RENT: Your First Time- Page 2

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 9:57am

Heh, long time ago would be ten years ago Howar/Caplan are definitely in the past two years time frame.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:07am

Some time in 2000 I was in 5th grade and I don't really remember it much except I know i LOVED the music and bought the *highlights* cd. I remember likeing Maureen (i think it was maggie benjamin jsut from memory but i honestly couldn't be sure)not understanding contact, and realizing that angel was a man. As soon as the show was over I kept telling my parents how fun that show must be to be in.

My "real first time" as i like to call it though was January 21, 2006 Junior year of highschool. I went with the GLASS club at my school and paid only $10. I saw Will Chase, Matt Caplan, Antonique, Ava Gaudet, Frenchie Davis, Desten Owens, D'monroe, Shaun Earl, Kenna Ramsey, Marcus Paul James, Haven Burton... the whole lot.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:13am

January 25, 2005 - My first Broadway show! I had performed in my first musical the year before and decided that I wanted to go see one on Broadway. I kept asking and bringing up the idea. I think my mother got tired of hearing me, because on my 16th birthday she handed me two tickets to Rent. We saw the show two weeks later on the 25th. I was completely blown away by the whole thing. From the time I walked into the theatre that night I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. I walked out of the Nederlander that night saying I'd be back for the following night's show. Rent was what really got me into theatre for good. I've seen it two more times since then, and will probably try and go again before it closes.

[Katecab99]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:15am

1998 - broadway - try ellett, maggie benjamin...i absolutely fell in love. it's the show that completely catapulted me into musical theatre. there's no way for me to count how many times i've sat in the nederlander theatre since that night.

my best memory is from 2002 when a group of friends started off my 21st birthday celebration by going together. i'll never, ever forget it.

[Jyn326]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:28am

June 2006. I was with a tour group and they chose Tarzan. So as soon as the bus pulled up to the hotel I begged them to let me off early (it was really close to show time). I ran to TKTS to get Rent tickets and then ran to the theatre, having to ask for directions the whole way. It had Tim Howar and I forgot who played Mark. I really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun talking to the woman sitting beside me who was also by herself.

I was surprised when I first saw that Rent has a closing date. I wonder what they'll replace it with.

[allyk]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:44am

January 2003. I was 13. Some cast members were Sebastian Arcelus, Kendra Kassebaum, Karmine Alers, and Jai Rodriguez. I was on a bus trip into the city to see 42nd Street and the next day my parents and I decided to see Rent. I really loved it. As far as the music goes, I had only heard "Seasons of Love" because of the Broadway Kids cds. The next weekend at home I bought the OBCR (it was VERY expensive for an 8th grader), and it was constantly played in my CD player for the next few months. My best friend and I bonded over that cast album many a times in high school. I remember when the movie came out, too. My friends and I were juniors in high school and all went to the 2nd showing of the day (we had an early release) and just got to share it together - about 15 of us, all the theatre company kids - and we had the theatre mostly to ourselves also, so that was cool, too. Now that Rent is closing, I do want to see it again, and the fact that I go to school 30 minutes from NYC helps - a lot. So I'm looking forward to seeing it once more before it closes.

[iactuallylikedbklyn]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:48am

My first time experiencing RENT was in my junior year of college. Most of the original cast was still in the show. This was when you still had to literally sleep on the street for lottery. We went early on one day (forget which, but I'm sure I still have the ticket stub at home to verify day of the week) to try to get tickets for the following day. No luck. The line was already full for that performance, so we went to tbe next line, which was for the following performance. More time on the street than I wanted, but it was all part of the experience. Shortly after we got there, someone got dropped off with an air mattress. With not much else to do, we began chatting with her. This girl had slept on the street multiple times and tried to explain more about the show but without giving away too much detail. She didn't want to ruin it for the newbies.

The night on the street was...uh...not fun. You just don't want to know what crawls out from underneath buildings in NY in the middle of the night. It WAS sort of fun to have people pile out of the theater and ask what the hell we were doing on the street as they climbed over us. The bathroom at the McDonald's was nasty. The list person was also not very nice. Can't really blame him, though. It was a rough job.

