RENT the Musical :: Rent Musicals Movies Broadway Plays Essays

RENT the MusicalTheres a scene in the new tuneful RENT that may be thequintessential romantic moment of the 90s. Roger, astruggling rock musician, and Mimi, a ball whos adancer at an S/M club, ar having a lovers junk whentheir beepers go off and each takes out a bottle of pills. Itsthe sign on for an AZT break, and suddenly they realizethat theyre both HIV-positive. Clinch. Love duet. If youdont think this is romantic, consider that Jonathan Larsons lurid musical is inspired by Puccinis opera LaBoheme, in which the lovers Mimi and Rodolfo aretragically separated by her finish from tuberculosis.Different age, different plague. Larson has updatedPuccinis end-of-19th-century Left argot bohemians toend-of-20th-century struggling artists in New Yorks EastVillage. His rousing, moving, scathingly funny show,performed by a cast of youthful unknowns with explosivetalent and staggering energy, has brought a frightful jolt ofcreative juice to Broadway. A far greater appall was thesudde n death of 35-year-old Larson from an aorticaneurysm just before his show opened. His death justbefore the breakthrough success is the stuff of both catastropheand tabloids. Such is our culture. Now Larsons work,along with Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, thetap-dance musical starring the marvelous young dancerSavion Glover, is mounting a commando assault onBroadway from the downtown redoubts of off-Broadway.Both are now encamped amid the revivals (The King andI) and movie adaptations (Big) that let madeBroadway much(prenominal) a creatively fallow field in recent seasons.And both are oriented to an audition younger thanBroadway usually attracts. If both, or either, settle in for a victorious run, the door may open for new talent toreinvigorate the once supreme American musical theater.RENT so far has the sweet face of success, marked noonly by its $6 million advance trade (solid, but no guarantee)but also by the swarm of celebrities who have clamored fortickets Michelle Pfeifer, Sylvester Stallone, Nicole Kidmanand Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Ralph Fiennes...name yourown biggie. Last week, on opening night, 21 TV crews, some from overseas, swarmed the Nederlander Theatre toshoot the 15 youthful cast members in euphoric shockunder salvos of cheers. Supermogul David Geffen of thenew DreamWorks team paid just under a million dollars torecord the original-cast album. Pop artitsts whoveexpressed interest in recording songs from the 33-numberscore include Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Boyz IIMen. A bidding scrimmage has started for the movie rightsamong such Hollywood heavies as Warner Brothers,Danny DeVitos Jersey Films, Fox 2000 and Columbia.The asking price is $3 million, but bonuses for length of run,RENT the Musical Rent Musicals Movies Broadway Plays EssaysRENT the MusicalTheres a scene in the new musical RENT that may be thequintessential romantic moment of the 90s. Roger, astruggling rock musician, and Mimi, a junkie whos adancer at an S/M c lub, are having a lovers quarrel whentheir beepers go off and each takes out a bottle of pills. Itsthe signal for an AZT break, and suddenly they realizethat theyre both HIV-positive. Clinch. Love duet. If youdont think this is romantic, consider that Jonathan Larsonssensational musical is inspired by Puccinis opera LaBoheme, in which the lovers Mimi and Rodolfo aretragically separated by her death from tuberculosis.Different age, different plague. Larson has updatedPuccinis end-of-19th-century Left Bank bohemians toend-of-20th-century struggling artists in New Yorks EastVillage. His rousing, moving, scathingly funny show,performed by a cast of youthful unknowns with explosivetalent and staggering energy, has brought a shocking jolt ofcreative juice to Broadway. A far greater shock was thesudden death of 35-year-old Larson from an aorticaneurysm just before his show opened. His death justbefore the breakthrough success is the stuff of both tragedyand tabloids. Such is our culture. N ow Larsons work,along with Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, thetap-dance musical starring the marvelous young dancerSavion Glover, is mounting a commando assault onBroadway from the downtown redoubts of off-Broadway.Both are now encamped amid the revivals (The King andI) and movie adaptations (Big) that have madeBroadway such a creatively fallow field in recent seasons.And both are oriented to an audience younger thanBroadway usually attracts. If both, or either, settle in for asuccessful run, the door may open for new talent toreinvigorate the once dominant American musical theater.RENT so far has the sweet smell of success, marked noonly by its $6 million advance sale (solid, but no guarantee)but also by the swarm of celebrities who have clamored fortickets Michelle Pfeifer, Sylvester Stallone, Nicole Kidmanand Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Ralph Fiennes...name yourown biggie. Last week, on opening night, 21 TV crews,many from overseas, swarmed the Nederlander Theatre toshoot the 15 youthful cast members in euphoric shockunder salvos of cheers. Supermogul David Geffen of thenew DreamWorks team paid just under a million dollars torecord the original-cast album. Pop artitsts whoveexpressed interest in recording songs from the 33-numberscore include Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Boyz IIMen. A bidding scrimmage has started for the movie rightsamong such Hollywood heavies as Warner Brothers,Danny DeVitos Jersey Films, Fox 2000 and Columbia.The asking price is $3 million, but bonuses for length of run,