When did ReNt become a classic?
When did ReNt become a classic?
#1When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 6:56amWas reading a article the other day and they where talking about classic broadway shows, Showboat, The King and I and so on. The last show that was mentioned was Rent ( I must add that other recent show like Cats, Phantom, Jesus, Sweeney and so on, where not mentioned only Rent ). I was just wondering when did Rent become a classic?
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#2re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 6:58am
Well, it's one of only seven musicals of all time to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
That alone places it in the classic category.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
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-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#2re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 7:03amI had forgotton about Rent winning the Pulitzer.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
bk2china2chi
Swing Joined: 4/4/07
#3re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:03pm
I think that RENT will achieve "classic" status... along with some of those landmark shows... Show Boat, Oklahoma, HAIR, Chorus Line...
Though the through-sung, opera-like musical is not a new genre (Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miz, Evita), RENT is an AMERICAN classic, that dealt with contemporary issues facing our country.
It has also succeeded in bringing a youth movement to the theater. Shows like ALTERBOYZ, WICKED, SPRING AWAKENING would never have found an audience without the precedent of RENT.
Glad it's on the list.
#4re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:09pmWhen Spring Awakening opened.
BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#5re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:31pmI agree that without Rent there wouldn't be the current youth market that there is on Broadway. Keep in mind that the big thing in the youth theatre market is the rush/lotto system. Rent was the show that started this system in motion.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
Updated On: 2/9/08 at 12:31 PM
#6re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:42pmJust had to come in here and ask why people insist on spelling it like that, with a capital N.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#7re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:46pmI actually thought it was spelled RENT or Rent...not with the mix of letters.
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
#8re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:51pmYeah, I'm not really getting the "ReNt" joke.
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#9re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 1:08pm
The N in the Rent logo is raised slightly higher then the rest of the letters in there. That is why people spell it ReNt. I do think it is stupid mind you but still.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
jordangirl
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/1/06
#10re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 1:11pmIt's not really higher...it's just crooked. LOL.
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#11re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 1:23pm
This is so wrong, but, Mr Larson's death gave it much needed publicity and without that, it wouldn't have lasted this long.
Not in the shape its in, anyway. Mr Larson would've refined it, fixed the rough edges, made it more complete.
It's still unfinished, I think, which might make it better.
I dunno.
I'd consider it an American classic.
"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere
sally1112
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/13/04
#12re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 1:33pm
Clearly it is a classic. But like all pieces of art, that is a very subjective term.
#13re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 5:31pm
it's a classic for many reasons:
1) it was only one of seven musicals to win a Pulitzer for Drama
2) it changed the demographic of the Broadway goer drastically
3) it produced a new sound, albeit an amalgam of old sounds and styles, in a work that spoke directly of it's time
"The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life." - Arthur Miller
Becky
Broadway Star Joined: 5/14/03
#14re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 8:46pm
This is so wrong, but, Mr Larson's death gave it much needed publicity and without that, it wouldn't have lasted this long.
I love Anthony Rapp's comment to this argument: "Rent didn't win the Pulitzer based on sentiment." Gave it publicity? Yes. But keep in mind RENT was also creating quite a buzz before his death, so it's impossible to say how the show would have done without Jon's death.
**edited to say that that by definition of classic (1. of the first or highest quality, class, or rank: a classic piece of work) --- I guess I would say RENT had a lot of "firsts" and is of "high quality" in my opinion, so I guess I see why someone would consider it "classic".
Updated On: 2/9/08 at 08:46 PM
#15re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 9:35pm
"I love Anthony Rapp's comment to this argument: "Rent didn't win the Pulitzer based on sentiment.""
It did.
It won the Tony on sentiment. It won its reviews on sentiment. Its whole success is based on sentiment.
And it's not a classic. Sorry.
COOOOLkid
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
#16re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 9:38pm^ What buzz?
"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!"
-Family Guy
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#17re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 9:42pmI just spell it that way to annoy people.
sondhead
Broadway Star Joined: 10/25/06
#18re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/9/08 at 9:52pm
"This is so wrong, but, Mr Larson's death gave it much needed publicity and without that, it wouldn't have lasted this long.
