Goodbye Love: A Tribute to 'Rent'

Yesterday, Sept. 7 marked the end of an era. Rent, the musical that added AIDS, sexuality, and drugs to mainstream Broadway has closed its curtains for the last time, after running for over 12 years at the Nederlander Theatre, making it the seventh longest-running show on Broadway.

With regard to awards, Rent has a very impressive record, including a Tony Award for best musical and a Pulitzer Prize. But its impact on the viewer is also impressive, with its mission both to entertain and to teach. "Rentheads" - fans of the musical - are as enthusiastic as fans of rock stars. Even the ordinary audience member leaves the theater with reddened eyes, holding the hand of his or her significant other or friend, appreciating what he or she has at that moment. The musical reminds the audience to think more positively about their own lives by experiencing the optimism and hope of the characters.

Set in New York's East Village, the musical focuses on a group of young individuals learning to live each day to the fullest and to love without limits. It is a story of romance and broken hearts, discovery and loss, under the dark atmosphere that AIDS creates. Though they are all at different stages in their lives, the characters come together as a family whose ties seem, at times, even thicker than blood. They choose not to dwell on the past, but rather to make the most of the present, forgetting all regret. And while they don't own much - not even a notion - their generosity never lacks.

However, the story of Rent does not begin on the stage. It started when Billy Aronson had the idea to write a musical that would adapt Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme for the modern day. He met Jonathan Larson, and they exchanged ideas. Larson, however, wanted to write about what he knew best: his bohemian life, fully equipped with a bathtub in the kitchen. His life became his muse.

For example, Larson dated an exotic dancer who would eventually leave him for a woman, which proves that the ridiculous events that happened to the character Mark can happen in "actual reality." But more seriously, his closest friends were dying of AIDS. That's why Larson's words have a unique authenticity; the characters are he and his friends.

So Larson requested to write Rent by himself, drawing upon the creative wealth around him, and the rest is history - a very long history.

It took approximately seven years for Rent to be perfected, and on the day before the show previewed at the New York Theater Workshop, Larson died due to an aortic aneurysm. Larson's own story of being a waiter by day and a struggling writer by night, then ultimately dying before witnessing the fruition of his hard work, is as dramatic as his own creation. Rent finally opened on Broadway on April 29, 1996, at the Nederlander Theatre, and played there nonstop for over 12 years. In addition, there have been tours in the United States as well as internationally, with numerous productions translating the dialogue and lyrics to another language. A school edition was also created to allow schools the ability to put on their own production.

During its run, Rent has also had many guest pop stars. Joey Fatone and Drew Lachey have donned Mark's scarf and Melanie Brown (Sporty Spice) and Tamyra Gray have swung on Mimi's balcony. But none can compare to the original cast members, who Larson helped choose, many of whom are now household names (Jesse L. Martin, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel).

In 2005, Rent was adapted into a movie directed by Chris Columbus, who also directed the first two Harry Potter movies. Some of the plot was changed, but the movie mostly starred original cast members of the Broadway musical, including Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. Rosario Dawson and Tracy Thoms joined as Mimi and Joanne. Thoms later reprised her role in the Broadway production's final cast.

While the curtain at the Nederlander Theatre may have closed on Rent for good, people will still be able to experience it through other avenues.

Rent will be the first musical featured in Sony's new venture "The Hot Ticket," which will record live performances of live events and show them in theater. It will be showing Sept. 24 through Sept. 28 nationwide.

Starting in January, Rent will embark on a tour of the United States, ending with dates in Tokyo, Japan, the only international leg of the tour. It will feature Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, the original Broadway and movie version actors of Mark and Roger. Next summer, it will be in Boston from July 14 to 26 at the Shubert Theater.

While nothing will compare to seeing Rent at the Nederlander Theatre, where over 5,000 performances have taken place, there is no chance that Rent will be forgotten. With songs such as "Another Day," which inspires many to live to the fullest and embrace being different, Rent will, without a doubt, live on - though, of course, there's "no day but today." And no Renthead will ever forget that there are 525,600 minutes in a year - or be able to recite that number without singing it.