Rent FAQ

All That's Left to Know About Broadway's Blaze of Glory

Tom Rowan

• Publisher: Applause
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9781540004970
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

After opening in a small Off-Broadway theater, Rent, a modern adaptation of Puccini's La Bohème, quickly became a worldwide phenomenon with a more zealous and devoted fan base than had any musical in history. Rent FAQ includes biographical info on the musical's brilliant creator, Jonathan Larson, who tragically passed away at age 35 the night before the show began preview performances. Other chapters focus on the creative team and original cast; the development of the script and score from early drafts and workshop performances to the version we know and love today; the movie version, tours, and much more. The section "Rent Cultural Literacy" is a guide to all the titles and real people referenced in the show and the East Village and Alphabet City locations that Rent helped make famous; another chapter provides clues to the characters and tips for anyone thinking about auditioning for the musical, or putting on a production! A final chapter provides a rundown, with numerous photos, of revivals and local productions all over the country, including regional, community, and dinner theaters, and high school and college versions. Rent FAQ is a treasure trove of information, background, and fun facts for the show's devotees as well as anyone who might be lucky enough to be discovering the musical for the first time!

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 “One Song to Leave Behind”: Jonathan Larson, Creator of Rent
• 2 “That Doesn’t Remind Us of ‘Musetta’s Waltz’”: The Opera That Inspired a Musical
• 3 “The Beauty of a Studio”: From Conception to Workshop
• 4 “Our Benefactors on This Christmas Eve”: The Producers and the Creative Team
• 5 “Who I Was Meant to Be”: The Cast of Characters
• 6 “To Days of Inspiration”: The Original Off-Broadway Production
• 7 “Being an Us for Once”: The Original Cast
• 8 “How Did We Get Here?”: A Synopsis of the Story of Rent
• 9 “Wanna Hit the Street?”: Rent Makes It to Broadway
• 10 “Making Something Out of Nothing”: The Designers and What They Brought to Rent
• 11 “Who’s Heading Out of Town?”: Rent on Tour
• 12 “Another Time—Another Place”: Rent Crosses the Pond
• 13 “Adventure, Tedium, No Family, Boring Locations”: Rent and Its Journey to Film
• 14 “But He’s Got Great Footage”: The Movie
• 15 “Seasons of Love”: The Long Broadway Run and the Closing Performance
• 16 “Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham, and Cage”: Rent Cultural Literacy
• 17 “Don’t Look Back or You May Drown”: The Return of Rent to Off-Broadway
• 18 “It’d Be Another Play”: tick, tick . . . BOOM!
• 19 “I Escape and Ape Content”: Spoofs and Imitations
• 20 “For Someone Who Longs for a Community of His Own”: The Larson Legacy
• 21 “Anywhere You Could Possibly Go After New York”: Rent in a Town Near You
• Appendix One: Rent Timeline
• Appendix Two: Cast List (with All Replacements) for Original Broadway Production, 1996–2008
• Appendix Three: Opening Cast Lists for Touring and International Productions, 1996–1998
• Appendix Four: Opening Cast Lists for Tours and Revivals, 2001–2016
• Bibliography