My Rent Rant

[LuvUrBatBoy]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:28am

so as not to accused of Threadjacking, i'll give my little rant here it's own thread. Curious as to whether anybody feels me on this subject. Here goes: (pasted from the family guy post)

Im well aware I dissed Rent. I am a devout Rent not-liker lol. I have never cared for the music that much, think it is very overrated, is reaching Cats like proportions of overexposure and many of the people who see it don't get what they are seeing, but choose rather to gush over the cute guys.

Nothing irks me more when I say "Yeah I do theatre," or "yeah Im an actor" and the person's to whom Im speaking's response is "I love theatre, I saw Rent." My response to that is "and what was it about." and 9 times out of 10 their responses mainly consist of "a lot of drug stuff but the music was good and really romantic."
Blech. Light My Candle isn't about love, it's about wanting to melt your crack so you can shoot it.

I saw Rent, I didn't care for it. If you want to see a powerful show about AIDS, see Angels in America. If you want to see a powerful show about survival and hardship, see Ragtime. If you wanna see a show about gay guys, see anyshow on Broadway right now lol. My friends have joked with me (and here come the rants) that the only people who like Rent are 13 year old girls in Nebraska who dont know any better.

Just my opinion. Don't hate me too much

[Seany]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:36am

Rent is pretty awesome. Just extremley overrated.

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:37am

Very well put. I don't hate the show, but my god it's not the only show out there.

[staticradar]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:40am

Ok lets preface this by saying that I'm a 23 year old female that adores RENT. I know what the show is about and to me it's a touching show about real life.

It's all fine and well not to like RENT or not to be a fan, but it's the generalazations you have made that aren't even close to being right.

Most of my friends love RENT and not one of them is under then age of 16. All of them are quite aware of the plot and know the show inside and out.

Light my candle, yes has drug refrences, but is also supposed to be a flirtation of sorts between Roger and Mimi. Not overly romantic like Your Eyes or I Should Tell you, but it has it's sweet moments.

Most RENTHEADS aren't like what you described. People that love the show know the show and have for years.

Also most go outside of RENT and see other shows. It's because of RENT that I got into more broadway shows. Before RENT I had only been exposed to Rogers and Hammerstien and Andrew Lloyd Webber, RENT opened doors for me to go check out other things. Now I have a wide scope of musicals that I have since fallen in love with. I'm a huge Sondheim, William Finn and Jason Robert Brown fan now and I owe it to RENT for getting me deep into musical theatre. Without that show I wouldn't be the Broadway lover I am today.

So yeah that's my rant. Flame me if you must, just had to get that off my chest.

[PerhapsACreamPuff]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:41am

For the record. LMC's about heroin, not crack.

[Seany]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:43am

Sweet moments for a couple of crackheads. Otherwise, pretty lackluster.

I love Rent.

Drew Lachey is hilarious. He sucks in Rent.

Updated On: 9/21/04 at 01:43 AM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:44am

I adore Rent (and will shill for the current tour for a good long time), but I agree with you that it's saddening (maddening?) when people call themselves a Broadway fan after seeing one show, regardless of what it is.

I've got a friend who's a self-proclaimed "Broadway fan" but all she's seen and enjoyed is Aida and Wicked (and the appreciation for the latter was diminished because Wicked was "so much better", and you can only like one Broadway show, natch!). She refuses to watch any other Broadway productions, incl. the classics, and any time she does see a show, it's compared to Wicked.

Now if that doesn't piss you off as much as it does to me...

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:46am

Just for the record...I thought Rent was just ok, and Frenchie Davis scares the crap out of me.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:50am

Is it the extremely massive boobage?

[karlean7]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 2:46am

I'm also told that Light My Candle is a sexual innuendo reference.

I'm 20, and I love Rent. A lot. I also love a lot of OTHER shows, but I will say that first and foremost, I love Rent. And the hot guys have really not that much to do with it.

But I also accept that people don't, and to each his own, right? Right. I don't even know why I'm posting this, except to say what I said in my first sentence.

