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wizardnaturalist · 8 months ago

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I am not about to sit here and claim that any work is above reproach, but so many criticisms of RENT are either directly addressed within the show or are just. not true. and this perennial discourse about how Problematic it is annoys me, so here we go

Why don't they just pay the rent?

are you kidding me

did you watch the show??

they don't have any money

the situation established at the beginning is that Benny has allowed them to stay in their apartment rent free for the past year because Roger was unable to work and he and Mark wouldnt be able to afford living expenses as well as Roger's medication otherwise.

Benny then tells them that unless they break up Maureen's protest, they will not only have to immediately start paying rent, they will also have to pay back the entire previous year's rent or else be evicted

needless to say if you ware barely scraping by, you do not have a year's worth of rent and then some just sitting on hand

Mark was cosplaying poverty, he could've gone back to his parents' house at any time.

perhaps

all we know about Mark's parents from canon is that theyre pushy and he doesnt want to live with them. We don't know any details of their living situation or home life

but even if he would have been fine moving back home, it would have meant abandoning both the community he had grown into, and Roger.

Roger literally had not left the apartment since April died, and was not well enough to work to support himself at the time. Mark leaving would mean leaving Roger without support.

Mark's view of the homeless is often voyeuristic and expoitative.

yah

the conflict between Mark's comparatively privileged upbringing and the poverty amongst which he now lives is a major part of his character

remember when that homeless lady told him to fuck off

that didnt just slip in by accident

The whole show is about not being able to afford things, and then Mark quits his job for his Ideals.

Mark was not entirely jobless before being employed at the magazine. He wasn't going from having a job to unemployment. He always had money for food, clothes, medication, etc., even if it was tight

he just wasn't employed in his field. it wasnt a question of Having A Job or Not; it was about whether Mark was willing to accept the chance to get closer to making a living off of his art, even if it went against his morals, or whether he could be content carving out filmmaking for himself in a way that felt right

I thought Jonathan Larson was gay and died of AIDS.

not his fault??

neither Larson nor his estate ever claimed either of those things, you just jumped to a conclusion and made it everyone elses' problem

I can't believe this is a common "criticism"

A straight man has no right to write about the AIDS epidemic.

I dont know how to tell you this, but AIDS is not a gays-only disease. what are you, a politician from 1986?

RENT was not about being gay, it was about the disease. Roger, Mimi, Mark, and Benny- half the main cast- are all straight as far as the audience is aware. other than gay people, the most at-risk groups at the time were IV drug users, sex workers, people of colour, and impoverished people, all of whom are represented in the show

Larson may not have had AIDS, but many of his friends and loved ones did, and died of it. how incredibly callous to say that someone cannot write about the tragedy they personally lived through, just because they are not of the demographic you most associate with it

Larson plagiarized the whole cast and all the major story beats from Sarah Shulman's People in Trouble.

this is one that cropped up on tiktok a couple years ago

have you read the book?

I have

the only similarities are that they are both about poverty and AIDS in New York, and there are characters who cheat on their partners. that's it.

it's like saying Veep plagiarized The West Wing because theyre both about white house staffers. or like those guys who claim any fantasy story featuring swords and the hero's journey is a Star Wars ripoff. it' absurd.

RENT is directly and openly based off the opera La Bohème by Puccini, as well as incorporating autobiographical elements from Larson's life

stop just repeating things you hear

in conclusion: there are real criticisms and analyses to be had with RENT, but these are not them

#rent #broadway #musical theatre #jonathan larson

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one-blaze-of--glory · 20 days ago

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this is such a small thing perhaps but there's a line in You'll see that i think really highlights the difference between benny and Mark-Roger

"You wanna produce films and write songs? You need somewhere to do it"

first of all produce films is such a benny thing to say. Mark isn't a producer - he's a filmmaker. he makes films. He creates. those are the verbs he uses for what he does. the word produce in this context makes it sound more commercial - which is what benny's understanding of art is. it's making a product in exchange for profit.

and then what got me thinking about this in the first place: write songs. doesn't sound wrong at first, does it? isn't that exactly what Roger wants to do? ...well except for the fact that it's explicitly not. he wants to write one song. one last song before he dies. of course, benny believes in quantity over quality, since he's a capitalist. he expects Roger to just churn out song after song, with no regards to wether they have any meaning.

benny is not an artist. we don't find out in the musical itself what exactly he did before he got rich, but according to Jonathan Larson, he went to film school to be a producer. he was always like this. he's not an artist and he doesn't understand art. he understands money and he sees art as something that can create money and he doesn't understand why Mark and Roger disagree

#rent musical #i put too much thought into this perhaps

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whatcannotbesaid-shallbewept · 2 months ago

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Let's Talk About Some Common Rent Criticisms

This post is long. I didn't mean it I promise.

I like the musical Rent. This is one of my character flaws. Haven’t watched the movie.

I’d much rather be writing a post on why I love Rent. I’ve written posts like that before. I should write another.

But I’m getting kinda sick of certain complaints. For some reason these complaints keep popping up so. I'd thought I'd share my opinions.

I don't think this post will convince anyone but the 3 people on Rentblr will appreciate it I think.

Most of these are very popular critiques, a couple were only said by a few random people on reddit.

If you dislike Rent I bear no ill will towards you. Some of my best friends are Rent haters. It's beautiful to have your own opinion. I just want to share mine.

“I hate Rent because the characters are idiots whining about having to pay rent ”

Ok. That’s not true. Like you know that’s not what they’re complaining about. Like surely you aren’t criticising Rent from parodies of the title song. Surely you watched the actual musical?

Benny’s not complaining about the rent being late. That is not the situation. They aren’t randomly deciding not to pay rent because of a protest. That’s not the plot of the show.

Benny was their friend. He then bought a building and decided to let his friends live there for free. This arrangement goes on for a year.

He calls them up on christmas eve. He doesn’t ask for them to start paying Rent. He decides he’ll evict them immediately if they don’t pay him 12 months of rent.

No one can pay 12 months of rent overnight. It’s an objectively impossible thing to ask of anyone.

If you’d been living at your friends house for a year for free, per your agreement, then they woke up on christmas eve and announced “Sike you actually owe me twelve months of rent and I’m evicting you tomorrow if you don’t pay up immediately” then that friend scammed you!

So yeah then they sing a song about how they’re not going to pay twelve months of rent they were scammed into. Big deal. What would you do in that situation?

They sing that it’s probably a bluff and there’s no actual way he expects us to pay that. And they are right. He was actually trying to blackmail them with the money to force them to stop a protest.

