Rent (musical)


Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. Loosely based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, it tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village, in the thriving days of the bohemian culture of Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
The musical was first seen in 1993 in a workshop production at New York Theatre Workshop, the off-Broadway theatre which was also where the musical began performances on January 26, 1996. The show's creator, Jonathan Larson, had died suddenly of an aortic dissection the night before. The musical moved to Broadway's larger Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996.
On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008, after 12 years, making it one of the longest-running shows on Broadway. The production grossed over $280 million.
The success of the show led to several national tours and numerous foreign productions. In 2005, it was adapted into a motion picture featuring six of the eight principal cast members from the 1996 stage premiere.

Concept and genesis

In 1988, playwright Billy Aronson wanted to create "a musical based on Puccini's La Bohème, in which the luscious splendor of Puccini's world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern New York." In 1989, Jonathan Larson, a 29-year-old composer, began collaborating with Aronson on this project, and the two composed together "Santa Fe", "Rent", and "I Should Tell You". Larson suggested setting the play "in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. He suggested making "Rent" the title; Aronson agreed. In 1991, he asked Aronson if he could use Aronson's original concept and make Rent his own. Larson had ambitious expectations for Rent; his ultimate dream was to write a rock opera "to bring musical theater to the MTV generation". Aronson and Larson made an agreement that if the show went to Broadway, Aronson would share in the proceeds and be given credit for "original concept & additional lyrics".
Jonathan Larson focused on composing Rent in the early 1990s, waiting tables at the Moondance Diner to support himself. Over the course of years, Larson wrote hundreds of songs and made many drastic changes to the show, which in its final incarnation contained 42 songs. In the fall of 1992, Larson approached James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop, with a tape and copy of Rents script.
In the 1992 script, the homeless characters were named Rudy, Dogman, Mrs. Chance, and later, were joined by politician-turned-homeless Otam Desnofla. They were also given significantly more material. Some of their characteristics remained in the final version of the show, such as the former Mrs. Chance becoming the "Seasons of Love" soloist.
The early 1993 version of Rent also featured songs that were dropped before subsequent revisions, including:
  • An earlier version of RENT that featured significantly more graphic lyrics, colloquially known as "Splatter" by fans.
  • "Dance #1", an unproduced dance number for Mimi that would have provided information on Mimi's past through nightmarish imagery and sounds.
  • "Because You Were Right", a song sung by Mark and Maureen
  • "Love the Pain", a song performed by Mrs. Chance at Angel's funeral, which was ultimately replaced by "I'll Cover You "
  • "U.S. of Ease", performed by the homeless characters, which was ultimately replaced by "Real Estate" before being dropped
  • "Valentine's Day", performed by Mimi in between "Seasons of Love A & B"
When Rent had its first staged reading at New York Theatre Workshop in March 1993, it became evident that, despite its very promising material and moving musical numbers, many structural problems needed to be addressed, including its cumbersome length and overly complex plot.
As of 1994, the New York Theatre Workshop version of Rent featured songs that never made it into the final version, such as:
  • "Cool/Fool"
  • "Do a Little Business", the predecessor of "You'll See", featuring Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins and Angel
  • "Female to Female A & B", featuring Maureen and Joanne
  • "He's a Fool"
  • "He Says"
  • "Right Brain", later rewritten as "One Song Glory", featuring Roger
  • "Over It", the predecessor of "Tango: Maureen", featuring Mark and Maureen
  • "Real Estate", a number wherein Benny tries to convince Mark to become a real estate agent and drop his filmmaking
  • "Open Road", the predecessor of "What You Own", with a backing track similar to this in "Your Eyes"
This workshop version of Rent starred Anthony Rapp as Mark and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Mimi. Larson continued to work on Rent, gradually reworking its flaws and staging more workshop productions.
On January 24, 1996, after the musical's final dress rehearsal before its off-Broadway opening, Larson had his first newspaper interview; music critic Anthony Tommasini of The New York Timeswho had been attracted by the coincidence that the show was debuting exactly 100 years after Puccini's operarequested the interview. Larson would not live to see Rents success; he died from an undiagnosed aortic dissection early the next morning, January 25, 1996. Friends and family gathered at the New York Theatre Workshop, and the first preview of Rent became a sing-through of the musical in Larson's memory.
The show premiered as planned and quickly gained popularity fueled by enthusiastic reviews and the recent death of its composer. It proved extremely successful during its off-Broadway run, selling out all its shows at the 150-seat New York Theatre Workshop. Due to such overwhelming popularity and a need for a larger theater, Rent moved to Broadway's then-under-renovation Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street and opened on April 29, 1996.