Finally, with tickets in hand, rushed back to the dorms downtown to shower (it was a necessity) and back to the theater just in time. The show begins. I was mesmerized. 2nd row center. $20. Wilson flubbed a line in La Vie Boheme. The rentheads in the first two rows started cracking up. I would come to learn that the line was totally butchered, but who cared. That's live theater. It's what makes it unique. The show was worth every minute of sleeping on the street.

I've been back as often as I can ever since...and have brought newbies with me almost every time. The show provides something that I need every now and again. Inspiration? Motivation? Don't know what to call it really. But I will sorely miss this show when it closes.

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:56am

Heh, long time ago would be ten years ago Howar/Caplan are definitely in the past two years time frame.

Whatever. I still don't remember it very well.

I do remember going backstage the last time I saw it. That was pretty much my favorite part of the whole RENT experience.

[gymnastdzb2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:02am

december 1999. I was 14 years old and have seen it 23 more times since then. The first time I saw it, I don't know if I fully understood/appreciated the depth and meaning of the show. But I couldn't take my eyes off of marcy harriell. She made me fall in love with mimi. I cried so hard the first time I saw Rent because I thought she was going to die at the end. That musical changed my life. every time I see it it still says something different to me, and I notice something new. Its truly a beautiful show.

[filmgirl325]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:15am

For me it was January of 2005 at the Bushnell in Hartford. My mom and I waited in line for rush tickets for two hours and nabbed front row center. I just remember sitting there being in constant awe. The moment I remember most was sobbing my eyes out during "I'll Cover You (reprise)." At that moment I felt like I was the only person in the theatre. Two years later, and hundreds of cast recording listens later, I finally saw it in NYC. It wasn't because I never wanted to see it in NYC but I was just waiting for some interesting casting. When Rapp and Pascal came back I couldn't pass up the chance. My mom and I went in August and I am so thrilled that I was able to experience it again with some of the original cast.

[Anastasia_Beaverhausen]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:18am

January 1997, row C, house right. Seeing the original cast is one of those things I will remember forever. I have vivid memories of that day...getting to the theater, seeing the lines, hearing people get turned away at the box office...hanging out in the lobby and taking pictures of the cast board. We sat next to the guy who played Bud Bundy. After the show, the cast was MOBBED, but they were gracious and took pictures with us and signed playbills.

It was a phenomenon. It was one of those experiences that truly come along once in a lifetime and you will never forget it. Sure, there are hot ticket shows like the Producers, but this was different. Nothing like it had ever been done before and the circumstances of this show were so unique. It will truly be missed.



Updated On: 1/16/08 at 11:18 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:26am

I ushered the show the third or fourth preview at NYTW. Already there was tremendous buzz, and I remember Sigourney Weaver coming in right before the show started and sitting in a folding chair in the back of the house.

I saw the show a couple more times (ushers got to sit on the cement steps)and it really was an exciting happening.

[xoxRogue]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:29am

I don't even remember the date when I first saw it, but the first time I went to listen to the cast recording from start to finish, I fell asleep during the middle of the first act and woke up during "Halloween". :)

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:34am

April 12, 1998. It was a high school graduation present.

[Steve2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:52am

Not sure of the exact date but it was in 1996 with the OBC, shortly after opening. Buzz was starting to build and I had to go through a broker at the time to get tickets (I think the price was $125.00 or something like that). I will never forget the usher telling us, "Prepare to be amazed!".

I will also never forget the students in the first row (rush tickets) who were very enthusiastic fans, to say the least.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 12:22pm

I know it was winter/spring...probably winter...of 7th grade for me...I was 12, turning 13, so the year was...1999.

At first, my family wasn't even sure they were going to get a ticket, wondering if I was too young to appreciate it. I don't know why they changed their minds (thank god they did).

I don't remember the entire cast but I do know Manley Pope was Roger (I wasn't very critical of performances back then, so I liked him, thought he was cute, will never see another performance of his again to ruin the "illusion," Jose Llana was Angel (who I loved!), Carly Thomas was on as Maureen (don't know why I remember that), I'm fairly certain Mark Richard Ford was on as Collins...Jim Poulus might have been Mark...and I know Mimi and Joanne had understudies, can't remember Benny.