[525600Minutes]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 3:14am

I am 25 now and have fallen in love with this show ever since I heard the CD for the first time which was on December 24, 1996. I had not seen any cute Rent guys until 1999 when it started in Germany. So please don't say that only 13 year old girls from Nebraska like that show because even people in Germany love it.

I love the show for its music, story, feelings and message. And by the way: It's not that easy to summarize the Rent story in just one sentence.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 10:08am

Ok, so what you are saying is, because I have only seen a total of 3 shows on tour and none on Broadway (I have seen a few local productions).....that I am not a Broadway fan?

Anyway, I love RENT to death. I know the story, I am straight so no "cute guys", and the girls I could care less what they look like. The story is touching and beautiful and the songs are awesome. Also, I am a 21 year old MALE from South Carolina (not Nebraska) who will fight for RENT to the death. Yes, I admit that is reaching CAT like proportions, but who cares. So, a lot of people like a show. BIG DEAL!!!!! Lord, I need a shot of Mountain Dew and a gallery of Catherine Zeta Jones pictures right now.

EDIT: Also, it is a great show because people who have seen it mulitple times and listen to the cast recording religously still go, "so, that is what happened?" You can't do that about RAGAIME (no offense to the RAGTIME fans, because I am one). Most shows are pretty straight forward in what they are trying to bring to the table. RENT has so many hidden things because of staging and whatnot. Ok, off I go for MD and CZJ pics to calm me down

Updated On: 9/21/04 at 10:08 AM

[TheGirlinTheFrock]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 10:22am

I love RENT, I dont live in Nebraska, and I am not 15.

I was at the HAIR concert last night, and stage doored, and RENT was letting out around the same time. Frenchie walked out and left as soon as she could. From the brief moment I saw her, she didn't look like a pleasant person. Also, Drew came out and NO ONE was there waiting for him except about 8 people. Very funny, but very sad at the same time. Oh well!

[laactress]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 11:44am

I love RENT! I saw it back in 1996 and I have seen it several different times with several different cast's and I always love it. I OBVIOUSLLY love th OBC the best but there are other good cast's out there like the LA cast!

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:18pm

I saw the tour this past January and LOVED IT!!

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:21pm

I love the show for what it is...a now period piece about the struggles of village people.

The societal level implications it once had just don't ring as true anymore. It's a different world now, so the piece is a period piece, and should be appreciated as such.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:30pm

Um.........I don't really agree with you on that one. People still struggle for their art, AIDS still is a epidemic, Drug use is still rampant, and tolerance is not what it should be. I don't see how it is a "period piece." But, that is just me

Updated On: 9/21/04 at 01:30 PM

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:34pm

It's a period piece because it speaks in the language of that time, not because things are not still problems now.

People still fall in and out of love, but that doesn't make Great Expectations a modern piece.

[PerhapsACreamPuff]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:35pm

You can say it's a period piece in 30 or 40 years, but when the show's not even ten years old? Sure some of it's dated, and it's obvious the show isn't brand new, but it's not a "period" piece, and it's still very relevant.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:36pm

Ok, I do agree that some things are outdated. But in no way does it make it a period piece. Touch, what do you think makes it a period piece? just out of curiousity. Sorry if it sounds like I am attacking you or anything because I am not. Still luv ya.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:38pm

Period pieces are deinfed by their language. Peopple used to talk the way Rent talks, but they don't anymore (unless they're Rent fanatics...and that's just kind of sad).

Yes, the show still brings up subjects that aren';t solved, but it doesn't say anything new about them, nor does it possibilize.

[PerhapsACreamPuff]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:41pm

Could you give me some examples of how the characters that aren't part of common speech anymore? Obviously speech patterns that exist due to the musical/rhyming nature of the show wouldn't count, but others?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:44pm

1) costumes are different if it is to be modern day.

2) issues of their geographic area are different

3) drug names as vernacular are different

4) AIDS medication has changed the crisis somewhat from what it was then.

need more?

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:44pm

And is possibilize even a word?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 9/21/04 at 1:47pm

Yes, baby, it is. It has to do with imagining a solution to a problem.