RENT
—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—7. Posters (musicals)
—8. Production Notes (pdf)
—9. Spiritual Connections
—10. Presentation Downloads
Musical theater and film musicals are curious pieces of entertainment. Just think about it. People dancing and singing all day long? It just isn’t normal. Not normal to burst out in song in the middle of conversation. Not normal to begin dancing when there is not a band, a club, or even a stereo anywhere nearby. And most of all, not normal to publicly express the depth of emotions, thoughts, questions, and confessions that are often confidently and loudly shared in the songs of musicals.
In the last ten years, one of the most talked about Broadway musicals has been Rent. It won the Tony award for Best Musical in 1996 and has been performed in NYC and around the country since then. It is also not your grandma’s musical.
The story that Rent tells is one of friendship, one about trying to get by, and one told through the rock that has ruled the musical world during this end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. But most notably, the Rent that caught people’s attention was a story that wasn’t afraid of raising eyebrows, of telling a story about AIDS, about both gay and straight couples, and about trying to figure out how to live life to the fullest.
Not surprisingly, the show received a wide variety of responses. For many people, the show almost became an anthem for the lives they were leading, a cult show if there has ever been one. For many, however, the subject matter and/or departure from more classical musical numbers made Rent a bastard completely undeserving of attention.
Yes, Rent is a story that many people can relate to in very specific ways. Rent is also one that many people can easily condemn with a variety of beliefs. But, as the movie version of Rent hits theaters across the country, I would challenge both fans and opponents alike to see Rent not as an AIDS story, not as a story for the gay population, and not as just a rock opera for the young; I challenge people to see Rent for what it is about at its core, a story about love, a story about friendship, and story about searching for meaning in life.
Whether you are male or female, gay or straight, young or old, artistic or logical…Rent has something to say to you.
Unlike the play, the film version of Rent begins with it most well known song, “Seasons of Love.�
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—7. Posters (musicals)
—8. Production Notes (pdf)
—9. Spiritual Connections
—10. Presentation Downloads
Musical theater and film musicals are curious pieces of entertainment. Just think about it. People dancing and singing all day long? It just isn’t normal. Not normal to burst out in song in the middle of conversation. Not normal to begin dancing when there is not a band, a club, or even a stereo anywhere nearby. And most of all, not normal to publicly express the depth of emotions, thoughts, questions, and confessions that are often confidently and loudly shared in the songs of musicals.In the last ten years, one of the most talked about Broadway musicals has been Rent. It won the Tony award for Best Musical in 1996 and has been performed in NYC and around the country since then. It is also not your grandma’s musical.
The story that Rent tells is one of friendship, one about trying to get by, and one told through the rock that has ruled the musical world during this end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. But most notably, the Rent that caught people’s attention was a story that wasn’t afraid of raising eyebrows, of telling a story about AIDS, about both gay and straight couples, and about trying to figure out how to live life to the fullest.
Not surprisingly, the show received a wide variety of responses. For many people, the show almost became an anthem for the lives they were leading, a cult show if there has ever been one. For many, however, the subject matter and/or departure from more classical musical numbers made Rent a bastard completely undeserving of attention.Yes, Rent is a story that many people can relate to in very specific ways. Rent is also one that many people can easily condemn with a variety of beliefs. But, as the movie version of Rent hits theaters across the country, I would challenge both fans and opponents alike to see Rent not as an AIDS story, not as a story for the gay population, and not as just a rock opera for the young; I challenge people to see Rent for what it is about at its core, a story about love, a story about friendship, and story about searching for meaning in life.
Whether you are male or female, gay or straight, young or old, artistic or logical…Rent has something to say to you.
Unlike the play, the film version of Rent begins with it most well known song, “Seasons of Love.�
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
Its characters ask a question we have all asked ourselves. What is life really? What gives it meaning? How do we measure the lives we have lead, are leading, will lead?
And in the story that follows, they seek the answer to this question. They search for it in relationships, in careers, and in drugs. They seek it for themselves and they seek it for their friends. Sometimes they find it, sometimes it seems to elude them, and sometimes they push it away themselves.
We all know what it’s like to search for meaning. We look for it in the same places the characters look. We are frustrated in the same ways the characters are frustrated.
As all character’s sing in the movie’s title song:
And in the story that follows, they seek the answer to this question. They search for it in relationships, in careers, and in drugs. They seek it for themselves and they seek it for their friends. Sometimes they find it, sometimes it seems to elude them, and sometimes they push it away themselves.
We all know what it’s like to search for meaning. We look for it in the same places the characters look. We are frustrated in the same ways the characters are frustrated.
As all character’s sing in the movie’s title song:
How can you connect in an age
Where strangers, landlords, lovers
Your own blood cells betray
What binds the fabric together
When the raging, shifting winds of change
Keep ripping away
Looking for meaning in life is difficult. Finding it even if you think you know what it is just as hard. But as the characters in Rent reveal to us, finding meaning in life is important. Figuring out what makes life measure up to something valuable is worth more than almost anything else. And, as many of the characters are dealing with their own immortality on a daily basis, finding that life of value and letting go of whatever it is that holds us back from finding it is not something we should put off.
“Why choose fear?� the characters sing.
“Forget regret or life is yours to miss…No day but today.�
The characters know that a life of value will never be found avoiding life. They also know that it will not be found by just giving into some mass consensus of success. But through their friendships, every character helps each other find meaning, meaning found only through their relationships with each other, through the help that they lend each other, through the connections they make with each other, and, most of all, through the love that they share.
Dying in America
At the end of the millennium
We're dying in America
To come into our
The character’s of Rent sing songs that course through all of our hearts and minds. Trying to find our way. Trying to figure out who we are. Trying to live that life we know we should be living.
…when you're dying in America
At the end of the millennium
You're not alone
At the core of its story, Rent is about connections. It is about helping each other out, about learning to love each other, and about learning to love ourselves. As the conclusion of its most popular song tells us, Rent is about realizing how valuable love truly is.
It's time now to sing out, tho the story never ends
Let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love!
Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love.
Seasons of love! Seasons of love.
Yes, musicals can seem quite ridiculous. But frankly, the fact that Rent rocks out about some of the deepest struggles and emotions we can encounter brings forth a lesson of which all of us should take note. Life can be difficult. Other times life is worth celebrating. But as the characters show us, we should not be afraid to recognize and deal with our laments and celebrate our joys and blessings with the energy of today’s biggest rockers.
What exactly does it mean to live a life of love? For ourselves? For those around us? What do we need to do to find that life of meaning, of connection, and of love? I don’t always know. But, as I leave the characters of Rent and return to my own life, I believe that it is out there. I believe that there is love. I believe that there is value. Even in my darkest of times, a piece of me will always know that with love, this life will never fall short. And always coming back to the knowledge that there is a God who has never stopped loving me and will always be there to help me find a life of love and connection, I am continually reminded that life is truly something I should celebrate.
— Overview
1 Comments:
Great review. Thanks, Elisabeth!
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