Rent -for an Ipod generation ??

I know its west end news but i thought you might want to know

The West End has been waiting for Rent to come back for many years and now its finally happening (ish)

Rent will open at the Duke Of York Theatre on 16 October 2007 (previews from 2 October) but its not the Rent as we know and love it.

They are updating it, new set, set today, native accents, video screens blah blah blah blah

As a Rent fan this is the worst news we could have hoped for.

Your thoughts?

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woops forgot to post it

http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8821186075179&title=Kylie%92s+Director+Reinvents+West+End+Rent%2C+16+

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That's crazy. I'll wait to judge it, though. It might be cool seeing Rent done another way.

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At first, I was like "holy sh!t". But then the more I read, the more I was intrigued. The fact that they are indeed editing the book, changing the music and re-imagining the set should be very interesting. Will it do well? I really don't know.

PS Rent for the new generation? It's only been a little over 10 years, but I suddenly feel so old...

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songanddanceman2 - why don't you try keeping an open mind? You don't know what they're doing to it, so get a grip.

do you have any idea who this cast are? do you have any idea how long UK fans have been waiting for a production of Rent to go back to the west end?

Well us brits do, thats why we are worried

And its called an opinion

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There could be a very good chance of a new recording because of the very commercial talent involved

I guess it will depend on how well it does

Sorry if i sound so negative i just feel its a shame that Rent has found so many UK fans since its mid 90s run and they are not going to get to see the original version of the show.

Its been a very big deal with a lot of uk fans for ages , people are always starting threads about "when is Rent coming back" on the West End board.

We all heard rumors of this months ago and that they were changing the production and the UK fans expressed there disappointment.

It could be great who knows, it just isnt the news UK fans were hoping for

But i do wish them the best, having any version of Rent back is better than having none.

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With That, My Soul Just Died alittle

I dont like the fact that it's shorter. I don't think anything should be cut. They can change the set and update all they want, but the score should be left intact. Under 2 hours? It runs at about 2hr 45min now, thats ALOT to be cutting.

how long did it last in the west end the first time ?

I wonder if the West End version proves to be successful if they would change the original. The chances of that happening are 0 to none. But this sounds kind of interesting.

Has their ever been a revival of a show in one part of the world while the original is still on Broadway?

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i didnt read the article, but from what i am hearing they are changing too much. they should just make a completly different show. if they are going to do rent they should do the original to please the uk fans.

Whoa.....they're completely changing the arrangements of the songs? That sounds...unsettling. I guess in theory it could be a good show. But I just don't like the idea of everything being different. Why does it have to be "updated" for an "ipod" generation? It seems like changing too much might ruin its entire message. Won't updating the AIDS references completely change the whole "no day but today" theme?! If AIDS isn't made to sound like a death sentence in this new version, then what's the point of the show? Hmmm?
It'll be interesting, I suppose. I really am kind of curious about it. But in another way, it just seems a little bit wrong to be updating something that already works so well.
Some of the updates I can cope with. But it's the changing of the song arrangements that just seems really wrong to me.
The Ipod Generation comment makes me kind of sad. I mean, have we gotten to the point that we need to update and change EVERYTHING just to make it more "modern?"
Still.....I'll try to give it a chance before I get completely panicky over the whole thing.