But it wasn’t really a bluff because when they refused he decided to just evict them on christmas day anyway. Charming.

I don’t think landlords should evict people on Christmas because of rent payments you invented the day before.

“Benny is the only likable character and is in the right”

I mean he’s introduced shaking hands with the cops. He calls the police on protesters, so it doesn’t affect his income, and then it turns into a riot because of police violence. He spends the first half of the show desperately trying to evict homeless people. He spends months cheating on his wife with a teenage tenant. And as I said above, scams and evicts his former friends because they dared not to listen to him. What is your argument for him being likable?

Benny in the original drafts was actually very different. Not in actions, all of his actions were literally the same. But his dialogue was written like a capitalist caricature. That’s kinda why his actions are like that of a capitalist caricature.

However the producers of Rent were really unhappy with this characterisation because “it wasn’t realistic” so they asked Jonathan Larson to make him more sympathetic.

So to get his musical made, Jonathan Larson changed pretty much every line of his to sound sympathetic, but kept all his actions the same.

Its interesting how easy people chose to sympathise with him once his lines were edited to sound nicer.

“They should’ve taken Benny’s deal”

No.

Why would they take a deal from a guy who tried to blackmail them an hour ago? Honestly his guy doesn’t seem all that trustworthy. Agreeing to a deal with him literally an hour after he ripped you seems like an extraordinarily stupid thing to do.

They don’t want to evict a bunch of homeless people just to placate this guy they hate. Makes sense to me. I would totally go to the protest instead of listening to him. I would go so far to say… That’s a likable thing to do. A likable character trait even.

“The main cast are all entitled, and won’t stop complaining”

Entitled to what? Not being scammed over with rent?

They don’t even complain that much man. Like after Benny starts his whole rent scheme they just calmly sit there. Calmly speak to him when he comes over. I’ve watched Rent as much as anyone but you guys are going to have to start quoting examples because I don’t know what you mean.

You keep saying the main characters are assholes and the landlord is super reasonable. But this landlord spends the entire show being an awful person and the main cast kinda doesn’t do anything worth hating.

People mention Angels actions all the time, but she's the character that will often get called “the only likable one” so that's clearly not what people are talking about when they complain about unlikeable characters.

(Maureen is comedic relief and not really meant to be sympathised with and not part of the main cast)

“They are just trust fund kids pretending to be oppressed”

This one's a headscratcher. All we know about them is that they’re broke in New york. Why do I hear this so often?

Mimi is a teenager who dropped out of school to work as a stripper to make ends meet. Why would you assume she has rich parents?

Like if you want to assume they’re rich feel free, but since it is not canon it’s a really odd reason to hate the show.

Nowhere in the musical does it state they're rich. All we know is they're broke right now.

If I'm missing a line in the script then tell me. This information is talked about so often like it's canon. Is it from the movie or something?

“It doesn’t even seem like these characters have jobs”

I mean we don’t actually know much about the characters in rent. Like the timeline is pretty chopped up for thematic reasons.

It's sung through and only takes place on holidays like christmas, new years, valentines, halloween. We only see a snippet of these characters lives.

Background material on rent says Mimi ran away from home at 15. It’s never said in the show (though you can guess from how she talks about home) but their backgrounds are kept vague on purpose.

The only time they're not vauge is at the start from which we can gather :

Collins got fired from his university job because of his AIDS activism. Mark is fired a week before the show starts. Mimi works as a stripper. Angel would have a lot of trouble finding work as an openly genderqueer/transgender woman in 1989 - she spends most of her time working for the support group. Roger starts the show recovering from drug withdrawal.

Like in the second act a year goes by, with most of it skipped, and if you want to assume that they were mooching around and had no job you can. But why?

I don’t really think the point of the musical is to hyperfixate on their economic prospects.

Like that’s a bit weird to have as a requirement for liking something. If the characters with AIDS don’t go to the camera and say “I am contributing to society with a job” then you can’t sympathise with them? Ok.

“Mark is doing poverty cosplay because he likes the aesthetic when he could run home to his parents”

Really?

First of all its not established he’s rich (unless a hot plate is some sign of wealth that I’m not getting).

Second, he's not doing poverty cosplay? He’s just broke? That is a thing that happens. He’s not doing poverty cosplay.

Mike Faist had rich parents in the real estate business, then he went to the city to become an actor and lived in the back of Mcdonalds parking lot collecting food stamps. Is it poverty cosplay to struggle financially? Do we need to cancel Mike Faist guys? I'm up for it if you are.

In Santa Fe (the first song written for Rent) he sings the lines “[let's] Forget this cold bohemian hell” [... and] ��Devote ourselves to projects that sell”.

People constantly point to the scene where mark “films a homeless woman” but it’s like. Did you see the start of the scene? He was filming police brutality on the homeless in the hopes they would stop. He wasn’t doing it for no reason.

Fun fact: that line when the homeless woman chews him out was added because the director of the show wanted it, it wasn’t even Jonathan Larson's original idea!

“None of the musical is spent on them trying to succeed about artists, and Marks film probably sucks”

Um Rent isn’t about being a struggling artist. That’s just not what it’s about. It’s about AIDS.

Its just not what the show is. It's not the core conflict, its not what most of the scenes are about, and it's barely mentioned and followed up on.

Some of the characters are artists but the timeline takes place on days where that’s the last worry on their minds.

You know a funeral…. Being evicted… Going to a protest…. Yeah no surprise, they weren't expositing about their five year plan to the audience in these situations.

And by the way Mark is a documentarian. I mean he literally is filming a documentary, the first line of the first song is “how do you document real life when real lifes getting more like fiction each day?”. The background materials refer to him as that, he's not making a fiction film.

Like the shooting without a script thing is like an actual thing that happened with amatuer type documentaries in the new queer cinema movement. As filming equipment got cheaper this started happening. It’s pretty cool actually.

"In La Vie Boheme they romanticise poverty"

A couple songs before La Vie Boheme Angel, Collins and Mark do sing the words “Let’s forget this bohemian hell” so I’m not entirely sure when they all sing “long live bohemia” a couple songs later it’s meant to be taken literally.

It’s so obviously a sarcastic song that all I can say is just go listen to it again man.

Like yeah, the song with the line “To Carcinogens and no pension!” is a joke.

“Mark is an idiot for quitting his job”

(You guys know that he’s not the protagonist right? He and Joanne are the only characters not to get proper full dedicated songs focusing on their worldviews. Like it’s a point the show brings up. Mark only shows up in group numbers really because he’s only focused on other people.)

But yeah. Mark quit his job. I mean he worked there for a while he can still put it on his resume. Like, it was always a job he would quit eventually. It’s not exactly one for a lifetime.

