#1
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:16pm
What do you think an appropriate age to see Rent is? My 13 year old cousin wants to see it.
#2
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:18pm
If he or she is mature then yes go. Just warn him before hand of some of the themes.
"At the opening night party, they had clowns on stilts, jugglers, a chocolate fountain, popcorn, hot dogs. [My son] looked at me like I had been holding back. Like, 'This is what you do?' I had to tell him, 'No, no, darling. Opening nights don't usually look like this.' It's usually a dark bar with a bottle of vodka." ?Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Jan Maxwell
plus i proudly share the title of the shortest member over the age of 10 with wickedrentq!
#3
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:30pm
I 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.
I wanted to get something that an "ex"-junkie like him would really appreciate and cherish....it's a brick of heroin shaped like a heart.
-Scrubs
#4
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. 
"I mean, how many of us could honestly say that at one time or another he hasn't set fire to some great public building?"
#5
Posted: 2/5/05 at 6:45pm
I 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.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
#6
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.
). 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.
#7
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.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
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.
#8
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.
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.
#9
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:07pm
Exactly. And I was a sheltered kid, too.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
#10
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.
The only thing that stands out as iffy at this point is the "Contact" scene.
"If from the farthest sun I'll carry on * just for the moment I can feel * the beauty of the beating of your heart * every time it beats for me."
#11
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:07pm
Contact can't be taken too literally, anyway. I wouldn't consider that the biggest point of question at all.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
#13
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:13pm
Em, Yay for sheltered kids!
"If from the farthest sun I'll carry on * just for the moment I can feel * the beauty of the beating of your heart * every time it beats for me."
#14
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:16pm
Well, 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.....
"It's a long story, althought it's kinda-of a short one." ~~
Wolfwood
#15
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:20pm
well, 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..
#16
Posted: 2/5/05 at 7:35pm
Yeah 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.
I wanted to get something that an "ex"-junkie like him would really appreciate and cherish....it's a brick of heroin shaped like a heart.
-Scrubs
#17
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!
I let her listen to everything else, though...
PS: I didn't want your mother to skin me alive!
"I am special, I am special! Please, God, please, don't let me be normal!" ---Louisa, The Fantasticks
--- ---
Intolerant of intolerance.
Updated On: 2/6/05 at 03:03 PM
#18
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.
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.
"I guess she is one very confident girl who feels if you see it, it shall be.
I hope she sees a room with a piano player and a bunch of scary middle-aged queens sitting behind a table, talking to each other as she auditions!!"
-Marc Shaiman on Kelly Osbourne in Hairspray
#19
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
But I'll be the first to admit I was too young to have seen it at that time
#20
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:22pm
I 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.
I wanted to get something that an "ex"-junkie like him would really appreciate and cherish....it's a brick of heroin shaped like a heart.
-Scrubs
#21
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
Take care
#22
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:47pm
I take full credit for Rice and beans AND cheese's addiction to theater!
"I am special, I am special! Please, God, please, don't let me be normal!" ---Louisa, The Fantasticks
--- ---
Intolerant of intolerance.
#23
Posted: 2/6/05 at 7:51pm
I saw it three weeks ago and I'm thirteen. I really liked it and I want to see it again.
#24
Posted: 2/6/05 at 8:08pm
I 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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