Rent: An Oral History

May 26, 2016 7:20 AM

Twenty years after Jonathan Larson’s posthumous triumph arrived on Broadway, the cast and creative team relive the rise of a musical that changed theater.
posted by trillian (10 comments total)

Amazing piece! Can't believe it's been 20 years.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:29 AM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I managed to see Rent twice, maybe three times, but I remember entering the lottery just about every weekend one summer (1998, maybe?). As someone who was at least moderately into musicals but hated the status quo at the time -- Phantom! Les Mis! Miss Saigon! -- it was amazingly special, even if I missed being the real target demo by a few years and lot of cultural miles.

... and now I've started listening to the Broadway album. I have things to do.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:19 AM on May 26, 2016

I was always pretty unmoved by the movie, watching it with friends who were in tears at certain points and me just wondering how much longer is this thing going to go on for. Then a few weeks ago, a musical theatre group at Stanford put on a performance of it, and the way the instruments were set up made all the guitar parts sound way more grungier than the movie or the broadway album. Suddenly Roger on his guitar was making the same sounds I was making on my guitar laying on my bed as a teenager and I was losing it just a couple of lines into "Will I?". It was a great show.
posted by Space Coyote at 9:39 AM on May 26, 2016

Chris Tyler recently presented a performance in New York related to RENT: R*NT (Or: what you own: another dirge for a city remembered). Here's a conversation with Tommy O'Malley, Tyler, and Sarah Schulman, author of the book Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America.
posted by larrybob at 10:27 AM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is a great piece, but bi erasure strikes again. It's kind of important Maureen isn't a lesbian!
posted by booksandlibretti at 11:40 AM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

Without "Rent", there would be no "Hamilton."
posted by ColdChef at 11:55 AM on May 26, 2016 [6 favorites]

I respect what Larson did with RENT, but a lot of the songs sound like Meat Loaf if Jim Steinman had no sense of humor.
posted by pxe2000 at 12:46 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I respect what Larson did with RENT, but a lot of the songs sound like Meat Loaf if Jim Steinman had no sense of humor.

I was so excited to see it when I was a teenager, then I saw it and hated it. I hadn't heard the cast album before going, so I'd expected a rock musical set in the lower east side to sound something like Sonic Youth. Instead, I sat bewildered as the cast warbled painfully earnest show tunes.

Now, years and years later, my feelings have softened and I sometimes wander around singing about opening a restaurant in Santa Fe.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:38 PM on May 26, 2016 [4 favorites]

I bet I can still sing every word. If you're a fan and you ever get a chance to hear some of the original original off-Broadway recordings, do it! There's a few songs and bits in there that got cut.
posted by fiercecupcake at 1:38 PM on May 26, 2016

i guess i've played rent about 600 times altogether, on and off broadway and in multiple cities, states, and countries.

as stated upthread, if you are looking for "sonic youth: the musical", then you'll be disappointed. but as jonathan larson himself explained, the idea wasn't to discard the musical theater tradition but rather to reimagine it with rock and roll influences. sure something similar had been done with grease, hair, etc - but it had been years. and i would contend that rent is way more artistically successful than those other shows.

and the score is great. each part of the 5 piece band is used incredibly well.

i understand that it's not for everyone - i don't own the recording, and i can't imagine listening to it for entertainment. but that's just my taste. that said - for what it is trying to be, it is incredibly good. and innovative.
posted by fingers_of_fire at 4:35 PM on May 26, 2016