Tony Tuesday: RENT
Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Loosely based on Puccini’s 1896 opera La Bohème, Pulitzer-Prize winning RENT is one of the most important, and iconic, musicals of the late 20th century, if not of all time.
With music, book, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, RENT tells the stories of a group of young artists struggling along in Alphabet City, Manhattan. Already battling drugs, depression, no heating, electricity or money for rent, the group’s lives are further thrown into turmoil by the HIV/AIDS crisis. Yet, their love for one another and determination to live like there is “no day but today” has made the show an enduring, worldwide phenomenon.
The story is inspired by much of Larson’s own life as a struggling artist in New York with illegal living conditions and an uncertain creative future. Larson’s own broken apartment buzzer (leading to his having to ask guests to call from the payphone across the street so he could throw down his keys) is just one facet of his life that made its way into the show. Moreover, “Will I?” sung in a Life Support meeting in Act 1, is inspired by Larson’s real experiences attending Friends in Deed meetings in the city. The people present at the meeting in the scene share the names of Larson’s friends who died from AIDS and in the Broadway production, the names of the characters introducing themselves changed nightly to honour friends of the cast who were battling with, or had lost their battle to, AIDS.
Tragically, Larson died unexpectedly of an aortic dissection the night before RENT’s off-Broadway premiere. Testament to his incredible talent, RENT sold out all its off-Broadway performances and has gone on to become the eleventh-longest-running Broadway show of all time, running for 12 years. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1996 and won 4: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
On 24 April 2006, the original cast reunited for a one-night performance at its original Broadway home, the Nederlander Theatre. The performance raised over $2,000,000 for the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, Friends in Deed, and New York Theatre Workshop. The original cast featured Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Fredi Walker.
After its initial success on Broadway, two North American tours launched, entitled the Angel Tour and the Benny Tour. The non-Equity tour started shortly after, followed by the Canadian Tour or Collins Tour. On 6 October 2021, a National Tour opened in Chicago to commemorate 25 years of RENT’s legacy.
RENT opened in London’s West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre in May 1998 and closed after a year and a half. The original cast included Krysten Cummings as Mimi Marquez, Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Angel Schunard, Bonny Lockhart as Benny, Jesse L. Martin as Tom Collins, Adam Pascal as Roger Davis, Anthony Rapp as Mark Cohen, and Jessica Tezier as Maureen Johnson. Limited runs of revivals took place between 2001 and 2003 before a heavily revised production entitled Rent: Remixed came to the Duke of York’s Theatre in 2007. It featured Oliver Thornton (Mark), Luke Evans (Roger), Craig Stein (Benny), Leon Lopez (Collins), Francesca Jackson (Joanne), Jay Webb (Angel), Siobhán Donaghy (Mimi), and Denise Van Outen (Maureen).
RENT has been performed in 25 languages and continues to be performed across the world from schools to Broadway. The score is breath-taking, heart-breaking and the show is an absolute must-watch both in terms of history and creative beauty! Cast recordings are available on streaming services and you can rent (no pun intended!) or buy the filmed version of the show on Amazon Prime.
Facts:
Music: Jonathan Larson
Lyrics: Jonathan Larson
Book: Jonathan Larson
Theatre: Nederlander Theatre
Run: 29 April 1996 – 7 September 2008 (5,123 performances)
Tony Awards:
1996
Nominated: Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Adam Pascal); Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Daphne Rubin-Vega); Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Idina Menzel); Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Greif); Best Choreography (Marlies Yearby); Best Lighting Design (Blake Burba).
Won: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score (Jonathan Larson); Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Wilson Jermaine Heredia).
Olivier Awards
1999
Nominated: Best New Musical; Best Actress in a Musical (Krysten Cummings); Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Wilson Jermaine Heredia).
