#rent obc

[awkwardjewishtheatrenerd]

Do you wish you could be laughing in the leaves?

Me neither. But Idina seems to like it! Starting today, you can laugh with her. And cry. And see legend Idina Menzel once again grace a broadway stage in Redwood, officially opening at the Nederlander Theatre (yes, the same one that housed RENT while she was a participating OBC) on February 13th.

Can't make it to NYC or to a preview of the show, no worries. Come on over to my site for more info on how to purchase your copy.

Redwood January 2025 Broadway $16.25

Cast: Idina Menzel (Jesse), de'Adre Aziza (Mel), Khaila Wilcoxon (Becca), Michael Park (Finn), Zachary Noah Piser (Spencer)

Notes: MP4 format. Filmed in 4K from the rear right orchestra with external audio during early previews. Mix of wide shots and zooms. Includes bows. Somewhat obstructed by the heads right in front of me. Several very brief dropouts and some camera wandering downwards. Idina is a bit of a washout queen at times. NFS forever except through master and NFT through February 24, 2030.

Screenshots: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBZQmj

[thisnerdjason]

Lookie what I bought

[thecitykeepsevolving]

Adam & Anthony - friends forever. (x)

[lesbian-of-nine]

that rasp idina menzel used to have in her voice holy shit

[cameronmitchelljohn]

christmas bells is one of the BEST rent songs ever . reasons slash fav bits under the cut

i LOVE the chaos like all different charactwrs singing its so fucking good

THE ANGEL AND COLLINS BITSSSS 😭😭😭 THEYRE SO SWEET I LOVE IT

angels 'no.. no...no.. OH no.' i love it

MARK RECOUNTING MIMIS STUFF IN LIGHT MY CANDLE 'she got you out!!!' i love this bit

MARKS SHOCK AT SEEING MIMI especially in the obc recording. WOOAAAHH!!

the double entendre of 'got any c, man/got any semen' its brills

the fucking. 'hey lover boy cutie pie' STOP??? IT ALWAYS MAKES ME GIGGLE. Like he couldve approached that so much better

'shes a thief!' 'but she bought us together!!' its so sad and lovely like. they met bc of such a horrid incident but atlesst they met yknow

its just such a banger, when theyre all singing over eachother at the end ITS SO GREAT

and bonus points cuz it just puts me in a christmassy mood.

WHAT A GREAT SONG

[youremyonlyhope]

God I love RENT.

[soft-girl-musings]

special kind of hell to have Christmas Bells on the brain but no (og) spotify recording to get "and it's beginning to snow" out of my head as a vocal stim

[a-ikuoliver]

me vs over sharing

[liesonthefloordramatically]

I never try to do anything I never mean to hurt anyone I try, I try to be a good kid A good kid A good son

[pacificovertures]

two mins late but merry rentmas y’all

[enchantd]

and if i said rent live is the best rent soundtrack….

[thewingedwolf]

I think the way we learn about the status of each character is kinda genius, because it informs us not only who is positive and negative but also who is mostly dealing okay and who is struggling, and it helps characterize the large cast of characters.

Collins flinches away when Angel first touches him, because he’s bleeding and it’s a significant bio hazard, but doesn’t offer up the information until Angel does. He’s at peace with being positive, but at the same time, it’s a private thing for him; probably he’s learned to stay a lil hushed about it due to his background in academia and the prejudice he almost definitely faced there. He’s also way less patient with Roger’s lil depression spiral -“Roger picked up the phone?!” and “Oh hi’? After seven months?!” - which makes you think this isn’t new for Collins, and he’s a bit too removed from his first positive test to be as understanding (or enabling) of Roger. He has no shame but he’s not stupid either.

Then there’s Angel, who offers up the information within moments of meeting Collins, almost as a way of flirting. Like Collins, Angel is at peace with her status and unashamed of who she is. Unlike Collins, she hasn’t had to hide it. To Angel, being positive is almost just part of being queer; growing up and becoming herself in the 80s and 90s means this is all Angel has ever known, is a community ravaged and left to die of AIDS by its government. She’s already living on the streets (quite likely a victim of prejudice for her status and gender/sexuality if we’re being super honest) so what the hell does she care if people know she’s positive? She’s also coping the best out of everyone because she’s accepted it; she has a loving support system in the Life Support meetings and in Mimi. She has no shame in who she is!

