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THEATRICAL THROWBACK THURSDAY: RENT Premieres On Broadway

By: Apr. 30, 2015
THEATRICAL THROWBACK THURSDAYS
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Today we are revisiting a seminal day in Broadway history, the premiere of rock musical RENT.

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Lightning in a bottle is impossible to predict and even more difficult to plan for and the Broadway premiere of rock musical RENT in 1996 was precisely that - a cultural phenomenon unlike any other. More than any other musical of the 1990s except perhaps THE LION KING, RENT hit a major chord with audiences around the country and made a mark on the ears, hearts and minds of an entire group of devotees who would go on to be forever known as RENT-heads. Based loosely on Puccini's LA BOHEME, the story of the denizens of a Lower East Side apartment building who vociferously refuse to pay the titular living space fee, RENT boasted not only a riotously rocking and generally audaciously contemporary score, but also a uniquely designed original production outfitted with spectacular and inventive staging by Michael Greif. Telling the tale of a week in the lives of these bohemian individuals and their families, friends and fellow NYC neighbors, RENT was fiercely idiosyncratic and wildly unique - signaling the voice of what many assumed at the time would be a significant creative force in the theatre from then on, the show's composer, lyricist and bookwriter Jonathan Larson. Unfortunately, fate played a cruel hand and Larson took ill during rehearsals for the show Off-Broadway and passed away from an aortic aneurysm just as the musical was being presented before a paying audience for the very first time. As a result, RENT would be the message that Larson left to the world - and his only completed musical to play Broadway to date.

Besides the innovative concept, design and overall style of RENT, the piece is also unquestionably iconic and fondly remembered by many as a result of the impossibly talented original cast assembled for the Off-Broadway and subsequent Broadway debut of the musical, which took place on April 29, 1996. Leading the show were Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal along with a featured cast that included Idina Menzel, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Taye Diggs, Fredi Walker and Rodney Hicks. The show went on to receive numerous 1996 Tony Award nominations, as well, eventually taking home top honors for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score and Best Featured Actor In A Musical (Heredia). The show also went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and ran for more than 12 years on the Great White Way, clocking more than 5000 performances before closing on September 7, 2008. Nonetheless, the legacy and lore of the fan favorite musical lives on and the prominence of many of the original cast members on the Broadway scene to this very day is a constant reminder of the incomparably magical time when an unforgettable musical was birthed on Broadway.

So, now, let's take a look back at the original cast of RENT on the 1996 Tony Awards.

RENT wins Best Musical and several other awards, with the big prize presented by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The original cast of RENT reunites on the 2008 Tony Awards.

What is your absolute favorite element of the rich history and fascinating backstory attributed to RENT? Furthermore, what is your personal choice for best song in the earworm-packed score? Given that RENT is a feast this fulfilling, nearly any choice is a delectable treat to devour time and time again - just make sure you pay for it first.




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