It’s also not a good reason to utterly despise him as a person as a lot of people do.

Micheal Pitt is an actor I really like. When he was obscure he actually said no to a big job on a sitcom because he didn’t think it fit with the type of actor he wanted to be.

I personally don’t resent Micheal Pitt for that. I think people are allowed to say no to jobs that pay well.

Sure we live in an internet-poisoned disinformation age but I also wouldn't want to spend my life working for a trashy news service talking about welfare queens?

"Mimi is a spoilt teenager who was is very unsympathetic and an idiot for relapsing"

Ok she’s not spoiled, but whatever.

Anyway, I’m nineteen. I’ve had someone my age die from an overdose/addiction. I think some of these people are being cruel with how they talk about her.

She gets sent to rehab by Benny but then everyone abandons her. She then turns back to drugs because she’s a teenager who thinks she’s going to die in a few months anyway. I personally think that’s painfully sad, not something that makes me despise her.

“Rents corny message about living life to its fullest is insulting to its serious subject”

Jonathan Larson actually started out writing political satire. Most of his career writing musicals was spent writing that. That’s why Benny started out as a capitalist parody.

But with Rent that wasn’t his primary goal. He was inspired by going to AIDS support group. The no day but today mantra was taken from that meeting.

You might think “No day but today” is corny but it has it’s roots in reality.

Rent is a musical about trying to live knowing you’re going to die. “I try to open up to what I don’t know, because reason says I should’ve died three years ago”.

I only watched rent because I saw these comments on a musical subreddit from someone Terminal illness who said they loved Rent because of how it handled this theme.

Rent’s timeline is so chopped up because it only wanted to show these characters at their happiest. It wanted to celebrate their lives, to support its thesis that life was worth living. In the 90s that was subversive. If you read reviews from 90s it mentions how this framing changes the subject matter.

The big belty number that opens act two (and was meant to open the show) is just about trying to make it through the day a minute at a time.

So yeah all the characters deal with their diagnosis differently. Like Angel has a song where she sings “today for you, tomorrow for me” because she’s looking toward the future, Mimi has a song called “Out Tonight” because she’s focused on the present to the expense of herself and Roger has a song called “Another Day” because he’s focused on the present at the expense of himself. it’s pretty obvious guys.

Maybe you think it’s irrelevant but as a person who had people my age die around me, I don’t think so. I think it’s very emotionally touching and I’m glad Rent chose the themes it did.

“Mimi should’ve died at the end of the musical because her surviving means there’s no theme”

Read above. If you’re going to make a musical about people trying to accept and not give up on life… Then you need to have a character learn that lesson.

Crazy because if you read old internet forums people didn’t assume Mimi survived past the shows end. It was known that AIDS was a death sentence, so when Mimi woke up people just assumed it wasn’t for forever.

And that’s the intended interpretation! After Mimi wakes up she sings Finale B which is a reprise of a lot of different songs from the musical. They doesn’t reprise the fun lyrics no - they sing all the stuff about being scared to die from AIDS.

Because they weren’t magically cured - the only difference is they’re dealing with it better. That's the entire reason they sing Finale B.

If Mimi died before the show ended it would just undercut all of the themes?

It really doesn’t surprise me you disliked Rent, it seems like you were ignoring all of the major themes. It kinda seems like all these other critiques come from people just struggling to articulate that they don’t get the point of Rent.

Like plot twist, one of the only musicals to win the Putlizer Prize has a point to say.

“Go to hell” is basic. “I hope the thing you like gets misinterpreted and hated on for years until its reputation is unsalvageable” It’s possible. It’s terrifying. It happened to me.

#please dont read this post i don't want to be percieved #i know its long im sorry we all make mistakes in our youth #rent musical #not even sure why these talking points got popular but oh well #idc if you hate rent i understand even #i just disagree with certain reasons people cite #musicals #musical theatre

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insanityclause · 1 year ago

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Deadline’s Contenders Television, the event where stars and showrunners talk up their shows ahead of Emmy voting, has unveiled its lineup.

The event kicks off on Saturday April 13 and runs through Sunday April 14 at the Directors Guild of America in LA. There will also be a virtual livestream of the event. Full details of the event and an RSVP link can be found here.

It will give you a sense of the hits of the last twelve months, as well as some shows that you’re about to be talking about, as the networks, studios and streamers vie for some awards love.

Stars attending include Tom Hiddleston, Nicole Kidman, Brie Larson, Kristen Wiig, Rebecca Ferguson, Lily Gladstone, David Oyelowo, Common, Jimmy Fallon, Giancarlo Esposito, Joey King, Andrea Riseborough, Sebastian Maniscalco, Bill Pullman, Kiefer Sutherland, Logan Lerman, Kelsey Grammer, Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, Allison Williams, Maya Erskine, Nathan Fielder, Skeet Ulrich, Jeff Probst, Omar J. Dorsey, Harriet Dyer, Patrick Brammall, Sophia Di Martino, Sarayu Blue, Ji-young Yoo and Taylor Zakhar Perez.

Shows that will be featured across the two days include Parish, Masters of the Air, Lessons in Chemistry, The Morning Show, Silo, Palm Royale, The New Look, Survivor, Colin From Accounts, A Murder at the End of the World, True Detective: Night Country, We Were the Lucky Ones, Under the Bridge, Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, Loki, Alice & Jack, Genius: MLK/X, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 3 Body Problem, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Frasier, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fallout, Expats, Red, White & Royal Blue, Fellow Travelers, The Curse, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Platonic and Bookie.

There will also be numerous top showrunners and exec producers including Chuck Lorre, David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo, Benny Safdie, Graham Yost, Gary Goetzman, Lee Eisenberg, Abe Sylvia, Brit Marling, Zal Batmanglij, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Francesca Sloane, Lulu Wang, Sarah Schechter and Nicholas Stoller.

The studios, networks and streamers participating include AMC, Apple TV+, CBS, CBS Studios, FX, HBO and Max, Hulu, Lifetime, Marvel Studios and Disney+, Masterpiece on PBS, National Geographic, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Peacock, Paramount+, Prime Video, Showtime, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Television.

The event is sponsored by Apple TV+, Eyepetizer Eyewear and Final Draft + ScreenCraft in partnership with Four Seasons Resort Maui and 11 Ravens.

---

Both Tom and Sophia will be there.

#tom hiddleston #loki #sophia di martino #deadline: the contenders

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needlesscontrarian · 1 year ago

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Just saw a TikTok about Rent and how poorly Joanne was treated as a character despite the fact that she was a lawyer at Legal Aid helping underprivileged defendants and I have THOUGHTS.

