AKADEMIJA UMETNOSTI U BEOGRADU

Produkcija u umetnosti i medijima

Seminarski rad iz Engleskog jezika

Rent: A producer's view

Profesor Student

Mr Melina Nikoli Aleksandra Jovanovi | 036/15

Beograd, 2016.
table of contents

1. Concept and genesis...............................................................................................................1

2. Themes.. ................................................................................................................................3

3. Legacy....................................................................................................................................6

4. In retrospect............................................................................................................................7
 1. Concept and genesis

In 1988, playwright Billy Aronson saw Giacomo Puccinis La Boheme. He says of the
experience, "Walking home felt so different after seeing that opera. Its about people who are
going through similar things as me, burning their scripts for heat." It was then that he first had
the idea of writing a play based on it, set in modern-day New York City.

In search of a composer, he met Jonathan Larson, and the two decided to work together.
However, since neither of them had seriously collaborated with anyone before, there were a
lot of disagreements. In 1991, Aronson and Larson parted ways, agreeing that the latter
would take over the show, while the former would be given credit and compensation "if any
such miracle as a production ever happens." However, the title was agreed upon by both men,
because not only does the plot begin with the main characters unable to pay their rent, but the
word is also the past tense of the verb to rend, meaning to tear apart.

Jonathan Larson was passionate about bringing to stage not only contemporary music styles,
but also contemporary stories. The East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan, where he lived,
was at the time home to a growing Bohemian population of struggling artists, attracting many
of the first graffiti writers, b-boys, rappers, and DJs. Inspired by his surroundings, Larson
wanted his musical to reflect that time and that atmosphere, where people of different races
and sexualities all thrived to achieve the same dream. In his own words, he wanted to set the
play "amid poverty, homelessness, spunky gay life, drag queens and punk". While the goal
was to bring pop music to Broadway, Rent is a mixture of music genres technically a rock
opera.

At the time, the only shows playing on Broadway were Phantom of the Opera, Les
Miserables, Into the Woods, Sunday In The Park With George, and Cats all either
European imports or Stephen Sondheims highly intellectual works, with nothing to appeal to
the average viewer. Jonathan Larson was determined to change that. In a grant application he
wrote, "My goal as a lyricist-composer is to take the best aspects of traditional American
musicals well-made plot, three-dimensional characters, sense of humour, and integrated
choreography and combine them with current themes, aesthetics and music. I believe
theatre should (and could) again be a source of pop music, which would attract a new
audience."

Another big influence was the AIDS epidemic. Living in such an LGBT-friendly
neighbourhood, Larson watched a lot of his friends die. Both he and Aronson agreed that,
while tuberculosis was the tragic disease at the centre of Puccini's classic opera, AIDS should
be at the centre of their contemporary rock opera.

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The process of bringing the show to life was arduous. It was expensive to produce, and many
theatres and producers were unwilling to commit, due to the show's somewhat controversial
themes. The script underwent many changes, as Larson wrote new and updated old songs in
collaboration with the cast and crew.

Finally, in early 1996, the time came to premiere the show. Rent was to debut exactly 100
years after La Boheme. On the 24th of January, the final dress rehearsal was held. Friends and
family who came to see it loved it, and Larson even gave an interview to the New York Times
music critic, Anthony Tommasini. Everything looked promising.

The next morning, Larson was found dead in his apartment. He had died due to an
undiagnosed aortic aneurysm. Weeks before that, he sent a holiday card to a friend. "Darling
Vix," it read, "'96 will be our year. (No more funerals)." The first preview of Rent was
cancelled and instead, friends and family gathered at the theatre, where the cast performed a
sing-through of the musical in Larson's memory. What should have been a joyous occasion
became a wake.

Audiences turned out in droves to see Rent. Three months after the premiere, the show moved
from Off-Broadway to Broadway. The producers started selling the tickets for the first two
rows in the theatre for $20.00, so that the people who the show was about, struggling artists,
could come and see it.

On the 7th of September, 2008, Rent closed after a 12-year run. At the time, it was the ninth-
longest running show in Broadway history. It had won four Tony awards, one Grammy
award, and the Pulitzer prize for drama.

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 2. Themes

A lot of the themes woven throughout the musical are inspired by both La Boheme and, of
course, Larson's personal circumstances, as well as those of his friends. Larson's genius lies
in his ability to make them universal, so that even those who have never found themselves in
these situations can empathise with the characters.

2.1 Struggles
They say you should write what you know, and Jonathan Larson abided by that rule. What he
knew were struggles both artistic and existential. Nowhere does this show better than in the
first big number of the show, also titled Rent.

How do you leave the past behind

When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
Till you're torn apart
Rent!

