RENT: Why so much hate?- Page 8

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 1/3/19 at 12:13am

Rent is a weird one. I was so moved by the entire evening when I saw it originally on Broadway and then was struck by this absolutely bizarre ending that just left me puzzled. Also, I just don't think it holds up very well anymore. The paint has started to peel and I struggle to see what's so great about the writing. The story is not original, the score is good with a few moments of greatness, but there's a lot of it that's crap. I remember going back and watching the video of the Broadway production and thinking how over acted the whole thing was. Looking back, I really can't see what we were all flipping out over. We had already seen Angels in America and Falsettos which are both superior works that focus on New York City at a similar time in it's history. I guess Rent just brought it out more into the mainstream so we celebrated it.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/3/19 at 10:13am

GeorgeandDot said: "Rent is a weird one. I was so moved by the entire evening when I saw it originally on Broadway and then was struck by this absolutely bizarre ending that just left me puzzled. Also, I just don't think it holds up very well anymore. The paint has started to peel and I struggle to see what's so great about the writing. The story is not original, the score is good with a few moments of greatness, but there's a lot of it that's crap. I remember going back and watching the video of the Broadway production and thinking how over acted the whole thing was. Looking back, I really can't see what we were all flipping out over. We had already seen Angels in America and Falsettos which are both superior works that focus on New York City at a similar time in it's history. I guess Rent just brought it out more into the mainstream so we celebrated it."

Like many other shows, it is not perfect, but many of the performances and a lot of the songs are thrilling (to me and many others). The ending fits perfectly with the theme and pov so I am not sure why it is puzzling. If one did not know the source material, and react to it, I see nothing to be puzzled about. I loved the original referenced above, hate that live filmed version, and despise the movie. I think most filmed stage shows seem over-acted because it is taking something intended for viewing in one way and forcing it into another. (This is one reason why I am an opponent of the current filming fad.) I'll withhold judgment of the live tv version, fingers crossed. The New York portrayed in Rent is wholly different than the one in Angels and Falsettos. It is also not a story seeking approval of the lifestyle but the mainstream. I'm not sure what the earlier post about Mimi spreading HIV is thinking: this was something that was happening; why would you want the show to whitewash that story? I think the show holds up as a period piece. A lot of it remains contemporary, with a bit of shifting of story and locale. I enjoy listening to it at Christmastime, as I did this year.

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/3/19 at 10:39am

GeorgeandDot said: "Rent is a weird one. I was so moved by the entire evening when I saw it originally on Broadway and then was struck by this absolutely bizarre ending that just left me puzzled."

But it's based on an 1896 opera, so the bones of the piece made it through 100 years just fine, but 20 years later, it all fell apart?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/3/19 at 11:34am

well, TBF, those bones did not include the ending that caused so much puzzlement.  And to be the fairest of all, the fact that source material endures does not really correlate with an adaption not falling apart. Were that the case, Harry Potter would have had to find another theatre.