Final Performance of Rent on Broadway Review
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:57 pm
I realize that I am probably the only theater nerd in this group, but I thought I would post this anyway.
I purchased the Blu Ray Disc of the Final Broadway performance of Rent last night, and stayed up until 2 AM watching it, so I could watch it in peace without the rest of my family, who thinks the musical is quite stupid, wouldn't give me a hard time.
It was well-filmed. I really felt like I was a part of the audience with the best seat in the house. I think it was probably the best $30 I've spent in a long time.
12 years on Broadway. It's the end of an era.
The show is very moving. It is a "rock opera"....sung more than spoken, but with contemporary music. It is loosely based on the Puccini's La Boheme.
The show is about a group of young people in their mid 20's who live in New York City's East Village, and are trying to survive.
Roger is a recovering heroine addict who used to be a fairly successful rock star. He has contracted AIDS, but it is under control at the moment with AZT. His girlfriend, April, committed suicide after learning that she had also contracted AIDS, so Roger is torn up over the guilt and mourning her loss.
Mark is Roger's roommate. He is a wannabe film maker. He wants to make a difference with the films he produces. He was seriously dating Maureen, who decided she was a lesbian, and dumped him for her current lover, JoAnne.
Mimi is a spunky 19 year old who lives in the apartment upstairs from Roger and Mark. She works as an exotic dancer, and is a heroine addict. She falls in love with Roger, and tries to kick her habit for him, but continually falls back into the cycle of her disease. Mimi also has AIDS.
Maureen is an actress. She is very flamboyant, pretty, and can't get enough of performing. She dated Mark, but is now in love with JoAnne. She has problems with commitment, but has a good heart, and wants to dedicate her performance career to helping people stay off the street.
JoAnne is a confident, self-sufficient lawyer, who has the perfect life until Maureen turns it upside down. She is hopelessly in love with Maureen in spite of her antics, and always manages to become caught up in her causes.
Collins is a frustrated professor at NYU. None of his students really want to learn, and he is not taken that seriously in his field because he is gay. Collins is also a former roommate of Roger and Mark. After he is mugged and left for dead, Angel, a young street performer, rescues him, and nurses him back to health. They soon fall in love.
Angel is a good-natured street performer, and also a drag queen. He is gay, has AIDS, and is comfortable with his sexuality. He attends a Life Support group which helps him cope with his disease. He becomes very ill, and Collins eventually takes care of him until he dies.
Benny is a former roommate of Mark and Roger. He has married a rich socialite, and is caught between caring for his friends and impressing his in-laws. He owns the building that Mark and Roger live in. At first, he told them that they could live there rent-free. Now he is demanding back rent if they do not stop Maureen from doing a protest performance. Benny wants all of the homeless people who have basically created a "tent city" to keep warm at night to be arrested, and wants to turn the apartment area into condos for the wealthy. His plan would evict all of the current tenants.
How the characters interact, and basically build a survival family of their own is the essence of the show.
Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book and the score, died before ever seeing the first performance in the Off Broadway New York City workshop. He didn't die of AIDS, as many people thought. He was not gay, but had many friends in the gay community. He waited tables during the day, and wrote music at night, in an apartment very much like Mark and Roger's....with little heat and few amenities. He died of a rare heart condition. Jonathan's parents have been to every performance of the show. There has been a foundation established in his honor which helps people with AIDS and other diseases and addictions.
Rent is a show about acceptance, about friendship, and about living life to the fullest.
It is a very moving theatrical experience, and touches all who choose to allow themselves to be encompassed by it.
I know that my synopsis is not doing the show justice.
Rent is one of my favorite musicals of all time.
I would encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to rent a copy of the DVD. You won't be disappointed.
I purchased the Blu Ray Disc of the Final Broadway performance of Rent last night, and stayed up until 2 AM watching it, so I could watch it in peace without the rest of my family, who thinks the musical is quite stupid, wouldn't give me a hard time.
It was well-filmed. I really felt like I was a part of the audience with the best seat in the house. I think it was probably the best $30 I've spent in a long time.
12 years on Broadway. It's the end of an era.
The show is very moving. It is a "rock opera"....sung more than spoken, but with contemporary music. It is loosely based on the Puccini's La Boheme.
The show is about a group of young people in their mid 20's who live in New York City's East Village, and are trying to survive.
Roger is a recovering heroine addict who used to be a fairly successful rock star. He has contracted AIDS, but it is under control at the moment with AZT. His girlfriend, April, committed suicide after learning that she had also contracted AIDS, so Roger is torn up over the guilt and mourning her loss.
Mark is Roger's roommate. He is a wannabe film maker. He wants to make a difference with the films he produces. He was seriously dating Maureen, who decided she was a lesbian, and dumped him for her current lover, JoAnne.
Mimi is a spunky 19 year old who lives in the apartment upstairs from Roger and Mark. She works as an exotic dancer, and is a heroine addict. She falls in love with Roger, and tries to kick her habit for him, but continually falls back into the cycle of her disease. Mimi also has AIDS.
Maureen is an actress. She is very flamboyant, pretty, and can't get enough of performing. She dated Mark, but is now in love with JoAnne. She has problems with commitment, but has a good heart, and wants to dedicate her performance career to helping people stay off the street.
JoAnne is a confident, self-sufficient lawyer, who has the perfect life until Maureen turns it upside down. She is hopelessly in love with Maureen in spite of her antics, and always manages to become caught up in her causes.
Collins is a frustrated professor at NYU. None of his students really want to learn, and he is not taken that seriously in his field because he is gay. Collins is also a former roommate of Roger and Mark. After he is mugged and left for dead, Angel, a young street performer, rescues him, and nurses him back to health. They soon fall in love.
Angel is a good-natured street performer, and also a drag queen. He is gay, has AIDS, and is comfortable with his sexuality. He attends a Life Support group which helps him cope with his disease. He becomes very ill, and Collins eventually takes care of him until he dies.
Benny is a former roommate of Mark and Roger. He has married a rich socialite, and is caught between caring for his friends and impressing his in-laws. He owns the building that Mark and Roger live in. At first, he told them that they could live there rent-free. Now he is demanding back rent if they do not stop Maureen from doing a protest performance. Benny wants all of the homeless people who have basically created a "tent city" to keep warm at night to be arrested, and wants to turn the apartment area into condos for the wealthy. His plan would evict all of the current tenants.
How the characters interact, and basically build a survival family of their own is the essence of the show.
Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book and the score, died before ever seeing the first performance in the Off Broadway New York City workshop. He didn't die of AIDS, as many people thought. He was not gay, but had many friends in the gay community. He waited tables during the day, and wrote music at night, in an apartment very much like Mark and Roger's....with little heat and few amenities. He died of a rare heart condition. Jonathan's parents have been to every performance of the show. There has been a foundation established in his honor which helps people with AIDS and other diseases and addictions.
Rent is a show about acceptance, about friendship, and about living life to the fullest.
It is a very moving theatrical experience, and touches all who choose to allow themselves to be encompassed by it.
I know that my synopsis is not doing the show justice.
Rent is one of my favorite musicals of all time.
I would encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to rent a copy of the DVD. You won't be disappointed.
) I know it's tough to perform a role originated by someone else, but 
Can't wait to see it again.