RENT is coming to high schools...

[new_philosophy_girl]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 9:12pm

My alma mater was picked to perform a "school version" of RENT this upcoming fall. Really don't know what is going to be cut out/left in...


From today's Bucks County Courier Times

The Harry S Truman High School theater group, in the midst of preparing for its upcoming performances of “Aida,” learned last week that it has been selected to do the pilot performance of “Rent: The School Version,” theater director Lou Volpe said Monday.

Representatives of Music Theatre International contacted Volpe to see if the nationally known Truman troupe would be interested in staging the musical. Volpe responded: “Of course.”

“Rent,” a modern-day version of the opera “La Boheme,” is the story of a group of young artists struggling to live and celebrate life.

The Truman thespians will perform their version of the award-winning musical in November, Volpe said.

Updated On: 2/27/07 at 09:12 PM

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 9:21pm

I sort of want to see it but on the other hand, I'm glad I won't be able to...

Unless it's during Thanksgiving weekend which I highly doubt.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 9:25pm

A high school in Wisconsin did the first workshop of this version sometime last year. Personally, I'm not optimistic about this version.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 9:26pm

My music teacher actually told me quite a while ago that this was being developed. I'm kind of interested, and kind of scared.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 9:30pm

Just wait until MTI tries to create a Junior version of Wicked.

Never want to do a Junior show

[i*heart*fame]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 10:15pm

I've been in three junior shows(well one was a one-act edition, same difference), each worst than the last. THey are all just so awful. THey are not a good way to get little kids hooked on theater(why the director chose them in my case)

[stonewall2]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 10:18pm

Somehow, I can just imgine the looks on the staff and administration at my daughter's all-girl's Catholic prep school!!! OMG, the theatre of the mind is a wonderful thing!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 10:20pm

I feel like Wicked would be a much easier show to turn into a junior version than Rent, although perhaps not musically.

And... ugh. This is such an unnecessary bastardization. I'm sure someone will say that people shouldn't be upset about it because it's spreading the love and letting the fans perform the show, why should we limit its outreach, blah blah blah, but honestly, it just doesn't need to be done. Leave well enough alone and let the fangirls see it, not be in it.

Updated On: 2/27/07 at 10:20 PM

[MotorTink]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 10:24pm

I agree Emcee. And RENT is such a touchy show, because so much of the show's plot is based on the controversial issues, and I just don't see how they can cut or water down stuff down.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 11:53pm

This isn't a junior show. It's a school edition to be performed at the high school level. It's been in the works for two years now and has had two workshop productions. Very little has been cut.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/27/07 at 11:58pm

Highschools are doing workshops?
and luvthe is putting down fangirls?
The World is certainly ending.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:07am

Hey now.

And to clarify, I mean like... the ever-multiplying generations of 14, 15, 16 year olds that perpetuate the Rent fanbase (into which category I do not fit). I'm not saying their existence is a completely bad thing, in theory, but I don't think they should be performing the show. It's bad enough to have to listen to them belting the score outside the theater.

Aside from the fact that you can rarely address me without rude commentary, that's what I meant.

And while I don't feel like taking over yet another thread with this banter between you and I, if you knew anything about me other than what your conveniently selective reading gives you in comparison to the widely-used definition of "fangirl," or if you had ever seen these kids in action, you wouldn't feel the need to make the rude commentary and so constantly nitpick my posts. You somehow seem to have misjudged somewhere, since you're one of the only people on this board who truly thinks (or has decided) that I legitimately expect to sleep with an actor, or whatever your problem is with me. Apparently made peace only lasts so long.

But really, the world hasn't ended because I put down fangirls. Maybe the world has ended because you've finally been proven wrong. If I actually did fit into that category, I wouldn't have the ability to pass judgement on those who do, now would I? Like they say in Proof -- a crazy person does not have the ability to ask herself: "am I crazy?"

ANYway. Also, why shouldn't this version be workshopped in a high school? Things have to be worked on somewhere, might as well be done in its projected context.

Updated On: 2/28/07 at 12:07 AM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:10am

UNCG is doing it next year - thought I don't think it is the school version. I believe it is the MTI general one.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:12am

Well, colleges shouldn't be doing the high school version.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:16am

I wish the Larson estate was more concerned about artistry rather than money. This is not what Larson had in mind when he made the show. If you take all the edge off it then it's just another ol' musical.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:17am

I would love a High School to do the original version.
It would be very liberating.
and challenging.
Imagine the protests.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:21am

Rentboy, I'm actually a little surprised that they'd allow for this, given that they are supposedly so protective over the work. Even if the cuts to this version are minimal, it just seems like you can't guarantee anything in terms of production quality in a high school, unless it's a well-regarded performing arts high school (several of which probably could handle pulling off the real version).

Updated On: 2/28/07 at 12:21 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 12:37am

Last I heard, they had cut out any same sex kissing. While it's not "that much", it definitely alters Jonathan Larson's intention with the show.

[winston89]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 1:36am

I heard that they alterd the line in Light my candle when Mimi drops her stash. I heard that they altered it from stash to cash. And when Roger tells mimi that he didn't recgonize her with the handcuffs on they change that to lipstick.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 1:41am

...

I'm not a fan of the idea at all.
I agree that this isn't what Jonathan Larson had in mind.
I don't know what else to say aside from "Mm."

Put it to bed.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 1:48am

NO. This has "bad idea" written all over it. First and foremost, how many high schools have enough kids to make the songs work? RENT ain't a standard score. Second, if the material must be changed so as to be palatable to parents and administrators, and RENT would have to be changed a lot, then why even bother?

[sondhead]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 1:57am

Isn't anyone happy that even ONE high school kid might audition for their school production of Rent that wouldnt if it was My Fair Lady or something?

Broadway Jr. and High School Editions have never been overly about artistry. They are to get kids involved in theatre. Track down the PBS documentary "Children Will Listen" and you'll see what a powerful tool it can be.

Keep in mind the Jr. shows were approved by the original authors many times. They know these shows aren't written to be done professionally, which is why they are not available for professional production (that is involving players older than 1.

I'm glad children are being brought into theatre and are being exposed to shows they might otherwise never be exposed to. That is the entire purpose of School Editions and Broadway Jr.

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 2:13am

certainly a rock musical would get more students excited about doing something with their drama club but if you have to change parts of the story line (is mimi now a ballet dancer instead of a stripper?) and many of the lyrics (mom whats sodomy?) then it just seems silly to tear this musical apart to make it available. The sad thing is, most kids probably could handle the material without it being altered. Its the adults who will feel better with the show being tamed.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 2:47am

No good can come of this.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/28/07 at 2:53am

Isn't anyone happy that even ONE high school kid might audition for their school production of Rent that wouldnt if it was My Fair Lady or something?
Only the high school students that are deluded enough to think that they're capable of doing justice to Rent.