2.2 Living with HIV/AIDS

The AIDS epidemic had a big influence on Larson. His childhood best friend, Matthew
OGrady, was diagnosed with HIV and took Jonathan to a support group meeting. Jonathan
began volunteering at the meetings and those were the inspiration for the song Will I? The
song expresses the pain and fear of living a life with AIDS, and was inspired by a real event.
During one meeting, a man stood up and said that he was not afraid of dying, but of losing his
dignity. This question became the first line in the single stanza of the song.

Will I lose my dignity?

Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
From this nightmare?

The people present at the Life Support meeting in the script carry the names of Larson's
friends who died of AIDS.

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In the Broadway show, the names of the characters in that particular scene are changed
nightly to honour the friends of the cast members who are living with or have died from
AIDS.

Other songs explore this as well, such as One Song Glory, sung by Roger, an aspiring rock
musician who wants to write one great song before he dies.

Find the one song

Before the virus takes hold
Glory like a sunset
One song to redeem this empty life

Throughout the show, characters slowly learn to cope with the fact that their time is limited,
and settle on a philosophy of seizing the day.

There is no future
There is no past
Thank God this
Moment's not the last

There's only us
There's only this
No other road, no other way
No day but today

2.3 Celebrating diversity

Larson's inspiration was the setting of East Village, and he was adamant it be reflected in the
casting. Bernie Telsey, the casting director, said, "From the very first reading, we decided it
couldnt be an all-white group, because that wasnt the East Village." The goal was to
celebrate humanity in all its shapes and forms. The song La Vie Boheme embodies this
message, an ode to...

Bisexuals, trisexuals, Homo Sapiens,

Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men,
Pee Wee Herman

To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy

Vaclav Havel, The Sex Pistols, 8BC
To no shame, Never playing the fame game

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2.4 Freedom of expression
Too often, art is in the eye of the beholder, and many self-proclaimed artists find themselves
ridiculed by the public. Larson resented this, and nowhere does it show better than in the
aforementioned La Vie Boheme, in which the main characters object to a "yuppie" who tells
them that bohemia is dead. They break out in an earnest, yet tongue-in-cheek song about
everything they stand for, which may as well be this musical's manifesto.

To days of inspiration
Playing hooky
Making something out of nothing
The need to express, to communicate
To going against the grain
Going insane
Going mad
To starving for attention
Hating convention, hating pretension
Not to mention of course
Hating dear old mom and dad

To being an us, for once

Instead of a them

However, the characters do all try to decide whether they should continue pursuing their
dreams or if they should settle for something more realistic. Their doubts are clear in the song
What You Own.

You're living in America

At the end of the millennium
You're living in America
Leave your conscience at the tone
And when you're living in America
At the end of the millennium
You're what you own

2.5 The power of love

As corny as it sounds, Larson truly believed in the healing and unifying power of love. It's
important to note, however, that this doesn't necessarily mean romantic love. As present in
the play as it is, it's actually love between friends, or philia, that plays a much greater role
than any particular romance. This is evident all throughout Rent, but particularly in Seasons
of Love.

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 How do you measure, measure a year?
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?
How about love?

3. Legacy

The decision to sell front-row tickets cheap created the phenomenon of Rent-heads,
extreme Rent fans. Rent-head was the term used by the people waiting in line, sometimes
getting in line the evening before. It was through this that student rush and cheap tickets
became a consistent pattern for theatres that continues to this day.

Rent was nominated for 10 Tony awards in 1996 and won four of them: Best Musical, Best
Book of a Musical, Best Score of a Musical, and Best Supporting Actor for Wilson Jermaine
Heredia. The song Seasons of Love became a major hit. After the initial success of the show,
two foundations were created: Broadway Cares, an organization that funds awareness and
research regarding HIV/AIDS, and The Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, which
gives grants out to lyricists, composers, and librettists at the start of their careers.

The lasting legacy of Rent is the musicals and artists it inspired. Single-handedly
revolutionising the musical theatre scene, it opened the door for new genres and styles of
storytelling. Many artists, most notably Lin-Manuel Miranda, credit Rent for showing them
what a musical could be.

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 4. In retrospect

Rent was not a musical without its flaws. Sometimes it was a bit too obvious, too in love with
itself. And as the years go by, the question if it will stand the test of time still remains.
However, all this fades in comparison to just how many moulds it broke. It brought a breath
of fresh air to a culture that was quite stale, unapologetically standing up for what it believed
in. It showed people that good quality stories can be told in any medium, and encouraged
many young composers to follow their dreams. Above all, Rent spread a message of love that
was heard around the word. As actor Anthony Rapp put it, "The success of the show
validated for me that when a group of people come together to tell a story they believe in,
they can make a difference."