I think it's a mistake to view Rent with the assumption that you are supposed to be on board with the principal characters' antics right off the bat. I think at multiple points Jonathan Larson calls the audience to directly interrogate the moral posturing of every member of the friend group EXCEPT for Joanne.

Mark is called out repeatedly for being more interested in abstract artistic principles and furthering his own career than he is about the actual suffering of what he claims to be his community. It's extremely obvious that he (like Larson) is a guy from an upstate middle class family who is cosplaying poverty in the big city out of a sense of disaffection with society. I've heard arguments back and forth about whether or not Larson glamorizes the stereotype of the starving artist or merely portrays it as it was, but I think the numerous points at which Mark, a blatant self-insert character, is called out for his self-pitying bullshit shows more self-awareness than Larson is often given credit for nowadays.

As for the other characters? Roger is directly portrayed as using his disease and addiction as an excuse to self-sabotage both in his personal life and his artistic aspirations. Maureen uses her queer awakening as an excuse to treat the people in her life like shit. Collins talks a big game about being an anarchist, but when we are introduced to him the sole evidence we have for this is that he blew up some MIT equipment in a mostly symbolic act of protest. It isn't until the end of the play when he does some genuine direct action by hacking into an ATM to give his poor friends free money. Angel killed a fucking dog for money. The only one who comes away looking mostly okay is Mimi, and that's just because she's too busy occupying the role of World's Biggest Victim.

My point is not that these characters are all evil, rather that Larson is displaying how life on the edge of society is full of just as much needless unkindness as anywhere else.

And on the other end of that spectrum we have the people who are able to live somewhat comfortably within society. I think appreciating the character of Joanne requires viewing her not as a foil to Maureen, but to Benny. Benny was able to marry into wealth, and while you might be able to see his point about how a shiny new corporate building will breathe life into the downtown art scene, the audience also clearly understands that it's not worth forcefully evicting dozens of homeless people. Benny has been taken in by the system and adopted its logic.

Joanne is also the beneficiary of inherited wealth from, but she's not like Benny at all. She channels what privilege she has towards giving back to her community. She works within the system, but also against its injustices to help people in a very tangible way. Sure, she just wants to be a tourist to the world of hedonistic gay sex while living comfortably and respectably uptown in a nice apartment, but just because she's not committed to the artistic revolutionary lifestyle doesn't mean she's hurting anyone, and she's not above assisting with a little B&E for her friends.

So while it is a fair observation that Joanne isn't treated very well by people who frankly aren't good enough for her, I think that's more of a feature than a bug. Mark, Roger, Maureen, and Collins are people who have been hurt and are continuing to be hurt to the point that they've kind of lost the plot on what they believe in and why they're doing any of this shit. They're so deep in their bullshit that they reflexively disdain any representative of what they perceive to be the dominant system, even when it's a great person like Joanne. Joanne is a reminder that, yes, society is fucked, but there are plenty of good people living and thriving within it, and those people are not your enemy.

#Rent #hoo boy two long posts this morning #I'm not even caffeinated that's just good old fashioned sleep deprivation

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hollywoodfamerp · 1 year ago

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THERES ONLY US THERES ONLY THIS NO DAY BUT TODAY….

Hollywood Fame is going to Broadway!

From December 1-3 we will be staging a production of Rent the Musical at the St James Theatre in the heart of Broadway in New York City and it will be starring you!

We are looking for cast members to fill out the roles below. Your character can be well versed in the world of musicals or simply just wanting to try something new. All we ask that you stick within the playing ages of each role. If you would like to take part, simply message us the name of the character and the role they would like to play! This will be on a first come first served basis. We ask that only one character per mun signs up at present. You have until 11/21/23 @ 11.59 PM EST to sign up.

Not a fan of performing? No worries we will need an audience to cheer on our amazing cast! Cast list and rehearsal schedule will follow soon! Follow the tags #hfrprent and #hfrpbroadway for more.

PLOT:

Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Rent has become a pop cultural phenomenon. with songs that rock and a story that resonates with audiences of all ages. Based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking musical.

RENT features many adult themes, including sex, drug use, profanity, and same-sex intimacy.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:

MARK COHEN

Stage age: early to late twenties Vocal Range: Tenor (C#3-G4)

Mark is an aspiring filmmaker who narrates the show as he films the lives of his friends. Mark never leaves home without a camera. He is Roger's best friend and caregiver, and he was once Maureen’s boyfriend (who left him for Joanne). Mark is a little nerdy and quirky. He insists that he can survive the bleakness of his environment through his art. It soon becomes apparent, though, that he is more comfortable viewing the world through his lens than in actively engaging in it. He feels guilty that unlike his friends, he does not have HIV/AIDS. The actor playing this role must be a strong singer and actor. He dances the Tango with Joanne, so good movement skills are also required.

ROGER DAVIS

Stage Age: mid twenties to early thirties Vocal Range: Rock Tenor (B2-A4) Roger is a once successful, now struggling musician who discovered he had HIV/AIDS in a note his girlfriend left him before she took her own life. His main goal in life is to write one great song before he dies, but he has not been able to play his guitar in a year, fearing that he has lost his creative energy. He falls in love with Mimi but is too afraid to commit to her, knowing that she also is infected with HIV/AIDS. He is also the roommate and best friend of Mark. He is often depressed and sullen, but he can be expressive and passionate at times. The actor playing this role must be a good actor and an excellent singer with a rock edge. Guitar skills are desired, but are not required.

MIMI MARQUEZ

Stage Age: late teens to early twenties Vocal Range: Alto (F#3-E5) Mimi Marquez works in a strip club and struggles with her addiction to heroin, which has resulted in her contraction of HIV/AIDS. She falls in love with Roger, who is unable to commit to a relationship with her. She is also Benny's ex‐girlfriend. She is extremely sexy, optimistic, and likeable but with dark secrets. Though Mimi has” lived a lot of life,” she still sees the world through the eyes of a young woman. She intends to make the most of every day, as she earnestly expresses in the song “No Day but Today.” The actress playing this role must be a strong singer, dancer, and exceptional actress. She must be able to convincingly portray the struggles of heroin addiction, sexual promiscuity, and HIV/AIDS, while still maintaining the optimism of youth.

BENNY COFFIN III

Stage Age: twenties to thirties Vocal Range: Tenor (Eb3-F4) Benny used to be Mark and Roger’s roommate, but he married Alison Grey, a rich family involved with real estate, and he is now their landlord. He had been letting Roger and Mark live in the apartment for free, but he is now forcing them to pay rent or be evicted. Roger and Mark consider him a yuppie sell-out. He also had an affair with Mimi before she started to date Roger. While in the beginning he is caught up in the lifestyle of wealth and affluence, he ultimately realizes his friends are more important than what money can buy. The actor playing this role must be a good singer and actor.

