The Official "What Does Rent Mean To Me" Thread

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:13am

Go:

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:14am

Lease

[JKlock]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:14am

nothing

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:17am

Rent is what the beauty is

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:23am

Not a single thing.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:25am

One man's dream (hopefully) fulfilled, which for better or worse, will live on after the final curtain, leaving a countless number of heavy hearts, gentle hands, and vocal chords scarred.
Updated On: 1/16/08 at 01:25 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:31am

Several years of fun and several more of mockery.

[Urban]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:01am

Sorry, nothing.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:54am

I was reading RENT definitions at UrbanDictionary (don't ask me why), and among all the entries stating how it was the best musical ever and how amazing it is was this little gem:

a really really stupid piece of **** play/musical/movie that is obssessed over by drama nerds in every suburban high school in america. i mean honestly, its alright for girls but when i see a guy in his skin-tight black shirt with the word "rent" in spray-painted stencil, i just wanna go up to him and say "before you ask, no. i won't suck your dick, and you can't suck mine". its basically about this group of homosexuals who live together and give eachother AIDS, then they dont want to pay rent on their apartment. So if you like AIDS, gays, and transvestites, see this peice of ****. Otherwise, if you're normal, see wayne's world instead.

"Dude, my girlfriend is in drama so she made me watch rent with her last night. It sucked but she did give me head afterwards, that was the best part"


Charming.

[Urban]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:45am

The second one made me laugh Priest I have to sadly admit. :)

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:30am

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
ReNt was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that ReNt would last for ever: I was wrong.

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:33am

$1,300 a month.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:34am

RENT means Up With People singing Styx.

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:38am

Mr. Roboto Styx or Show Me The Way Styx?

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:43am

I pay $450 in Brooklyn.

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:45am

It was the 1st broadway shows that truely got me interested in the world of shows and broadway. I WILL MISS IT VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH

NO DAY BUT TODAY TO SEE THIS SHOW b4 it closes

I'm CRYING on the inside

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:46am

Saw the show with the original cast, but I'm sorry to say it did absolutely nothing for me. Once was enough. Although I really liked, "Seasons of Love".

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:47am

Mine's $950 in Brooklyn.

But seriously... I posted this on the Goodbye thread, but here seems a fitting place as well...

My fascination with the show began with all the media coverage around its opening. Dateline or 20/20 or whichever one of those it was that did the whole hour on it...I was glued to the set. Probably because I was in that age group of the characters and could really relate to trying to find your way in the world.

I didn't see it until November 1997 ~ I was in seminary outside DC and it came through on tour. I had barely any money, but I splurged to get a ticket to see the show. I loved it.

I had the OBCR, listened to it a lot ~ so much that the second tape started sounding funny ~ but it never really went beyond that. Then in 2006 I moved to NYC. I was in the teaching fellows program and getting ready to start. I'd come out in the last few years, and met some great friends. One of whom knew Jonathan very well and was part of the group of friends who helped to make up the characters in Rent. We talked a lot about the show and everything else. It made me start really thinking about the show as the SHOW again. So when I'd been in Bryant Park for the Pride Week kick-off rally and saw the group outside the Nederlander as I was walking back to get on the subway, I randomly decided to enter the lottery. And I won.

Seeing it that night...knowing Frank...being in a new place... Everything just came together, and it was a really emotional evening for me. The summer training wasn't easy ~ not because of the school or work but because of about half the people in my small group. They hated me...or at least weren't at all friendly, and they were absolute beasts to our professors and trainers (These would be the just out of college I didn't do Teach for America because I wanted a lot of choice over where I went and this will look great on my law/med school application crowd. Not that they're ALL like that, but a lot are.), and the show became my refuge from all the drama. It was a safe place to come home to.

And then something happened and I changed...grew up... I don't know. (I don't mean the grew up thing as an insult to anyone...I'm just trying to make sense of things.) I went to see iti with Adam and Anthony and loved it ~ aside from the screaming pre-teens who were barely born when it started. But even then it was different. It was kind of like looking back at my old journals and seeing where I'd come from.

And now its closing is announced. I know I'm not going to even try to get in the mad craziness I know it will be at the end. But I'm thinking about trying the lottery again to see it one last time and say good-bye. (I've always had luck going solo.) Part of that probably stems from the fact that my friend's HIV is rapidly turning into full-blown AIDS, and I don't know that we'll get to see each other again. In a way, seeing the show one more time would sort of be a way to say good-bye to him...

I don't know... It's just all kinds of mixed emotions right now. I'm not devastated...just kind of...in shock.

[MisterRussell]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:12pm

I just threw up in my mouth a little...

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:17pm

It means a great theatre will be renovated and something fresh and new will be seen on Broadway! Thank God!

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:20pm

The memory of a very close friend that died of AIDS not long after the show opened.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:30pm

I saw it once, original cast. I thought it was ok. What I liked was the spirit and energy of the cast, especially since it was shortly after Larson's death.

I don't like to make too much fun of it though, because I got to know Al and Nan Larson during the run of Tick Tick Boom, and I like them. I'm happy that their son's work went on to make them proud.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:34pm

Rent means bills for my Daddy every month.

RENT the musical means my 6th grade year. My year of discovery. I became very urbanized thanks to RENT. I really did.

(P.S. I thought there already was one of these threads?)

[Fiyero13]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:43pm

RENT has been in my life for ten years now. I saw it for the first time in 98 after my grandpa died and in 2003 when my uncle died(relatives living in NYC at the time). So the message of love and sharing are prevalent. Although being a Christian and often being criticized for loving RENT I learned to incorporate values from both in my life harmoniously. RENT will always hold a special place in my heart for its message of Love through adversity.

[longshadowsfalling]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:37pm

New York City, the beginning of my Broadway obsession, talented actors, beautiful music, the most moving lyrics ever written, amazing friends, and above all a kick-ass show that doesn't deserve to close.