Reidel: "RENT" to be revived off-B'way next June- Page 3

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 1:45pm

^ Yes. In 1977....and it opened in the same theater it originally played in: THE BILTMORE, only 5 years after having closed....and it BOMBED.

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 1:46pm

Hair actually was revived in the 1970s, haha!

Yes, for a month. And at least they took more than 5 years to do that month long run.

ReNt Re-Re-Mixed celebrating Anthony Rapp's 60th birthday and 30 years of not paying for his lease will be permanent.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 1:52pm

To be fair blaxx it had a month long run because no one went to see it. It wasn't intended to be a month long limited engagement. Not only did no one go see it...critically it was crucified. It was 1977, disco was at it's peak, the war officially ended just two years prior. People wanted to move on and put the past behind them and it really was just too soon to be revisiting that show at that particular time. It's one of the reasons why the film version released just two years after bombed as well.

Anyway, add me to the "chorus of voices" that think it is waaaay too soon for a RENT revival OFF or ON Broadway. It needs a rest, a long, long rest.
Updated On: 11/6/10 at 01:52 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 2:38pm

Yes, my point in the Hair comparison is that ReNt has really never gone away.

If they want to impose all these shows as permanent fixtures, power to them. But I'd never buy that they are doing it for the show's values.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 5:14pm

OMG, blaxx is baxx!

[Edna Turnblad]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 6:48pm

Jordan, if they changed Roger to having an accordion, then would the lyric be "Who do you think you are/ Barging in on me and my accordion-AR"? Maybe they could then at a pirate aspect to the whole piece! Oh! That'd be fantastic! I'm excited now!

[winston89]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 7:36pm

Add me to the people who think that it is just a little too short of a time span to bring it back.

But, if you're a producer you might look at things like this. If you're show is selling a theatre like The Nederlander at 50 per cent then they might think that they would have better luck at a smaller off Broadway theatre.

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 7:41pm

OMG, blaxx is baxx!

I missed you, love.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 8:26pm

"There are too many people that believe the hype that this changed their lives"

Who are you to say?

Thanks Q, I thought the same thing. I know many people whose lives were changed in very real, measurable ways because of their experiences at Rent. There's a former BWW poster who met his future wife in the rush line. I met some of my closest friends because of a mutual love of the show. There are others who have been inspired to move across country or change career paths because of the show. Is that just hype? Meeting spouses and best friends doesn't really change our lives, it's all some fangirl groupthink to rationalize buying tickets? The show was open for 12 years; not all Rent fans are still airheaded teenagers who think Rent changed their life because they met Adam Pascal at the stagedoor.

[winston89]

Posted: 11/6/10 at 9:01pm

Interestingly enough this story is on the front page of Playbil.com. Of course, they end it with saying that no official word has been said about the potential of this production.

The only thing that comes close to official is that they are saying that it is going to open up at New World Stages in June, and that they got their information from some newspaper called The New York Daily. Of course, they open up their article by saying that the news of a new production was first reported in The Post. I mean, I think that they mean New York Daily News, though I am not sure :)

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 11/7/10 at 9:01am

"and that they got their information from some newspaper called The New York Daily."
============================================

Winston, that isn't what it says. When they refer to the New York daily, it's a reference to the fact that the post is published daily. Note the lower case d.

This has been in the works for a few months now. I think that the skeptics here may be a little surprised.

[misschung]

Posted: 11/7/10 at 9:39am

People can get the same experience with a spaghetti dinner for $30 back in Peoria.

$20 with a valid student ID and eggplant parm at the Westchester Broadway theater, lol. And that is only 30 minutes from NYC!