Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

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Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 11:46am

GOOD READ: New York Times
As a Musical Winds Down, the Writing’s on the Wall
by Tina Kelley

Click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/nyregion/29rent.html

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 12:19pm

I saw that this morning...the bits about the celebrity wall were very interesting, but are they really going to whitewash it??

And I was still disheartened by the fan graffiti. I can't believe it was only a year ago that I last saw the show, and I didn't see any noticeable graffiti...but between photos I've seen on BWW and the ones in this article, I can see that the problem has almost completely taken off within the past year.

"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit." (Emanuel Azenberg)

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 12:27pm

I passed by the Nederlander the other day and the fan grafiti all over the front facade is very noticeable even from a short distance. There are better ways to show appreciation for a show than defacing a Broadway theatre. It just makes the front of the theatre look so unattractive and ugly.

But the part about the celebrity wall sounds interesting. They should try and salvage it and maybe auction it off with the proceeds going to Jonathan Larson's foundation or Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.

"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Updated On: 3/29/08 at 12:27 PM

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 12:38pm

I agree. I think the graffiti on the outside wall is disgusting and unnecessary, but the "autograph alley" wall should really be preserved. I've been back there, and it's incredible to see. There's a whole section of the wall, in one of the top corners, where one of Jonathan's best friends wrote after seeing opening night. A huge long letter to him, and it's beautiful. Die-hard fans of any show would say it's upsetting to see a show close and the marquis taken down and all of that, but this wall is so unique. It's a different experience, in a way, and I really think it should be preserved in some way.

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 12:43pm

The writer of that article got a few of his facts wrong:

He mentions how an exotic dancer dies slowly in Rent--obviously a reference to Mimi, who actually does not die.

He says that fans have been writing graffiti on the Nederlander "since the played opened....in 1996" The graffiti justed this year.

And finally he says that Rent has people lining up outside the theater because of the lottery and he suggested that no other show does that, which pretty much every other show does that!

Whats up New York Times??

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 12:44pm

Glorifing graffiti.

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 1:18pm

I personally think that the wall in the alley could make loads of money for BC/EFA and should be auctioned. The grafitti outside of the theatre should be cleaned up sooner rather than later.

http://www.beintheheights.com/katnicole1 (Please click and help me win!) I chose, and my world was shaken- So what?
The choice may have been mistaken, The choosing was not... "Every day has the potential to be the greatest day of your life." - Lin-Manuel Miranda "And when Idina Menzel is singing, I'm always slightly worried that her teeth are going to jump out of her mouth and chase me." - Schmerg_the_Impaler

re: Good Read: NY TIMES 'Rent' Wall Graffiti

Posted: 3/29/08 at 1:47pm

I've been in that alley, and I did get to sign my name there a few years ago. It was like a museum, walking around and looking at all the people that have signed the wall. It's really a shame that there's no way to preserve it.

"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy." -Charlie Manson

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