Rent: a musical that deals with delicate themes

‘Rent’ is a musical that has been immensely popular and is now running for the eleventh year. It is based on the Opera La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini. ‘Rent’ will become the second-longest-running show currently on Broadway when ‘Beauty and the Beast’ completes its run on July 29, 2007.

‘Rent’ was one of the first musicals to deal with topics such as homosexuality, transsexuals and AIDS. It is a rock musical with an enduring look at the lives of various characters who live on the East Side. These characters struggle to survive the harsh realities of their lives. Jonathan Larson wrote the book for Broadway and also wrote the lyrics and composed the music. Unfortunately, he died before he could see the success of his game.

The story of ‘Rent’ is about the lives of various characters. We see Mark Cohen, a filmmaker and also the narrator of the story, and Roger Davis, a musician who shares the Rent with Mark. Mark just lost his girlfriend Maureen to another woman, Joanne. Mimi is a dancer and falls in love with Roger. Other characters include Angel, who is a gay transvestite drummer, and Tom Collins, who is also gay, a philosophy professor, and Angel’s love interest. All the characters, except Mark, have AIDS.

The story has been modified a bit to suit contemporary life. La Boheme de Puccini was founded at the end of the 19th century. Larson rewrote the play and changed the characters to suit the state of affairs in the 1980s. The names and occupations of the characters were changed, but they are a reflection of the original characters. Mimi was a seamstress with tuberculosis in the original and is now a dancer with AIDS. The poet Rudolfo has become the musician Roger and the painter Marcello is now the filmmaker Mark.

The story brings together people in love, like Mimi and Roger, Angel and Tom, and also Maureen and Joanne. But it also shows the reality that AIDS leads to death no matter what. Angel becomes very ill as the play progresses and dies leaving behind a heartbroken Tom who professes his undying love at his funeral. At the end of the play, Mimi is found sick and delirious thrown in the street by Maureen and Joanne, who take her to Roger’s apartment. She expresses her love to Roger, who in turn sings her a song that he had written inspired by her. After the song, she goes limp and everyone thinks she’s dead, but after a while she wakes up again and says she saw Angel telling her to turn around. Roger and Mimi are delighted to be able to meet and everyone is reminded that it is important to live each day to the fullest, as “there is no day other than today”.

Directed by Michael Greif, ‘Rent’ has become something of a cult musical and getting tickets is no easy task. You can get your tickets directly from the Nederlander Theater box office or reserve them online or by phone.

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