"Rent" returns to Massachusetts for a new generation nearly 30 years after Broadway debut
Nearly 30 years after "Rent" debuted on Broadway, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning show still has an impact as it returns to Massachusetts.
"Rent" changed the idea of what musical theater could be and continues to change it today. The rock opera, set in the late 90s, altered the landscape.
Altered musical theater
"It was in your face and big and different," said Robert McDonough, the music director of the Company Theatre in Norwell.
Actor David Jiles, Jr. agrees.
"The music, it's vibrant. It's full of life. It's full of energy," said Jiles. "Even the slow ballads, there's an energy to it. There's a fire to it."
The show intentionally caused shockwaves.
"[Composer] Jonathan Larson, when he was working on it, he wanted it to be the 'Hair' of the 90s," said McDonough.
"Now we have a whole new generation of people who want to experience that," said Zoe Bradford, the artistic director and co-director of "Rent." "We have so many more contemporary musicals now that might have had a little inspiration from this."
"A musical for everybody"
"'Rent' felt like a musical for everybody," said Jiles. "'Rent' felt like a musical where the musical theater nerds were loving it and the folks who were adjacent to musical theater nerds or the folks who were like, ah, I have no concept of what musical theater is...were able to find something about themselves in the music of what these characters are singing."
For Aeon Smith, it's one thing to know the songs and another to perform them.
"I've known this musical since I was 9 years old," said Smith. "So I know all the music but you have to kind of take a step back and say, OK, look at it from Mimi's perspective. What am I doing? How am I feeling? The music truly tells the story."
Beloved anthems like "Seasons of Love" often bring tears from the audience.
"It's hard for me to understand someone who could hear that song and really hear the lyrics and not be moved in some way...it's a song that asks us something really, I think, important about life and what it means to be human," said Jiles.
Smith said the music delivers the message.
"Live in the moment and love the people you love because who knows what will happen tomorrow," said Smith.
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