I think we were sitting near the front on the left side, because I remember being near Mark for Seasons of Love. Sure, there were some things that...it wasn't even that I didn't understand, but it was hard to follow going in, knowing nothing about it. Still, the message rang loud and clear for me, even if aspects of the story did not. I immediately fell in love with the message of "No Day But Today," loved "Seasons of Love," just loved the music as a whole. Bought the cast recording immediately, the first one I ever bought, and the first stage show I ever obsessed with.

I really can't believe the amazing memories it has provided me with, and how I've been able to have some experiences that I would never thought have been possible when I first saw it (watching a scene from the movie being filmed, seeing the original cast in Rent 10, etc).

Even going recently for "the return," the show still had an amazing impact on me and it totally changed my viewpoint at what was going on at that point, and I just looked at everything more positively. I can't explain it.

It's been a great 9 years for me and my experiences with Rent.

ETA: Sorry, that was a total typo.

Updated On: 1/16/08 at 12:22 PM

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:33pm

sorry to be annoying but it's "Joanne" not "Joanna" okay carry on.

[george95]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:47pm

Ok I'm the only one who wrote about ALL my RENT experiences, not just the first time.....should I take that down and put it in some other thread?

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:50pm

First time I had seen the show it was in La Jolla on the oppening night of previews.... 1st in line for the rush seats!!! I was 16 years old and very suprised my Mom and Dad let me see it! I was in tears fromm the first note in " RENT". It was amazing!! Neil Patrick Harris, christian Mena, Kenna Ramsey, and Wilson Cruz were my favorites of the tour.

[dmb_rent]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:51pm

My first time seeing RENT was in 2000. Ever since I've only wished I could've seen it with the original cast, but alas.... that wasn't the case.

I remember back in 1998, 1999 seeing commercials on TV for rent. I remember thinking then, even though I knew nothing about the show, that something about it looked interesting and captivating. Just in those few short seconds of commercial time. But then I thought nothing else about it. I've never been a big Broadway person, even though I live just outside of the city and could've gone to see shows all the time if I wanted... I was always a movie and film girl.

Then, in 2000 a girl I went to high school with told me about it, said we should go. She told me about the lottery and it seemed great, getting to see a show for $20!! I mean, who wouldn't be into that.

Trey Ellett was my first Mark, I remember liking him very much. I loved the music, I loved the simplicity of it, and the overwhelming feeling of just having witnessed something truly powerful (even if not an OBC).... it hit me hard.

At the time my dad was battling Leukemia (he passed away in 2004) and at times it was so f*cking bad I wanted to just die. Seeing my dad wither away to almost nothing... it was so painful to see, even when I went away to college a number of states away, it was just heartbreaking to know he was so sick. - If nothing else, I found comfort in Rent. Maybe that sounds silly to some.... I know MANY people understand me though. The core of that story helped me at times like nothing else could. -- and I wasn't exactly turning to it for help, but it just always seemed to be there waiting for me when I needed something to lift me up. It was like the story knew my pain, and the characters were helping me just as much as they were helping each other.

I loved that show.

It's not the same now as it once was... but the message is still there. Jonathan Larson was something extraordinary, everyone knew it. It's a shame he couldn't live to see how many lives he would affect.

I saw it on Broadway only 5-10 times. MUCH less than many others, yes, but I was just as much a fan as anyone else.

When I first saw the trailer for the film I cried. I'm not even kidding you at all. I was so proud of JL and the OBC members that made it there and were getting to spread his message farther than NYC. The film was.... well, what it was... but, I love it all the same. I went to a preview for it that Anthony, Adam, and others were at. The day I went to that was the day of my aunt's memorial. She was my father's sister, she lived with us helping out with my dad while he was sick, and she died a year after him. It was a completely sudden thing. We had no idea she was sick and she just ended up having a heart attack in our house at the age of 67. So that day of the preview... I went to her memorial, and then wasn't really sure if I should be going anywhere else. But there was no way... I had to go that night, I HAD to. Once again RENT just seemed to ... be there... just at the right time, right when I *needed* it, or needed something.... again, it did help.