Maureen and Joanne’s negative status is never conveyed explicitly but what’s interesting is that both of them are introduced through their relationship with each other, and then, through their activism. The Voicemail let’s us know Joanne is a civil rights lawyer, a genius, and potentially has a strained relationship with her parents due to her sexuality or gender presentation. Before we even meet her, we know Joanne will love and fit in with this group (have always felt Collins & Joanne bonded over feeling like outsiders while bumping elbows with The Upper Class). Maureen, meanwhile, gets “that attitude towards the homeless is exactly what Maureen is protesting tonight”; it’s not surprise she’s up there singing “revolution justice screaming for solutions” alongside Collins, why she’s so drawn to Joanne - maybe she didn’t go the academic route the way Collins & Joanne do, but she’s just as smart and determined to Do Something with her life. We are shown, long before either woman shows up on stage, that they are unashamed of their friends and would fight alongside them when needed.

Roger’s status, on the other hand, is disclosed over several songs. “How can you connect in an age where strangers, landlords, lovers, your own blood cells betray” and the only positive character on stage besides the extras is Roger, but he doesn’t sing the line alone. In fact, Roger isn’t even the one to ultimately tell us - it’s Mark, mother henning & telling Roger to take his AZT who informs us that Roger being HIV positive is a new thing, likely from sharing dirty needles with April. Even more telling is that Mark informs us during the tune-up that Roger is in recovery & attempting to reconnect to his old passions, but pointedly doesn’t tell us Roger is positive until later. Unlike Collins & Angel, who have progressed further into AIDS yet dont “act sick”, Roger is very much still “acting sick” because he’s in shock. Not just that he’s positive but also that April killed herself. He’s not just struggling with being positive, he is stuck in that moment, reliving finding April and that note over and over and terrified of dying the moment he leaves the safety of the apartment. Shame, trauma, and unending grief consume him, so he tries to hide from his reality even as he reaches for community.

And then there’s Mimi!! What I always notice is not just that she’s casual while not offering up information until it’s necessary - she doesn’t tell Roger until their FOURTH song together! - but that she’s clearly struggling just like Roger. Obviously she’s struggling physically because she’s still using drugs, she’s still drinking, she’s still partying way too much, but she’s also still just sad. “Feels too damn much like home, where the Spanish babies cry. So let's find a bar so dark we forget who we are where all the scars from the nevers and maybes die” isn’t just about Mimi being restless and young and poor, it’s her own version of One Song Glory; she still “feels sick” and feels like her life has been stolen from her, and is desperate to forget everything that reminds her that she’s positive. Not just reckless, and not something as easy to pinpoint as shame, Mimi feels like she’s stuck in a never ending cycle of sickness and sadness and death, and has chosen to deal by simply refusing to acknowledge reality outside of the exact moment she’s living in.

And then there’s Mark. “Oh I’m not-I’m just here to-I don’t have-I’m here with-MARK! MARK! I’m MARK.” Most of his friends are sick and dying around him and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it and it hurts, and it makes him incapable of connecting to others emotionally while desperately seeking connections before the people he loves die. How do you find the line between grief and self pity? How do you not give into guilt while it is weighing your every moment down? Mark is unsure and he will not confide in us his feelings of despair until halfway through Act II after Angel’s funeral when the grief and guilt and pity overtake him until he can no longer hide behind his camera.

[idontknowwhatthatmeans]

Oh man I’m unlocking some core childhood memories here

Les Mis, Chicago, and Wicked…

reblog if the first musical you listened to was not Hamilton

[thecitykeepsevolving]

if it wasn't seen as creepy I'd make this my phone lockscreen/computer background:

[whatcanido]

maureen im not a theater person!!!!

[victoriawaterfield]

ANTHONY RAPP & ADAM PASCAL AS MARK COHEN & ROGER DAVIS (RENT OBC) // RENT (RENT) // EURIPIDES (ANNE CARSON TRANSLATION) // ANTHONY RAPP & ADAM PASCAL AS MARK COHEN & ROGER DAVIS (RENT 2005) // GOODBYE LOVE (RENT) // TV (BILLIE EILISH) // ANTHONY RAPP & ADAM PASCAL AS MARK COHEN & ROGER DAVIS (RENT 2005) // OVERGROWN GARDEN (BEETLEBUG) // SLOW, SLOW DEATH (LOS CAMPESINOS!) // WHAT YOU OWN (RENT)

MARK COHEN & ROGER DAVIS