail #4) and all of the couples perform the risque dance of love that ends in the separation of all. Unfortunately, Collins and Angel's separation is permanent. After a long struggle to hold onto life and the ones he/she loves, Angel dies (Contact). At Angel's funeral, the cast laments the passing of the one person who held all of the friends together (I'll Cover You (Reprise)). Mark wonders how so much could have happened in only a year, and finally accepts Alexi's offer (Halloween). A fight breaks out between Mimi, Roger, Maureen, and Joanne. Mimi and Joanne exclaim that they have done nothing but love Roger and Maureen, respectively, and they would be "happy to die for a taste of what Angel had -- someone to live for, unafraid to say 'I love you.'" Maureen and Joanne make up yet again, but Roger is leaving for Santa Fe. Roger and Mark fight because Roger is leaving; Roger accuses Mark of hiding in his work because he won't admit that he lives a lie. Mark accuses Roger of running away because he is afraid of watching Mimi die. They hear Mimi arrive in the middle of the fight; she admits that she heard it all, says goodbye to Roger and breaks down. Mark suggests that she go away to a rehabilitation clinic, and Benny offers to pay (Goodbye Love). In Santa Fe, Roger mourns the fact that he is all alone, and back in New York, Mark is thinking the same. Roger returns just in time for Christmas and Mark quits Buzzline (What You Own). In his time away, Roger has realized how much he loves Mimi and he found his "one song", but though he scours the city for her he cannot find her. Everyone's parents call to try and find their children (Voice Mail #5). On Christmas Eve, Collins shows up with money. He explains that he has rewired an ATM so that anyone with the PIN "Angel" can get money. Maureen and Joanne arrive, calling for help. They are carrying Mimi, who has been living on the street and has caught a fever. They bring her into the apartment; Collins calls 911 but is put on hold. Mimi and Roger talk. She tells him that she has always loved him (Finale A). Roger sings Mimi the song that he had been trying to write all year, which he was finally able to write after he realized that he loved her. Mimi faints (Your Eyes). Roger and the others believe that she is dead, but suddenly she comes to life. She says that she was heading into a warm, white light and that Angel was there, telling her to turn back and listen to Roger's song. Touched and relieved, the group breaks into song (Finale B).
Musical numbers
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Act One:
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Act Two:
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Productions
North American Tours
There have been three very successful United States national tours. The "Angel Tour" and the "Benny Tour" launched soon after the Broadway production opened. More recently, the non-Equity tour started its run. There was also a Canadian tour (often referred to as the "Collins Tour").
International Productions
International productions of Rent include performances in: Australia, Ireland, Mexico, Italy, Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Hungary, China, the Philippines and the UK.
High School Production
On May 19, 2006, Shorewood High School, Shorewood, Wisconsin performed the first-ever non-professional production of Rent, which was called Rent: School Edition. This edition omits certain scenes and dialogue, including the sexually explicit number "Contact".
Awards
Tony Awards
Rent was nominated for, and WON the following Tony Awards in 1996:
- Tony Award for Best Musical WINNER
- Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical WINNER
- Tony Award for Best Original Score WINNER
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Adam Pascal)
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Daphne Rubin-Vega)
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Wilson Jermaine Heredia) WINNER
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Idina Menzel)
- Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Blake Burba)
- Tony Award for Best Choreography (Marlies Yearby)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Greiif).
