Rent ages
Rent ages
whatyouown223
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/4/05
#1re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:18pmIf he or she is mature then yes go. Just warn him before hand of some of the themes.
#2re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:30pmI dont think 13 is too young to see it, It all just depends on how mature your cousin is and if you feel she can handle that kind of thing.
#3re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:43pm
Two of my friends saw it before they turned fourteen (a month or three before, lol). I saw it a month before I turned fifteen. I think most 8th graders would be able to handle it. Three of my friends and I got into it during 8th grade, so, yeah. If you're cousin is in 7th grade and is mature, she'll probably be fine. 
#4re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:45pmI think a lot of the stuff can go over younger peoples' heads, rather than it being a matter of corrupting them or whatever. My parents wouldn't let me see the show until I was almost 17, and in retrospect, I'm very glad I waited. I understood it more fully... I don't mean the sex and the drugs, but the reality of it all. That said, I think it's perfectly okay to take a 13 year old to the show, but I don't think I'd expect a 13 year old to really grasp as much from the show as someone older might.
#5re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:49pm
I first saw Rent when I was thirteen, and understood all of it (even the "reality" of the situation, Em 
). As long as your cousin is mature and knows what she is going in to see, I don't think it'll be a problem.
#6re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:56pm
Hey, I'm not generalizing.
What I meant was that I don't think the show is going to corrupt the kid, or shove into her face anything of which she isn't already aware. I mean, most 13 year-olds have probably had some exposure to the ideas in the show. All I'm saying is I don't think I would've gotten nearly as much out of it six years ago. Maybe that's just a personal thing because I did wait.
#7re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:04pm
Good. I didn't say you were. Just wanted to let you know that this marvelous little mind could handle Rent at a young age.
I agree that it could be better for certain people (not necessarily you) to wait until an older age. Rent is an intense, incredibly upsetting, realistic (mostly) story that not every young teenager is ready for.
#8re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:07pmExactly. And I was a sheltered kid, too.
#9re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:07pm
Aghh I really wanna see it before Cary Shields leaves since from what I hear he's probably the best since Adam. Now that'd be a nice lil' sweet 16 present; but I'm afraid my parents will not let me until I turn 17 or 18 either!
The only thing that stands out as iffy at this point is the "Contact" scene.
#10re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:07pmContact can't be taken too literally, anyway. I wouldn't consider that the biggest point of question at all.
#12re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:13pm
Em, Yay for sheltered kids!
rice and beans AND cheese
Leading Actor Joined: 1/28/05
#13re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:16pmWell, I'm 11 and I get most of the ideas. I've listened to the cast recording many times, and nothing's is that bad. Only, my cousin would let me listen to Contact.....
whatyouown223
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/4/05
#14re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:20pmwell, the cast recording is a LOT different then the show. You're 11? I didn't know we had people that young on the board..
#15re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:35pmYeah Contact is nothing to worry about. And I have only heard the cast recording also (and read the RENT bible) but I doubt there is anything in there that a 13 year old couldnt handle.
#16re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 3:03pm
Rice and beans AND cheese, you need to rephrase that...your cousin would NOT let you listen to Contact!
I let her listen to everything else, though...
PS: I didn't want your mother to skin me alive!
FOCI
Featured Actor Joined: 3/31/04
#17re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 5:49pm
Well I saw it in 9th grade and I thought I was pretty damn savvy but it mostly went over my head. For example: I knew what AIDS was (obviously) but I didn't know what AZT was so I didn't get what was wrong with Mimi really. Also, I didn't have a sense of the AIDS culture in NY in the '80s so I remember thinking it was really stupid and melodramatic that everyone in the show was diseased.
I still thought it was beautiful though-so in short I agree w/luvtheemcee that your cousin might not get some stuff...but I still think he/she can appreciate it.
broadwaystar2b
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/04
#18re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:06pm
I saw Rent for my first time when I was 11 and it literally changed the way I view the world around me
But I'll be the first to admit I was too young to have seen it at that time
#19re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:22pmI agree with what everyone else is saying, I think a 13 year old is perfectly capable of seeing the show but most likely, the finer points of the story line will be lost. But no matter what age I think a person can appreciate RENT in some way.
#20re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:28pm
I would just like to add that, when I see or hear 11 or 13 year old kids being interested in theater, I feel the need to congratulate their parents on a great job :)
Take care
#21re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:47pmI take full credit for Rice and beans AND cheese's addiction to theater!
#22re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:51pmI saw it three weeks ago and I'm thirteen. I really liked it and I want to see it again.
#23re: Rent ages
Posted: 2/6/05 at 8:08pmI saw it when I was 11 for the fist time, and allot went over my head. After that, I listened reguarly to my cast recording (it was the only cd I owned and liked) and eventually, I understood most of what was going on. When I saw it two years later, I probably did understand 99% of it, and even though I'm 14, I at least think I know whats goin on.
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