Rent

A poster with the original
Broadway cast of Rent

On April 29, 1996, a rock musical by a little-known composer opened on Broadway.  Today, Rent continues to connect with audiences of all ages.  Rent is a rock musical by Jonathan Larson loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème, which premiered in 1896.  Set in the early 1990s, Rent follows seven struggling artists in the East Village of New York City.  Rent features a diverse cast of characters (in gender, race, and sexuality) and touches on many issues of the time, including poverty and homelessness, the AIDS epidemic, and LGBT individuals.

A poster for the film
version of Rent

Rent gained critical acclaim on Broadway and won several awards.  Rent glorified artists and the counterculture.  The characters of the musical are mostly true to the actual residents of New York's East Village - genuine down-and-outs struggling with drug addiction and AIDS.  Younger generations were able to connect to a musical that voiced their concerns.  Although it was inspired by an opera from the late 1800s, many of the issues were relevant to audiences a century later.



When Rent was released, the world was still reeling from the outbreak of AIDS.  By the late 1980s, it was estimated that 10 million people lived with HIV.  Larson's musical references the physical and psychological struggles faced by people with AIDS.  Four of the main characters - Mimi, Roger, Tom, and Angel - are HIV+.  One of the show's most powerful songs, "Will I?" is sung by a support group for people with AIDS.  Its lyrics consist of only three questions:

Angel, Roger, and Tom attend an AIDS support group meeting
(From the film version of Rent)

Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare?


These three lines capture the terror felt by people suffering from AIDS in the 1980s.  In the early years of the epidemic, there was no treatment for AIDS.  Family and friends could only comfort those who contracted it.  Discrimination against people living with AIDS was also common.

Rent brought pop music into Broadway tradition.  The musical and its soundtrack remain a treasured classic.  Rent continues to connect with audiences today because of its diverse cast and themes of hope and dreams.  Shortly before his death, Larson wrote a fitting tribute to his musical, speaking to the hope and love that touched so many others.  "In these dangerous times, where it seems the world is ripping apart at the seams, we can all learn how to survive from those who stare death squarely in the face every day and [we] should reach out to each other and bond as a community, rather than hide from the terrors of life at the end of the millennium."