I'm sorry to ramble, there are many who are glad this show is finally over.... I too think it's the right choice... even if ticket sales were still doing really well, it just isn't what it was anymore. It can't go on forever. But it will forever be missed, and hopefully always remembered.


Thank you so much Jonathan Larson!

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:39pm

i fell in love with rent before i even saw the show. my affair started in the summer of 02 on the bus home from the camp where i worked with a friend. it was an hour each way on the bus and it was full of screaming kids, so we always brought cds.

she pulled out a cd one day and said "here, listen to this"
it was "what you own"
i was hooked.

durring the summer, i learned the words to all the songs on her cd but i still didn't understand the story. turns out she only had the highlights cd.

in the winter of 02, i went with my friend katie to see it in stamford (i think) and i was just in awe.
we met kevin spencer after, the guy who was playing roger.


but it was weird, beacuse i didn't see the original cast, even though i heard them on the cd, i never got hung up on "oh this person is in it now, i have to go see it!" i just went to see it and enjoyed the show not knowing any of the actors.
i actually didn't know who the original cast was untill i was searching for a book on amazon by adam rapp and the name anthony rapp popped up!

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 2:49pm

My first time was the day after X-mas in 2005 I won lotto with my mom and we sat front Row center orc. It was the most amazing day of my life. After it was over I turned to my mom and said "That was increditable". It was truely the first b-way show that really got me emotionally. I will truely miss this AMAZING SHOW. I've heard the rumors about it closing for like the past 3 years but I didn't think that the real closing announcement would come for a LONGGGGG LONG time. Now What show will I See time after time. There is no other show. No other show on broadway has spoken to me the way this show has.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 3:42pm

My first time was in September 2000, when I was just becoming a big Broadway fan. I saw Trey Ellett as Mark and Manley Pope as Roger. I have heard the entire score a year before I came, and one of my older best friends introduced it to me. After she did, it was all I talked about. It was that good. I loved it.

My second through fifth time was in my high school as part of various workshop trips. Each of my high school friends from each graduating class of that year would create their own poem, speech, dance, monologue, or song based on the issues that RENT raises. A person from the cast of Baz Luhrmann's "La Boheme" would sing "Quando me'n vo" as a kind of a prelude for the show, so we can hear that theme placed throughout the show. We were taught the vocal harmonies to "Seasons Of Love" (for the first three years, the vocal director was Michael McElroy). In the last year I was there, four kids came on stage and learned the "La Vie Boheme" hand choreography (which I still forget partly -- please send me a message with your answers). There was a "Who Wants to Be A Renthead" in which the host asked 5 kids trivia questions about the creation of RENT. They got various prizes and walked home happy. And then after a break for lunch, the show began.

The sixth time I was there, I wanted to see Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, as did my mom. We picked a good time to go, because I would find my best friend in the audience about two rows in front of us. I always wanted to see it with her, being the huge RENTHEAD that she is, and I am as well. And I finally did, and I think it was probably the best version of RENT that I'll ever remember seeing. Adam and Anthony were just as unstoppable as they were 12 years ago, and that explains why they like doing this so much. I always think of this as a major turning point in their lives, as they do too, and I am grateful to have seen them in their comebacks. It was so good I swore I'd never see it again.

I might break that vow sometime between now and June...

[martinman]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 3:58pm

My first time was on a Saturday night in February of '97..saw most of the original cast. I saw it again the next day (Sunday afternoon). Needless to say I was a Renthead from the beginning. I've seen it about once a year since...always moved, always inspired...I've made my living for the past 20 years as a songwriter, always seeking out music that moves me..RENT gets me every time...THANK YOU JONATHAN LARSON...

[DMsquared2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:10pm

First time I saw RENT was while it was on tour in 2004, I think it was the Benny Tour. I cried my eyes out. I've never been moved by a piece of musical theatre that much since then.

First time on Broadway was last August while Adam and Anthony were in it. I'm so glad I got to see it. I'll never forget it.