RENT: How did we get here?

I've found a very thorough article about the creation of RENT. While it may not shed particular light on the upcoming local production, most RENT enthusiasts will find at least a few new thought-provoking gems. Here’s the article.

Among new morsels *I* discovered in this article is the idea that Jonathan Larson was challenged and then took great pains to hone the idea of RENT into a single sentence (this was when the writing of the show was not as focused as the show we now know). Here’s the sentence he ultimately came to:

"Rent is about a community celebrating life, in the face of death and AIDS, at the turn of the century."

I really like the use of the word “community”. Larson doesn’t say that the show is about “a group of young people in NYC” or “a bunch of bohemian artists” or even “a group of friends”. It is a community, where every person plays their part to contribute toward the whole. A friend of mine told me recently that she used to think that Benny was the “enemy” in RENT. I used to feel that way too, but have come to recognize that even though Benny may be an enemy in the eyes of several of the other characters, his role in the show is not that of ultimate enemy. Some of the inner demons the other characters fight are certainly more significant as enemies. Indeed, Benny just represents a different viewpoint about achieving a successful life – one with which the other characters don’t necessarily agree. That’s all just part of RENT being about a community in which each individual plays an important part. And Benny hasn’t completely abandoned the ideals of the other characters; it is good to have someone to pay for Angel’s funeral and Mimi’s rehab.

“Celebrating life, in the face of death” is something I’ve already discussed previously in this blog. RENT isn’t about death; it’s about life. This is why Mimi doesn’t die at the musical’s conclusion, even though we know that her death is inevitable. Instead, the turn of events in the last few moments of the show is about Roger and others deciding to live each moment as if it were the last.

“AIDS” and “at the turn of the century”: again, I’ve touched on this before in this blog, but while AIDS was a terrifyingly significant force in the American 1990s of RENT, the fact that it is no longer the American terror that it once was does not mean that RENT has lost its relevance. As time goes on, our threatening societal demons shift and take on other forms. Just as La Bohème’s death-threat was consumption, a known force at the turn of the twentieth century, AIDS was the threat in the final few years before the turn of the millennium.

But the “turn of the century” perspective is not just about AIDS. It is refreshing to know that Larson was already thinking about the potential staying power of RENT when he wrote this sentence describing it. Otherwise he might have identified the time period of the play as “present day”. It is more than just AIDS that sets the time period of the piece and it is more than just AIDS that has changed about the world since Jonathan Larson’s death. Just as the play captures only a snapshot in the lives of some unfinished individuals, it also captures only a snapshot of life at the end of the millennium; I challenge you to find those defining elements about that moment in time.

Auditions for Springfield Theatre Centre's RENT will be held on Saturday, November 7 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts with callbacks on Sunday, November 8. Please email me, Carly Shank, at carlyshank@yahoo.com to schedule an audition time for November 7. Walk-ins will be welcome on the day of auditions but will be scheduled as time allows around those who have pre-scheduled their auditions. Auditionees must be at least 16 years of age on the day of auditions.

Please check the RENT blog for more information about auditions and the show as it becomes available at http://rentatstc.blogspot.com/.