MAUREEN JOHNSON

Stage Age: twenties to thirties Vocal Range: Soprano Belt (C4-F5) Maureen is a bisexual performing artist and Mark's ex‐girlfriend. She left Mark to be with her new girlfriend, Joanne. She is sexy, flirtatious, sassy, and funny. She is bold and speaks her mind, and she is not afraid to take on the establishment and fight for what she believes in. The actress playing this role must be an excellent singer and actress. She must be comfortable with same-sex physical intimacy.

JOANNE JEFFERSON

Stage Age mid twenties to early thirties Vocal Range: Soprano Belt (Bb3-E5) Maureen is a lesbian Ivy League educated lawyer and activist. She struggles to not be jealous ofMaureen’s flirtatious nature with others. Though she was raised in an affluent, political family, she is committed to helping those less fortunate. The actress playing this role must be an excellent singer and a good actress. She must be comfortable with same sex-physical intimacy. Since she dances the tango with Mark, good movement skills are also required.

TOM COLLINS

Stage Age: late twenties to late thirties Vocal Range: Baritone/Tenor (F#2 – A4) One A4 for a short duration Tom Collins is a gay computer genius, teacher, and anarchist who was recently expelled from MIT. In the opening scene he is mugged, reflecting the harsh reality of the world in which the characters live. He is brave enough to allow himself to fall in love with Angel, knowing that since both of them are infected with HIV/AIDS, their relationship will not have much of a future. Tom and Angel’s relationship is the heart of the show, as the genuine love and devotion they have for one another brings hope and inspiration to the entire group. They show the world how to truly live life and not be afraid. The actor playing this role must be an excellent singer and actor who is comfortable with same sex-physical intimacy. He must be able to portray great love and affection for Angel. He must especially be able to convey that love when Angel dies in his arms, and during his reprise of “I Will Cover You.”

ANGEL SCHUNARD

Stage Age: early to late twenties Vocal Range: Tenor with Falsetto (C3-A4) Angel is a young drag queen and street percussionist. He meets and falls in love with Collins. He has HIV/ AIDS and dies of the disease in Act II. As a person, Angel is the most generous and selfless character in the show. Angel hands out money to the neighborhood while dressed in Santa drag. Though he has HIV/AIDS, he embraces life and lives it to its fullest. People are naturally drawn to him, and his smile lights up the room. His death is mourned by all of the characters and eventually inspires them to live each day to the fullest. As mentioned in Tom’s character description, Tom and Angel’s relationship is the heart of the show, as the genuine love and devotion they have for one another brings hope and inspiration to the entire group. They show the world how to truly live life and not be afraid. The actor playing this role must be an excellent actor, singer, and mover. He must be able to comfortable with same-sex physical intimacy and a drag queen persona, including dancing in heels. Percussionist skills desired but not required.

MINOR CHARACTERS (can double in other scenes)

Stage ages: Early twenties to sixties

Vocal Ranges: all vocal ranges sought

• Carollers (5): There are homeless street men and women who appear throughout the show sarcastically singing Christmas carols.

• Mrs. Cohen: Mark's stereotypical Jewish mother. Her voicemail messages are the basis for the songs Voicemail #1, Voicemail #3, and Voicemail #5.

• Alexi Darling: The producer of Buzzline who tries to employ Mark after his footage of the riot makes primetime. Sings Voicemail #3 and Voicemail #4.

• Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson: The wealthy parents of Joanne Jefferson, they leave her Voicemail #2. Mr. Jefferson is also one of the a cappella singers in Voicemail #5. Mrs. Jefferson usually sings the female solo in Seasons of Love.

• Mrs. Davis: Roger's confused mother who calls in Voicemail #5, asking continuously, "Roger, where are you?"

• Mrs. Marquez: Mimi's Spanish‐speaking mother who sings in Voicemail #5, wondering, in Spanish, where she is.

• Mr. Grey: Benny's father-in‐law who wants to buy out the lot.

• The Man: The local drug dealer whom Mimi buys from and Roger used to buy from.

• Life Support Group: Paul (The man in charge of the Life Support group), Gordon, Steve, Ali, Pam, Sue As notated in the script by Larson, the roles of all of the Life Support members are encouraged to take on the name that someone in the cast (or production) knows or has known to have succumbed to AIDS or other disease.

• Squeegee Man: A homeless person who chants "Honest living!" over and over.

• Homeless Woman: She gets harassed by police and Mark films it. She first yells at Mark but then asks him for a dollar.

• Waiter: Waits on the cast and has solo lines in La Vie Boehme. There are also many other non‐named roles such as the Preacher, Seasons of Love soloists, Cops, Bohemians, Vendors, Homeless People. We are looking for a very diverse cast of all ages, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes.

#hfrpbroadway #hfrprent

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uberthemeh · 19 days ago

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Laura and Benny in Voices of the Void!

Imma upload the Model and Texture files to these guys on Kofi for members, so YOU TOO can put these goobers in your game today!!!!!

#myart #my art #ocs #Laura bennett #laura OC #Chaos OC #symbiote sona #symbiote #spider sona #benny oc #benny Larson #order oc #voices of the void

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kynndr3dd-synn3 · 3 months ago

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🇺🇸THESE ARE THE 158 DEMOCRATS WHO VOTED AGAINST DEPORTING SEX OFFENDERS

Alabama:

-Terri Sewell

California:

-Pete Aguilar

-Ami Bera

-Julia Brownley

-Salud Carbajal

-Tony Cárdenas

-Judy Chu

-Jim Costa

-Mark DeSaulnier

-John Garamendi

-Robert Garcia

-Sylvia Garcia

-Jimmy Gomez

-Jared Huffman

-Ro Khanna

-Sydney Kamlager-Dove

-Barbara Lee

-Ted Lieu

-Zoe Lofgren

-Doris Matsui

-Kevin Mullin

-Grace Napolitano

-Nancy Pelosi

-Katie Porter

-Linda Sánchez

-Adam Schiff

-Brad Sherman

-Norma Torres

-Mike Thompson

-Maxine Waters

Colorado:

-Jason Crow

-Diana DeGette

-Brittany Pettersen

-Joe Neguse

Connecticut:

-Rosa DeLauro

-John Larson

-James Himes

Delaware:

-Lisa Blunt Rochester

Florida:

-Kathy Castor

-Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick

-Lois Frankel

-Maxwell Frost

-Darren Soto

-Frederica Wilson

-Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Georgia:

-Sanford D. Bishop Jr.

