How long do you think Rent will stay on Broadway? Longer than Cats?- Page 3

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 1:38pm

i'm sure even after rent closes on broadway it will have a long touring life ahead of it (since the tours seem less inclined to avoid new talent) i think one of rent's bigger issues currently is the cast is starting to get on the stale side, i'm all for cast members making return trips but when cast members start getting visibly bored, or start goofing off (matt caplan in both respects) its not a good sign. Chicago will most likely outlive it simply because current events always seem to pop up that mirror the events in the show.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 3:08pm

RENT is full of A-list THEATRE actors.

You haven't seen RENT recently, have you?

I'm in agreement with Michael Bennett here -- RENT does not have much life left in it. If it wasn't for the movie, it would have closed by now (but I believe the movie release will give a good bump to the Broadway production's revenues, and it will be around for another three or four years). Regardless of the weekly operating costs, it's much more profitable for the producers to close the show and release the rights for regional productions.

I fail to see how some people's opinions are being affected by their "bias" -- one's love for RENT has no relation to how long this show has left in it, and the financial realities of running a Broadway show.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 4:40pm

I don't understand what the dated aspect has to do with it. Everything becomes dated. If you think about it, Chicago is dated because it's not the 1920's and there is no prohibition. People can buy alcohol now, but does that stop them from seeing Chicago? But greed, fame, murder, media, etc are all still very relevant. From RENT, AZT and the East Village are both dated (how they are portrayed). But love, survival, death, friendship, etc are all still very relevant. The fact that the East Village is different now is not going to stop anyone from seeing a show. See? Both shows have their dated aspects. I don't see why that's holding RENT back. What Aigoo said, though, the fact that it draws a more specific audience. I could see that being much more of a detriment than the "dated" aspect.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 4:49pm

The difference Ashley is that CHICAGO was written to be a period piece. RENT, like HAIR before it, was written to be contemporary. Indeed, it was written to be a MODERN version of "La Boheme." But, the show is actually so dated now, that when they made the film they had to make a period piece out of it!

All Broadway shows have "universalities" that keep them relevent; and thats why shows live on in regional theatre.

But it's getting harder and harder for RENT to work as "contemporary" theatre when the world it depicts is so not current anymore. Maybe they need to change the "date" the show takes place, in the program to 1990.
Updated On: 8/8/05 at 04:49 PM

[ashley0139]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 6:27pm

Thank you for explaining where this is coming from, Michael. But why can't it change from a contemporary piece to a period piece? It wouldn't change it much, would it? I mean, people still like Hair. Now they use it to look back on that time of Vietnam and hippies. Just because it's period doesn't mean it can't be successful.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 6:31pm

Well historically, most things can't transition from being current to being a period piece. They have to go through being "dated" first.

The original production of HAIR ran for four years, closing in 1972, because by that time, the "threat" of Vietnam was basically over, and that was what made the show so powerful to begin with. The show was brought back to Broadway in 1977, just five years later, but hippies were definitely "not" in vogue and the show closed almost immediately. Could the show be revived today? Probably, if it were explicitly made a period piece (the gimmick of the original was that the audience was sitting in a hippie be in).

But RENT is hitting that period where it's not long enough ago to be nostalgic and not recent enough to be current.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 6:53pm

Except the current mindset especially of the young is instant nostalgia, the 90's are a period of Nostalgia, especially for the younger generation. That coupled with the appeal of Rent allows it to be less dated. Yes as with Hair the music is dated, but again culturally we have shifted into a warp speed mode, Rent has already passed into being a period piece, and probably has been for 4 years or so.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 6:53pm

Most Rentheads don't want to realize that...


CHICAGO has many aspects that RENT dosen't have. CHICAGO has an "old time musical" feel. It has amazing choreography (some of the best on Bway) and has musical numbers staged in the vaudeville style. It has a famous, and classic score by two higly acclaimed composers.

Rent is targeted to the "teen audiences." The average 50 year old woman would most like choose to see Chicago over Rent.

No matter how you look at it - Chicago is a classic, and Rent has yet to reach that status, nor should reach that status for quite some time.

So CHICAGO simply offers more for the average Broadway audience.
And with all these aspects that audiences are still craving after almost 10 years, I think CHICAGO has 4-5 years left. Rent does not.

[Mini_Mimi17]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 10:42pm

It has to that show can not close until im in it haha juss kidding no I think it will stay on longer then Cats, Cats was really good but Rent is 10 times better.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 10:55pm

I love RENT. Really I do, the message, the music, the opportunity it gives, the lyrics, the story, everything. But I honestly cannot see it surpassing even the next two years AT ALL. I just think interest from the general public will die down.

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 8/8/05 at 11:03pm

No way it will be gone in two years. People have bee nsaying there's only a "couple years left" since the first OBC member left. RENT has at least 4, 5 years left. Obviosuly public interest hasn't died down since attendance has been somewhere around the 80% mark now...

And by any standard, RENT IS a classic. As it should be