Other Awards
Rent was nominated for, and WON the following awards:
- 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Musical WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Book WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Adam Pascal)
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Daphne Rubin-Vega)
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Wilson Jermaine Heredia) WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Musical (Michael Greif)
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Orchestrations (Steve Skinner) WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Music WINNER
- 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Costume Design (Angela Wendt)
- 1996 Theater World Award for Outstanding New Talent (Adam Pascal) WINNER
- 1996 Theater World Award for Outstanding New Talent (Daphne Rubin-Vega) WINNER
- 1996 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical WINNER
- 1996 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical WINNER
- 1996 Drama League Award for Best Musical WINNER
- 1996 Obie Award for Outstanding Book, Music, and Lyrics WINNER
- 1996 Obie Award for Outstanding Direction (Michael Grief) WINNER
- 1996 Obie Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance WINNER
Cultural impact
Rent has gathered a huge following of obsessive fans that refer to themselves as "RENT-heads". The name originally referred to people who would camp out at the Nederlander Theater for hours in advance for the discounted $20 rush tickets to each show. These rush tickets are discounted tickets to seats in the first two rows of the theater reserved for sale by lottery two hours prior to each show, per Jonathan Larson's request. Since Rent started the trend of rush tickets, many other Broadway shows have followed Rent's example and now also offer cheaper tickets in efforts to make Broadway theater accessable to more people who would otherwise be unable to afford the ticket prices.
The song "Seasons of Love" became a somewhat successful pop song and is often performed without the rest of the musical.
References in pop culture
- The Simpsons
- Family Guy: Lois is directing a stage production of The King and I, and Peter says, "If you want to do a bad show, why not do Rent?"
- Avenue Q
- Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back
- Team America: World Police: character Gary Johnston has the lead role in "LEASE: The Musical", which is a parody of Rent. It features a number called "Everyone has AIDS" and is a spoof of Rent's title song.
- Friends: in the episode "The One with the Dirty Girl", Rachel, trying to finish the New York Times crossword puzzle, says "You know what we should all do? Go see a musical... And you know which one we should see? The 1996 Tony award winner. Do you happen to know the name of that one?"
- "NYPD Blue"
- "Will and Grace": in episode "The Unsinkable Mommy Adler," Will, imitating Grace's mother, says, "Honey, I'm just so thrilled about you and your little pillow store, but did I tell you that the Schenectady Times said that my performance in "Rent" stole the show?" To which Grace replies, "Well, I'm not surprised. I mean, look at you, Mom. You were born to play an adolescent struggling with homelessness and heroin addiction."
- In the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the character Yitzhak is seen wearing a Rent shirt, and later announces his intention to play Angel in a Polynesian production of Rent.
Casts
Original Broadway Cast
The original Broadway cast of Rent is as follows:
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Understudies
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Current Broadway Cast
As of June 30, 2006, the current Broadway company of Rent is as follows:
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Understudies
Band
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Celebrity Casting
Over the years, big names and pop stars have played characters in Rent. Some of these include:
- Jesse L. Martin - Tom Collins (Original)
- Joey Fatone - Mark
- Melanie Brown (a.k.a. Scary Spice) - Mimi
- Drew Lachey - Mark
- Frenchie Davis - Mrs. Jefferson, woman with bags, and others
Movie
Rent was adapted into a movie, filmed on location in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Santa Fe. It was released on November 23, 2005. Chris Columbus directed, with Diggs, Heredia, Martin, Menzel, Pascal, and Rapp reprising their stage roles. Newcomer Rosario Dawson appeared in the role of Mimi and Tracie Thoms played the role of Joanne. Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker, the original Mimi and Joanne respectively, were not cast in the film. Screenplay was written by Stephen Chbosky. The film version of RENT remained in the top 10 at the box office for 3 weeks. Although the film's take at the box office was mediocre, it has since found popularity on DVD.
Trivia
- When Chris Columbus signed on to direct, he approached the reluctant Robert De Niro into producing the film. De Niro actually cried when he read the script and saw the show on Broadway one night. He later admitted that it was because it was "so beautiful," and he had an actor friend back in the late 70s who died of an unknown virus, which turned out to be AIDS.
- Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel of the original Broadway cast met each other through Rent, and are now married.
- The Life Cafe where the number "La Vie Boheme" takes place in the show, is a real restaurant in New York City's East Village.
External links
- Official Rent musical site
- Official Rent movie site
- Rent at Internet Broadway Database
- Rent at Internet Movie Database
- Message Board for Fans
- RENT: The Original Broadway Version on DVD! (petition)
- Rubin-Vega has no Rent regrets
- Anthony Rapp on the film Rent
- Rent Fan Forums