-Lucy McBath

-Henry “Hank” Johnson

-Nikema Williams

-David Scott

Hawaii:

-Ed Case

-Jill Tokuda

Illinois:

-Sean Casten

-Danny Davis

-Jesús “Chuy” Garcia

-Jonathan Jackson

-Raja Krishnamoorthi

-Robin Kelly

-Delia Ramirez

-Janice Schakowsky

-Mike Quigley

-Bill Foster

-Brad Schneider

-Lauren Underwood

Indiana:

-André Carson

Kentucky:

-Morgan McGarvey

Louisiana:

-Troy Carter

Maine:

-Chellie Pingree

Maryland:

-Steny Hoyer

-Glenn Ivey

-Kweisi Mfume

-Jamie Raskin

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger

-John Sarbanes

-David Trone

Massachusetts:

-Jake Auchincloss

-Katherine Clark

-Bill Keating

-Seth Moulton

-Ayanna Pressley

-Richard Neal

-Lori Trahan

-James McGovern

Michigan:

-Dan Kildee

-Debbie Dingell

-Rashida Tlaib

-Shri Thanedar

-Haley Stevens

Minnesota:

-Betty McCollum

-Ilhan Omar

-Dean Phillips

Mississippi:

-Bennie Thompson

Missouri:

-Cori Bush

-Emanuel Cleaver

New Hampshire:

-Ann Kuster

New Jersey:

-Andy Kim

-Rob Menendez

-Donald Norcross

-Bonnie Watson Coleman

-Frank Pallone

New Mexico:

-Melanie Stansbury

-Teresa Leger Fernandez

New York:

-Jamaal Bowman

-Adriano Espaillat

-Hakeem Jeffries

-Yvette Clarke

-Gregory Meeks

-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

-Jerrold Nadler

-Nydia Velázquez

-Paul Tonko

-Dan Goldman

-Ritchie Torres

-Grace Meng

-Joseph Morelle

North Carolina:

-Alma Adams

-Valerie Foushee

-Deborah Ross

Ohio:

-Shontel Brown

-Joyce Beatty

-Greg Landsman

Oregon:

-Earl Blumenauer

-Suzanne Bonamici

-Valerie Hoyle

Pennsylvania:

-Madeleine Dean

-Mary Scanlon

-Summer Lee

Rhode Island:

-Gabe Amo

South Carolina:

-James Clyburn

Tennessee:

-Steve Cohen

Texas:

-Greg Casar

-Veronica Escobar

-Joaquin Castro

-Sylvia Garcia

-Lloyd Doggett

-Lizzie Fletcher

-Al Green

-Jasmine Crockett

-Marc Veasey

Vermont:

-Becca Balint

Virginia:

-Donald Beyer

-Gerald Connolly

-Jennifer McClellan

-Bobby Scott

Washington:

-Suzan DelBene

-Derek Kilmer

-Rick Larsen

-Marilyn Strickland

-Pramila Jayapal

Wisconsin:

-Gwen Moore

-Mark Pocan

Source: Newsweek

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theloniousbach · 6 months ago

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THE FUN OF MUSIC

ADAM LARSON with Glenn Zaleski, Matt Cloeshy, and Ari Hoenig, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 3 OCTOBER 2024, both sets

BRUCE HARRIS with Abdias Amenteros, Caelan Cardello, Jayla Chee, and Pete Van Nostrand, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 22 SEPTEMBER 2024, 9 pm set

Two very affable, generous leaders who put together interesting bands with accompanists I wanted to hear. But what stood out is how much fun it all was.

I knew about ADAM LARSON now from Kansas City from a Webster jazz student and appreciated a trio album he loaned me. I caught the previous SMALL’S set and dug his light tone and melodic improvisations. He had Glenn Zaleski whom I’ve liked better in trios than the last couple of bands with horn players where he doesn’t have time to establish himself. Larson gave him that room but he also had ARI HOENIG goading him as he did with Larson too. They each beamed at him for his relentless energy and deep musicality. I saw Hoenig with Billy Childs at Smoke and then here in town and he certainly can play with horns and as a sideman. He is brilliant in his own trio and with Jean-Michel Pilc and Francois Moutin. For the former he brings in tasty compositions and is quite lyrical. Playing other folks’ material and able to just play drums/cymbals, he is, if anything, even more amazing as a drummer getting inside the tunes and listening big to his comrades. Zaleski and Larson clearly know him, but seeing him from the bandstand only reinforced that he was doing amazing stuff. Larson in particular would duet with him, but Hoenig was most sympathetic and in sync with Zaleski’s piano. Larson’s tunes were intricate and appealing. The second set opening even had a Weather Report/late Shorter feel while being thoroughly acoustic. Hoenig took care of several layers of sound and Larson was punchy and terse. But he could also be throatier and more extended. With only the one horn, Zaleski had room to build his solos and let his hair down. He looks preppy and fresh faced, but there’s loads of mischief in there. Hoenig seems to be playing in other people’s bands a bit more, so I’ll be on the lookout for him in that supportive role.

BRUCE HARRIS’s gig was wonderfully straight ahead with solid tunes like the Cupbearers, a Benny Golson tribute, Brubeck’s The Duke, a Myron Walden tune (a mentor from the generation I sort of missed), and Monk’s Well You Needn’t which had a nicely jerky rhythm. Like Larson he liked to talk about the music and the band and engage with the crowd. I was curious about bassist Jayla Chee who played solidly and took what solo space he had. Abdias Amenteros had a throatier, more muscular tone on tenor. He’s Cuban and whatever lilt and complexity that added, it wasn’t utilized enough. Harris was solid, modern, and straightahead with an easy command of his horn. It was Caelan Cardello whom I was most curious about. He’s been robust to the point of overpowering but also a sensitive accompanist to the singer April Varner. He was in the middle this time and therefore the soloist that grabbed my attention.

The Harris was a fun gig and I imagined writing about it differently. I also expected that one Larson set would suffice. But that set too was so much fun and that shared unexpected joyfulness seemed worth celebrating.

#concert review #jazz #small’s live #small’s jazz club #2024 #livestream almost #livestream

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1americanconservative · 3 months ago

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@elonmusk

These awful people all need to be voted out, either in the primaries or the general election. They sully the Capitol Building with their presence.

