Everything Is RENT (This Month): Countdown to the 20th Anniversary with Jesse L. Martin

It's a story we all know... In 1989, a young composer began work on a musical version of Puccini's La Bohème- a musical that would go on to run for over five thousand Broadway performances, earn the Pulitzer Prize, and redefine musical theatre for a whole new generation. Set in the poverty-stricken streets of New York City's East Village, he used music to tell the story of a group of bohemians living during the HIV/AIDS crisis. The man was Jonathan Larson; the musical was RENT; the rest is history.

It's been twenty years since Larson's masterpiece debuted off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, and message of RENT has been spread all over the world in those two decades. The rock opera won four Tony Awards in 1996 (Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical), has been seen all over the world, inspired it's own 'cult' of fans, and even became a motion picture in 2005 (starring much of the original cast). This month we are all RENT-heads again, because BroadwayWorld is paying homage to the musical with 20 days of RENT! Be sure to check back daily to get your fix with videos of performances from Broadway, the big screen and beyond.

Really- does it get any better than Jesse L. Martin? Today, we're highlighting the original Collins in perhaps the most emotionally stirring song of the whole show- "I'll Cover You (Reprise)." This clip is from the 2005 film and we dare you not to shed a tear!