Top 7 Musicals of the Decade: #2 RENT

2. Rent

Opened April 29, 1996 – closed September 7, 2008

Rent opened in the 90s, receiving a swarm of media attention even before it hit Broadway, due to the tragic but very exploitable fact that the show’s composer and playwright, Jonathon Larson, then 35, died on opening night. What a ride he missed. Rent’s 12-year run on Broadway (the 8th longest Broadway run in history) didn’t come to a close until rather recently (September 2008), and it won over a dozen major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for drama and several Tonys, along the way.

The very idea of Rent is drastically different from any other musical on Broadway today, and was even more shocking back in the 90s. Very realistic to the appearance of lower Manhattan in 1989, where the story is set, most of the characters are starving bohemian artists – and quite a few of them are living with HIV/AIDS. Characters include a heroin-addicted, HIV-positive exotic dancer; a bisexual, outspoken performance artist and anarchist; and an indiscriminately kind and generous cross-dresser who is, rather appropriately, named Angel. Add the raw rock music that makes the score, and the simple but emotionally provocative lyrics by Jonathon Larson, and you have a musical for the young generation.

I will confess to never having seen Rent live onstage. However, I watched (and re-watched) the final performance on Broadway, which was released on DVD, as well as the musical movie of the show, featuring six of the eight principal members of the original Broadway cast. Even through a TV screen, the energy of the young actors in the cast and the emotional arc the characters travel is overpowering. I had never been so emotionally attached to a musical, but this one had me on the edge of my seat (and, I’m not going to lie – crying). The story is pretty harsh for younger kids (since it includes AIDS, drugs, death, and sexuality issues), but Rent has been very well-received by its target audience (young adults), because of its young, fresh look and sound, and the all-summarizing philosophy repeated throughout the show: “Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way – no day but today.”

The original Rent was conceived to be a modern take on the Puccini opera La Boheme, set in late 20th century Manhattan rather than early 19th century France. (It is worth being noted that, by now, the show has been translated into several different languages, including La Boheme‘s original Italian.) But although many of the characters draw their names from, and many small plot points are based on the original opera, Jonathon Larson’s music is drastically different. Rent opted out of having an orchestra like most musicals. The live music is supplied by just a few rock musicians at the back of the stage, armed with two electric guitars, a bass, keyboards, and a drum kit. Most of Rent‘s conversations are also in song (the number “Light My Candle” is a brilliant piece of story-telling through song), and it is considered to be one of the first rock operas. This deviation from classic musical numbers coupled with the radical storyline means that even if you’re not a fan of musicals, you may want to try Rent. It defined a generation when it opened back in 1996, and still affects youth today.

Images taken from blogwaybaby.com and idina-here.com.