On this day, we remember the original, groundbreaking Broadway production of Jonathan Larson's RENT, which played its final performance at the Nederlander Theater on this day in 2008.
The culmination of a smash 12-year run, the closing cast of the show featured Broadway notables, including Adam Kantor, Will Chase, and future 'Hamilton' Tony Award-winner, Renee Elise Goldsberry.
The show received its world premiere off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop on February 13, 1996 to ecstatic reviews and stormed on to Broadway on April 29, 1996, following the untimely death of its creator, Jonathan Larson. RENT won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Despite its shuttered Broadway production, RENT continues to speak loudly and defiantly to audiences across generations and all over the world. A re-imagining of Puccini's La Bohème, RENT follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. With its inspiring message of joy and hope in the face of fear, this timeless celebration of friendship and creativity reminds us to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters-love.
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