THESE ARE THE 158 DEMOCRATS WHO VOTED AGAINST DEPORTING SEX OFFENDERS Alabama: -Terri Sewell California: -Pete Aguilar -Ami Bera -Julia Brownley -Salud Carbajal -Tony Cárdenas -Judy Chu -Jim Costa -Mark DeSaulnier -John Garamendi -Robert Garcia -Sylvia Garcia -Jimmy Gomez -Jared Huffman -Ro Khanna -Sydney Kamlager-Dove -Barbara Lee -Ted Lieu -Zoe Lofgren -Doris Matsui -Kevin Mullin -Grace Napolitano -Nancy Pelosi -Katie Porter -Linda Sánchez -Adam Schiff -Brad Sherman -Norma Torres -Mike Thompson -Maxine Waters Colorado: -Jason Crow -Diana DeGette -Brittany Pettersen -Joe Neguse Connecticut: -Rosa DeLauro -John Larson -James Himes Delaware: -Lisa Blunt Rochester Florida: -Kathy Castor -Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick -Lois Frankel -Maxwell Frost -Darren Soto -Frederica Wilson -Debbie Wasserman Schultz Georgia: -Sanford D. Bishop Jr. -Lucy McBath -Henry “Hank” Johnson -Nikema Williams -David Scott Hawaii: -Ed Case -Jill Tokuda Illinois: -Sean Casten -Danny Davis -Jesús “Chuy” Garcia -Jonathan Jackson -Raja Krishnamoorthi -Robin Kelly -Delia Ramirez -Janice Schakowsky -Mike Quigley -Bill Foster -Brad Schneider -Lauren Underwood Indiana: -André Carson Kentucky: -Morgan McGarvey Louisiana: -Troy Carter Maine: -Chellie Pingree Maryland: -Steny Hoyer -Glenn Ivey -Kweisi Mfume -Jamie Raskin C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger -John Sarbanes -David Trone Massachusetts: -Jake Auchincloss -Katherine Clark -Bill Keating -Seth Moulton -Ayanna Pressley -Richard Neal -Lori Trahan -James McGovern Michigan: -Dan Kildee -Debbie Dingell -Rashida Tlaib -Shri Thanedar -Haley Stevens Minnesota: -Betty McCollum -Ilhan Omar -Dean Phillips Mississippi: -Bennie Thompson Missouri: -Cori Bush -Emanuel Cleaver New Hampshire: -Ann Kuster New Jersey: -Andy Kim -Rob Menendez -Donald Norcross -Bonnie Watson Coleman -Frank Pallone New Mexico: -Melanie Stansbury -Teresa Leger Fernandez New York: -Jamaal Bowman -Adriano Espaillat -Hakeem Jeffries -Yvette Clarke -Gregory Meeks -Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -Jerrold Nadler -Nydia Velázquez -Paul Tonko -Dan Goldman -Ritchie Torres -Grace Meng -Joseph Morelle North Carolina: -Alma Adams -Valerie Foushee -Deborah Ross Ohio: -Shontel Brown -Joyce Beatty -Greg Landsman Oregon: -Earl Blumenauer -Suzanne Bonamici -Valerie Hoyle Pennsylvania: -Madeleine Dean -Mary Scanlon -Summer Lee Rhode Island: -Gabe Amo South Carolina: -James Clyburn Tennessee: -Steve Cohen Texas: -Greg Casar -Veronica Escobar -Joaquin Castro -Sylvia Garcia -Lloyd Doggett -Lizzie Fletcher -Al Green -Jasmine Crockett -Marc Veasey Vermont: -Becca Balint Virginia: -Donald Beyer -Gerald Connolly -Jennifer McClellan -Bobby Scott Washington: -Suzan DelBene -Derek Kilmer -Rick Larsen -Marilyn Strickland -Pramila Jayapal Wisconsin: -Gwen Moore -Mark Pocan Source: Newsweek

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wulf1 · 7 months ago

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IS YOUR ELECTED REP ONE OF THESE ?

The 158 Democrats who voted against the bill are:

