January 16, 2008
RENT to Move Out After 12 Years on Broadway’s Couch
RENT, the surprise smash hit musical that premiered in 1996 and went on to become the seventh-longest-running Broadway show in history, will close June 1st, producers have announced. Over the years the show cultivated a fanatical army of young repeat viewers (“Rentheads”) whose ardor has translated into profits of $280 million on Broadway, four Tony awards and a Pulitzer. Productions have been mounted on six continents, while an ill-conceived movie version of the show, filmed in San Francisco, opened in 2005 to widespread derision. And the musical was also famously parodied by the South Park creators in their film Team America, which depicts the faux-hip cast of the Broadway show LEASE belting the show’s climactic chorus, “Everyone has AIDS!”
RENT composer and librettist Jonathan Larson died from an aortic aneurysm at 35 after toiling on the musical for seven years. Larson lived to see RENT, which is loosely adapted from Puccini’s opera “La Bohème, go into rehearsals Off Broadway, only to die on the night of the final dress rehearsal. But RENT quickly became an overnight sensation for its jaunty score and gritty portrait of life in the East Village of the early 90s, right on the cusp of the neighborhood’s devolution into the fratastic brodeo of today.
Producer Jeffrey Seller blames the closure on a drop in ticket sales due to competition from newer youth-centric musicals like Legally Blonde and Spring Awakening. Another factor has to do with the touring version of the show, which has made $330 million and given the rest of America less of a reason to see it when they visit New York. Though with the end nigh, producers can expect one final surge of Rentheads to get them through to June. Will you be joining them?
Photo of Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal by Joan Marcus; video of "Seasons of Love" from the film version
|
omg
Amazing how time flies - I feel like it was just a couple of years ago that my college friends and I were obsessing over the soundtrack. I guess now it'll be good to go for high school revivals...fare thee well!
Larson did not die of AIDS, but a heart aneurysm.
Corrected, thanks gmist!
Saw it only once, I felt it was "overhyped and underwhelming" Worn out its welcome like Cats did.
Nice timing on that correction. I was just about to comment when the page refreshed on me.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2008/01/16/segments/92029
Was a good listen while waiting for the stupid train.
They'll have the segment audio up later.
The movie was fine except for the huge swath of plot they cut out of it.
Sucks that it's going. I'll probably have to see it one more time.
"devolution into the fratastic *brodeo* of today" - Um, there's like a billion chicks who live in the East Village...
Thank God,
Can all the people that came to NYC after finding inspiration in that play go our tour with the company too?
OMG, who wrote this blog? As others have pointed out, Larson did NOT die from AIDs - a little research before posting please!
Whoa, ok, in the short time it took me to leave my comment, they fixed their mistake .... anyways, can they bring back the original cast one last time ... or at least Adam and Anthony again (since i missed it - grr)
Though I liked it when I saw it, I'm glad it's closing. It's time.
I think every show should close after a couple of years--otherwise, they end up stale.
And the movie would have been fine if they'd have let the actors sing instead of speaking the lines.
Or if the movie had some energy.
Or if the cast had been age-appropriate.
Or a slew of other reasons.
Nonetheless, the show will have a long life in regional and college theatres. Which will be great for young actors.
I'd encourage anyone who likes Rent to catch a production of Larsen's Tick, Tick, Boom -- it seems to pop up now and again. The soundtrack is also really great, with Raul Esparza. One of my favorites.
"In true Parker/Stone fashion, the spoof was as hilarious as it was insensitive, especially considering that RENT composer and librettist Jonathan Larson died from an aortic aneurysm at 35 after toiling on the musical for seven years."
Now that sentence doesn't really work - it's not insensitive.
Maybe the revival will be a better production.
The original cast was fantastic (when they were age appropriate), however, after several replacements, it became obvious that the show wasn't all that well directed. Some good people came in and out of it though.
Jesus, Gothamist. Not only did Jonathan Larson not die of AIDS, he didn't even HAVE AIDS.
Ridiculous.
this thread has aids.
there are 525 948.766 minutes in a year.
most annoying soundtrack!
RENT is responsible for the influx of clueless Midwest hipsters into the city during the mid 90's, which made the LES and Billyburg nabes "hip", and hence drove out the older ethnic groups. Eventually developers came in and gentrification ensured. So if people are whining about how NYC has lost its soul and character, they can blame Larson.
agree with msk about Tick, Tick...Boom!
great show.
JMH, those lyrics prove that the whole show was totally overrated. I am so glad that it's going away.
i want accuracy dammit!