Not in the shape its in, anyway. Mr Larson would've refined it, fixed the rough edges, made it more complete.
It's still unfinished, I think, which might make it better.
I dunno.
I'd consider it an American classic."
It's not wrong. It's true. Just like the 42nd Street capitalized on Gower Champion's death.
I mean, let's be honest. What is so awesome about RENT anyways? For as much as people call it a "loose" adaptation of Boheme, it is pretty much the EXACT same story except for it's updated and AIDs instead of Tuberculosis. Not to mention it was praised for being so 'gritty' and being a "real" document of that society, and yet they chose to end it with a character coming back from the dead. Not only is this just silly, but it's actually more depressing. I mean, the girl still is going to die, so what--we're happy she's come back for a few more days?
My opinion of the show with or without Larson's death is certainly much lower than some, but I just find it impossible to believe that RENT would have had anywhere near the impact it did had Larson survived.
Which reminds me, if one more person says the fact that it used popular music was revolutionary I'm going to wretch. Broadway has featured popular music since its inception. Not even Hair was the first. If anything, Broadway has since the 60's been incredibly late to the game popular-music wise, and RENT and Spring Awakening are no different.
#20re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/10/08 at 12:59am
Rent brought people into the Nederlander for about 12 years and it has toured almost as long.
Filling a theatre for 12 years doesn't happen on sentiment. It doesn't happen just because of a Tony. And it doesn't happen due to the writer's death.
Most likely, many of the people who have seen Rent over the 12 years don't even know who wrote it or when and how he died. I would say this common for any musical. Especially for young people who saw the musical after a bit of the hubbub subsided.
I think many of you forget that in it's time Rent was groundbreaking. It touched upon subjects that were not particularly common on (popular) stage and screen. I know that as a young teen, "Angel" was the first drag queen I'd ever seen, and Rent was probably one of the first shows I'd seen with gay relationships (specifically loving relationships).
The language, the roughness, the fact that it was departing from the British spectaculars that dominated Broadway and addressing a very serious issue of the time (AIDS) were all things that weren't particularly prominent in musicals at the time.
The fact that it became mainstream with all this is amazing. Yes, the show is unfinished, and I know that Larson followed in the tradition of many writers and composers before him, but I believe Rent will be considered a "classic" in the future.
Sondhead, it's called suspension of disbelief... but I do agree that she probably WOULD die soon after the finale.
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
sondhead
Broadway Star Joined: 10/25/06
#21re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/10/08 at 1:25am
"Sondhead, it's called suspension of disbelief... but I do agree that she probably WOULD die soon after the finale."
Well, when none of the rest of your story is based in fantasy in any manner...
"I think many of you forget that in it's time Rent was groundbreaking. It touched upon subjects that were not particularly common on (popular) stage and screen. I know that as a young teen, "Angel" was the first drag queen I'd ever seen, and Rent was probably one of the first shows I'd seen with gay relationships (specifically loving relationships)."
La Cage anyone?
"Filling a theatre for 12 years doesn't happen on sentiment. It doesn't happen just because of a Tony. And it doesn't happen due to the writer's death."
Once something becomes the "cool" thing or the "thing to see" [read: tourist attraction] it fills seats for many years, and Larson's death is what caused this.
AnnaK<3LMIP
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/20/07
#22re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/10/08 at 1:25amWell, it didn't quite FILL the Nederlander for 12 years, but I get your point.
I mean, Denzel Washington? Gun to my head..of course.
Craww
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
#23re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/10/08 at 1:33am
I kind of think something being 'A Classic' is objective, and it's probably too soon to tell if RENT really rates.
But no matter how much you dislike the piece, your opinion is never going to be able to affect its eventual standing in the history of musical theater. Sorry.
#24re: When did ReNt become a classic?
Posted: 2/10/08 at 1:40am
deus ex machina:
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/deus%20ex%20machina
La Cage:
I didn't forget about that, but the fact that Rent did become popular allowed the opportunity to present these types of relationships to a large audience for many years. And it brought the AIDS scare into the forefront of the storyline... It also brought young people into the theatre and introduced them to these ideas. I didn't hear anything about teens lining up for La Cage (not that I'm an expert).
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
Updated On: 2/10/08 at 01:40 AM
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