Lynn Thomson lawsuit

Lynn Thomson was a dramaturge who was hired by New York Theatre Workshop to help rework Rent. She claimed that between early May and the end of October 1995, she and Larson co-wrote a "new version" of the musical, and that she had a verbal agreement with Larson to a percentage of the royalties. She sued Jonathan Larson's estate for $40 million and sought 16 percent of the show's royalties, ultimately losing that suit. A revised suit claiming she had written a significant portion of the lyrics and the libretto of the "new version" of Rent was filed later. The estate settled out of court.
During the trial, according to a partner in the firm representing the Larson estate, Thomson could not recall the lyrics to the songs that she allegedly wrote, nor the structures of the libretto she claimed to have created. The judge ruled against her and gave Larson's estate full credit and right to Rent. A federal appellate court upheld the original ruling on appeal. In the judgement, the court ruled against Thomson saying "she had brought the wrong suit." Thomson had sued over a verbal agreement she claimed to have with Larson, which she could not prove. However, the court stated in the judgment that her claim to have written some of the material in RENT, including the lyrics to the song "Glory," was credible and that she had standing to sue for ownership of some of the material in RENT. She filed suit with revised claims. In August 1998, the case was settled out of court. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Part of the issue of this case concerns the development of the field of Dramaturgy.

Synopsis

Act I

On Christmas Eve in Manhattan's East Village, two roommates—Mark, a filmmaker, and Roger, a rock musician—struggle to stay warm and produce their art. Mark's mother leaves him a voicemail wishing him a Merry Christmas and trying to comfort him since his ex-girlfriend Maureen dumped him. Their friend Tom Collins, a gay anarchist professor of computer-age philosophy at New York University, calls and plans to surprise them at their apartment, but is mugged before entering. At the same time, Mark and Roger's former roommate and friend Benny, who has since become their harsh new landlord, has reneged on an earlier agreement and now demands last year's rent, before shutting down their electrical power. However, Mark and Roger stubbornly resolve against paying the rent, which they were promised would not be a problem. Meanwhile, Angel, a cross-dressing street drummer, finds Collins wounded in an alley and tends to him - the two are immediately attracted to each other, each learning that the other is HIV positive. It is revealed that Roger also has HIV, which he contracted from his last girlfriend, who died by suicide after learning of her diagnosis, causing Roger to fall into depression. Mark leaves the loft while Roger stays home, trying to compose on his guitar without success; he wishes desperately to write one last song to be remembered by before he dies. Their neighbor Mimi, an exotic dancer and drug addict, arrives at their apartment asking for help with lighting her candle, flirting with Roger in the process; however, he is clearly hesitant to return her affections. Meanwhile, Joanne, a lawyer and Maureen's girlfriend, receives a voicemail from her parents.
At last, the missing Collins enters the apartment, presenting Angel, who is now in full drag; she amusingly shares the money she earned from killing an affluent couple's dog by loudly playing nonstop for an hour. Mark comes home, and Benny arrives, speaking of Maureen's upcoming protest against his plans to evict the homeless from a lot where he is hoping to build a cyber arts studio. Benny offers that, if they can successfully convince Maureen to cancel the protest, then Mark and Roger can officially remain rent-free tenants. However, the two rebuff Benny's offer and he leaves. Mark leaves the loft again to go help Maureen with the sound equipment for the protest, unexpectedly meeting Joanne at the stage. Initially hesitant with each other, the two eventually bond over their shared distrust of Maureen's "gaslighting" and promiscuous behavior. Mark then joins Collins and Angel to film their HIV support group meeting, while Mimi attempts to seduce Roger alone in his apartment. Extremely upset by Mimi's intrusion, he demands that she leave him alone and resists any romantic feelings he may harbor for her. After Mimi leaves, Roger reflects on his fear of dying an undignified death from AIDS, while the Life Support group echoes his thoughts.
Collins, Mark, and Angel protect a homeless woman from police harassment using Mark's camera, but she chastises them, believing their intent was for Mark to make a name for himself from her situation. To lighten the mood, Collins talks about his dream of escaping New York City to open a restaurant in Santa Fe. Soon, Mark leaves to check up on Roger; while alone, Collins and Angel confess their love for each other. Joanne hectically prepares for Maureen's show, trying to balance the simultaneous multiple calls. Before the performance, Roger apologizes to Mimi, inviting her to come to the protest and the dinner party his friends are having afterwards. At the same time, police, vendors, and homeless people prepare for the protest. Maureen performs in an avant-garde, if not over-the-top, manner, basing her piece on "Hey Diddle Diddle". At the post-show party at the Life Café, Benny arrives, criticizing the protest and the group's bohemian lifestyle while also revealing that his wife Alison's Akita, Evita, died due to Angel's actions; Mark and his group defiantly respond by celebrating their status. Mimi and Roger each discover that the other is HIV-positive and hesitantly decide to continue their relationship. At the end of the Act, Joanne explains that Mark and Roger's building has been padlocked and a riot has broken out; Roger and Mimi, unaware of the violence, share their first kiss. The celebration continues.