Last week, I ran across an ad for a filmed version of "Rent" playing in movie theaters. It turned that the last ever Broadway performance of the show was filmed and packaged by Sony into a theatrical release. Given my love-hate relationship with the actual feature film version of this musical, I thought I would give this a try and see how it measures up.
The verdict is that nothing compares to seeing "Rent" on a Broadway stage, even if you're watching it through the lens of a close-up-happy cameraman. Watching the stage version makes you realize just how badly they fucked up the movie, especially when you get to "Halloween," "Goodbye Love," and whatever else Columbus cut out of the second act. I was delighted from the get-go, when the very first credit that flashes on screen reads, "Created and written by Jonathan Larson." Score one for this production already.
Imagine my surprise as well when Tracie Thoms appears on stage as Joanne (I guess I didn't do my Broadway reading this summer - I had no idea she was doing "Rent" on Broadway), and my delight at Eden Espinoza's turn as Maureen. The rest of the cast was solid as well, and it made me wish I had gone to see Rent in NY this past summer when I was there.
But above all of that, "Rent" just knocks me off my feet every single time I see it. It's amazing to me how iconic this musical is, how much it defines the 90s for me. It celebrates community so adamantly that you leave the theater feeling like you've shared something with your fellow audience members that nobody else could possibly understand. Unfortunately, though, the unique moment in history captured by "Rent" is fading farther and farther away in our collective memory, and I can understand why the new generation of theater-obsessed teens are flocking to "Spring Awakening" and "Wicked," leaving "Rent" to be memorialized by the remaining few of us who remember what it was like to be young in the 90s... or at the very least, those of us who remember what pop culture was like when "Rent" was the new big thing.
I could go on, but that term paper was written... about ten years ago, appropriately, so I'll spare you.
Even though the movie theater was only about a quarter full, there were cheers, tears, applause, mooing, and singing. I don't know how it happens, really, since there is so much death, disease, and general malaise in this musical, but it leaves me feeling jubilant and singing every single time. Which I'm pretty sure is exactly what Jonathan Larson wanted when he wrote it.
This film is in very limited release, but it's showing twice more during the weekend - Saturday and Sunday at noon, and there seems to be at least one movie theater in every city showing it. Go see it if you have time, and try to forget you ever saw the feature version.
Here's a NY Times article about it which says it much better than I can:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/theat