Alma Adams, North Carolina

Pete Aguilar, California

Gabe Amo, Rhode Island

Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts

Becca Balint, Vermont

Nanette Barragán, California

Joyce Beatty, Ohio

Ami Bera, California

Donald Beyer, Virginia

Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia

Earl Blumenauer, Oregon

Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon

Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware

Jamaal Bowman, New York

Shontel Brown, Ohio

Julia Brownley, California

Cori Bush, Missouri

Salud Carbajal, California

Tony Cárdenas, California

André Carson, Indiana

Troy Carter, Louisiana

Greg Casar, Texas

Ed Case, Hawaii

Sean Casten, Illinois

Kathy Castor, Florida

Joaquin Castro, Texas

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida

Judy Chu, California

Katherine Clark, Massachusetts

Yvette Clarke, New York

Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri

James Clyburn, South Carolina

Steve Cohen, Tennessee

Gerald Connolly, Virginia

Luis Correa, California

Jim Costa, California

Jasmine Crockett, Texas

Jason Crow, Colorado

Danny Davis, Illinois

Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania

Diana DeGette, Colorado

Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut

Suzan DelBene, Washington

Mark DeSaulnier, California

Debbie Dingell, Michigan

Lloyd Doggett, Texas

Veronica Escobar, Texas

Anna Eshoo, California

Adriano Espaillat, New York

Lizzie Fletcher, Texas

Bill Foster, Illinois

Valerie Foushee, North Carolina

Lois Frankel, Florida

Maxwell Frost, Florida

John Garamendi, California

Jesús "Chuy" Garcia, Illinois

Robert Garcia, California

Sylvia Garcia, Texas

Dan Goldman, New York

Jimmy Gomez, California

Al Green, Texas

James Himes, Connecticut

Steny Hoyer, Maryland

Valerie Hoyle, Oregon

Jared Huffman, California

Glenn Ivey, Maryland

Jonathan Jackson, Illinois

Sara Jacobs, California

Pramila Jayapal, Washington

Hakeem Jeffries, New York

Henry "Hank" Johnson, Georgia

Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California

Bill Keating, Massachusetts

Robin Kelly, Illinois

Ro Khanna, California

Dan Kildee, Michigan

Derek Kilmer, Washington

Andy Kim, New Jersey

Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois

Ann Kuster, New Hampshire

Greg Landsman, Ohio

Rick Larsen, Washington

John Larson, Connecticut

Barbara Lee, California

Summer Lee, Pennsylvania

Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico

Ted Lieu, California

Zoe Lofgren, California

Doris Matsui, California

Lucy McBath, Georgia

Jennifer McClellan, Virginia

Betty McCollum, Minnesota

Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky

James McGovern, Massachusetts

Gregory Meeks, New York

Rob Menendez, New Jersey

Grace Meng, New York

Kweisi Mfume, Maryland

Gwen Moore, Wisconsin

Joseph Morelle, New York

Seth Moulton, Massachusetts

Kevin Mullin, California

Jerrold Nadler, New York

Grace Napolitano, California

Richard Neal, Massachusetts

Joe Neguse, Colorado

Donald Norcross, New Jersey

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York

Ilhan Omar, Minnesota

Frank Pallone, New Jersey

Nancy Pelosi, California

Scott Peters, California

Brittany Pettersen, Colorado

Dean Phillips, Minnesota

Chellie Pingree, Maine

Mark Pocan, Wisconsin

Katie Porter, California

Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts

Mike Quigley, Illinois

Delia Ramirez, Illinois

Jamie Raskin, Maryland

Deborah Ross, North Carolina

Raul Ruiz, California

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland

Linda Sánchez, California

John Sarbanes, Maryland

Mary Scanlon, Pennsylvania

Janice Schakowsky, Illinois

Adam Schiff, California

Bradley Schneider, Illinois

Robert "Bobby" Scott, Virginia

David Scott, Georgia

Terri Sewell, Alabama

Brad Sherman, California

Darren Soto, Florida

Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico

Haley Stevens, Michigan

Marilyn Strickland, Washington

Mark Takano, California

Shri Thanedar, Michigan

Mike Thompson, California

Bennie Thompson, Mississippi

Rashida Tlaib, Michigan

Jill Tokuda, Hawaii

Paul Tonko, New York

Norma Torres, California

Ritchie Torres, New York

Lori Trahan, Massachusetts

David Trone, Maryland

Lauren Underwood, Illinois

Juan Vargas, California

Marc Veasey, Texas

Nydia Velázquez, New York

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Maxine Waters, California

Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey

Nikema Williams, Georgia

Frederica Wilson, Florida.

Democrats proudly against citizen

VOTE TRUMP 2024

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one-blaze-of--glory · 7 months ago

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"Benny was right" "Mark is a filler character" "Angel is a bad person" maybe it's a good thing Jonathan Larson died before opening night. at least he doesn't have to read the shittiest rent takes people can come up with because what the fuck are some of you even talking about

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stageyrebecca · 10 months ago

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Review: RENT at New Theatre Peterborough ★★★★

Written by guest reviewer Liam. Gifted in exchange for honest review.

Landmark Theatres’ new production of RENT, directed by Paul Jepson, has started its short tour at Peterborough New Theatre. RENT is a rock opera, adapted loosely from Puccini's La Boheme by Jonathan Larson and Billy Aronson, begins at Christmas Eve 1991 and shows us snapshots of a year in the lives of a group of friends in Manhattan's Alphabet City in the early 1990s.

The ensemble piece is led by Jack Reitman (Mark Cohen), Luke Friend (Roger), Evita Khrime (Mimi), Cameron Bernard Jones (Tom Collins), Kyle Richardson (Angel), Alicia Corrales (Maureen), Athena Collins (Joanne) and Myles Hart (Benny), who make up the eclectic mix of friends from filmmakers to drag queens and lawyers. With its anthemic score, RENT shows us the AIDS epidemic and social conflicts go on to impact the lives of this group through New Year and up to Christmas of the next year. The cast is rounded out by a star ensemble consisting of Kelliana Jay, Alex Okoampa, Edward Bullingham, Alexandra Brighouse, Max Mirza, Dylan Andrews and Olivia-Faith Kamau.

The work of the creative team, with direction by Paul Jepson, movement and choreography by Lucie Pankhurst, musical direction by Mark Crossland, set & costume design by award-winning Amanda Stooley, lighting by Andy Purves and sound by Alistair Penman, all combined very effectively into what felt like a fresh and exciting production of the widely loved show.

The standout on the production side was Susan Luciani’s film direction, which at various points throughout was used to accentuate already highly emotional points in the show. In particular, this hit me hard during the reprise of I’ll Cover You, which reduced me to tears, and was led by both Richardson as Angel, and Bernard Jones as Collins.

Speaking more of performances, in what is a very strong cast, additional standouts were Athena Collins (Joanne), Alicia Corrales (Maureen), and Jack Reitman (Mark).

Collins brought a remarkable amount of frustration and caring and humour to her role as Joanne; her voice was so beautiful and rich, which I was impressed by given the rigour of a role like Joanne. A particular highlight of the show was Collins’ work with Alicia Corrales as Maureen in Take Me or Leave Me, which showcased both performers emotionally and vocally. Collins’ chemistry continued to shine throughout the show as her work alongside Reitman in Tango Maureen. Both actors were terrifically funny, and did a great job of conveying the exasperation and irritation they each felt with their relationships with Maureen.

I was a huge fan of Corrales’ performance of Maureen’s Over the Moon, which featured a terrific piece of costuming from Amanda Stooley, combined fantastically with some really precise and comedic movement that had me in stitches laughing.

There were terrific performances across the board from the ensemble, particularly Dylan Andrews’ heartwrenching singing in Will I, where he expresses the fears of his character, a man living with HIV, of the disease robbing him of his dignity before he passes away. Some other particularly good moments for me from the ensemble included Max Mirza’s repeated, deeply “Noo Yawk” accented renditions of “Christmas bells are ringing” across the show and Alexandra Brighouse’s many moments popping up in voicemails.

Though I have highlighted individual moments, the level of quality from every single performance was so high. The moment that best showcased the strength of the ensemble in this show was, probably unsurprisingly, Rent's show-stopping number, Seasons of Love. This beautiful song really drives home the importance of centring the people you love in your life during your time with them, especially as sung by this absolutely stellar cast.

Previously, I’ve overlooked RENT, but I’m thrilled to say that since walking out of the auditorium, I now definitely consider myself a “Rent-Head”! It finally struck me watching it this time that RENT is a truly vital piece of theatre, and that even though certain aspects of its plot may have aged out of relevance (thanks to miraculous advances in the treatments available for people living with HIV and/or AIDS) the underlying message of valuing those close to you and making sure they know how loved they are is as timeless as any message I’ve ever experienced with a show.

Landmark Theatres’ RENT is a wonderful production of the modern classic musical, and given how fresh of a take it feels on the material, and to allow more people to see this astounding collection of performances, I would love to see this production get some further life following its short tour.

You can catch RENT here at New Theatre Peterborough until Saturday 29 June and at the Queen’s Theatre in Barnstaple, from 3 to 7 July 2024. It will be thrilling to see what show Landmark might consider tackling next.

Photo credit to Louise Waldron.

#musical theatre #rent musical #review

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