is it because im young?- Page 4

[Rent_Head1996]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 8:44pm

Yeah, I have serious problems
1. Ranting
2. worshiping people
3. contradicting myself
4. hating... everything.... 'cept for This Ain't Boheme and Rant by Forbidden Broadway.

NEDERLANDER THEATER!
Is all I can say. If you heard the latter song, you know what I'm talking about, if you didn't... you probably think I'm crazy, but I know you already do.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 8:46pm

That's the second time FB's Rent sketch has come up today. heh.

[Rent_Head1996]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 8:51pm

It should be mentioned every second... the guy being Anthony? I almost died. Every time I go through time square, I have to say Nederlander Theater! In that voice.
I have a lot of things that I have to do when I walk/ride through Times Square, like glare at all the tourists leaving Mamma Mia, and (when it was still around) Cats.
FB is my favorite show, ever. And always will be. I couldn't breathe the first time I heard "Wickeder".

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 11:10pm

Well, I'm not sure I should get started on this but...

When you talk about themes and messages, which I agree is the biggest reason for both shows' success, it has to be highly cultivated to the individual. Different people relate to different things, and find their own situations mirroring different ones.

Not that the content apart from themes and messages is really that comparable, but yes I'll agree Rent deals with a more mature content.

But I'm not sure I'd call the themes and messages more mature. I love both shows, and take strong messages out of both.

The heart of Wicked to me isn't about relating to Elphaba as a misfit, or realizing that it's okay to be a misfit, though many probably do consider it that. To me, the whole idea is "Defying Gravity." Although Elphaba actually does fly, it even serves as a metaphor in the show, and one I've applied to my own life many times. Whether or not she's a misfit...the decision she makes to not go along with the Wizard is really amazing. I mean like Glinda says "who could resist this?"

That's what I view as the impossible thing she's defying. Making the hard choice. Deciding to do something that she realizes will make her life very difficult, etc. That's what I relate to. I started doing this during a really difficult time and every so often I still do--when I'm really scared to do something, or I have to do something I don't want to do--I sing Defying Gravity (very badly of course but with luck not too many people have to hear me). And it really helped me through my difficult time.

And obviously there's amazing themes and messages in RENT--the thought of measuring your life in love...so simple, but...just so right.

Really, individuals can find important themes/messages within anything. I once found a huge essay online that described these sort of themes/messages in Muppet Babies, and how thoughts of that show helped them through life. Hey, whatever works.

I think what may account for the more "crazies" in the Wicked fandom is simply that the show appeals to a slightly younger audience than RENT does. Kids at younger ages are seeing Wicked than RENT. So they're a bit more immature, and therefore a bit more "crazy."

[Rent_Head1996]

Posted: 5/6/06 at 11:21pm

I think I sort of agree with you (could I be more annoying?). It's what you take from the show... I guess. You take something different than the b*tchy girl who wants to have Galina's shoe closet. I just dislike the score (except for Wonderful) and the story, and my favorite charater is the Wizard, though it's been demolished by everyone since Joel Grey. I saw Wicked twice, once with the original cast, second time I was dragged by my little cousin and my aunt, with second generation cast. I thought it was okay first time around, but I was getting over being really sick, and was on really bad meds, second time, I really didn't like it. The fangirls have topped it off.

I have to say, a main theme in Rent is that it's okay (and in some ways better) to be a misfit; La Vie Boheme quotes anyone?

What I hate is that they're now marketing Rent to such a young audience (from my experience, parents are more likely to take a child under thirteen to a PG-13 movie than an R one) that it's turning into the screaming fangirls.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 12:14am

I hate Rent. Period.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 12:34am

I could have SWORN when I glanced at the main board a few hours ago, this thread was at 100 posts. Did something get deleted???

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 1:12am

Say what you will about the movie as long as it's opinion, but I have it on very trustworthy authority, who has no reason to lie, that the rating was *not* a marketing ploy. It is what it is. Will this ever be dropped?

Updated On: 5/7/06 at 01:12 AM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 1:22am

I read your posts for my own masochist pleasure.

It feels "so right"...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 1:28am

Do you need more cake?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 1:39am

I want some dirt cake...

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 1:40am

I have pizza and cheesy bread now.

I finished your cake.

ETA: That sounds dirty. Updated On: 5/7/06 at 01:40 AM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:40am

I don't think it has a whole lot to do with age. I know middle-aged people who loved Rent, but this middle-aged person was bored out of his mind. I've rarely been so bored in the theatre. I might have left if I hadn't felt that I should stay and see what the whole thing was like.

Apart from the bad lyrics, the thing that bothered me most was how faux it all seemed. And is it in the title song that Sondheim is mentioned? I'm supposed to think that these kids in the East Village are really into Sondheim? Or am I misremembering this?

I suppose that how phony it was is what it had in common with Hair.

I'm a native New Yorker. I've never been an East Village type. I'm pretty middle-class and bourgeois. But having lived here my whole life, I know when something is pretending to be with it and young and edgy when it's really just bourgeois art itself. And that's Rent.

I don't want to be harsh. I'm glad that many people love it. I'm glad it brings joy and feelings of identification to people. And gets people interested in the theatre. But I just thought it was no good at all.

I'm told that Jonathan Larson wrote some good stuff. I'd like to hear "Hosing the Furniture," which I've been told is really terrific (even if only 10 minutes long).

Btw, Chita Rivera once talked in an interview about how thrilled she was when she got cast opposite Alfred Drake in Zenda (a show that never made it to Broadway) because she thought he was the most romantic and handsome leading man. Then she met him and saw that he was short and kind of dumpy and not especially handsome. But on stage, he seemed tall and handsome and dashing and romantic!
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 03:40 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:06am

Nope, Sondheim is mentioned early on in La Vie Boheme, the Act 1 finale.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 4:56am

Oh, I wasn't particularly concerned about which song it was. I should have been clearer. I mostly wanted to confirm that Sondheim is mentioned as someone these kids think is the bee's knees.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 9:07am

I think RENT is very real for young people, but adults LOVE it too. Just last week I was leaving class and going into the parking lot and a middle aged / older woman was BLASTING Light My Candle from the OBC. It took everything in me to not get too excited. But the song did get stuck in my head while I had my cup of coffee.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 11:05am

1. It's dated.
2. The fans bug the crap out of everyone.
3. It isn't especially good.
4. All long running shows loose support over the years.

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 11:31am

jv, you had to use the "D" word *pokes eyes out* I can't take it anymore!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 11:50am

Uhhh... and then there's Mamma Mia, which the producers seem to advertise with shots of people standing and dancing like it was a Baptist revival meeting and interviews with folks saying "This is my tenth time and I LOVE IT." And they're all in their fourties. I guess there's a rabid fan base for any hit.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 11:54am

Well, the difference between Mamma Mia's fanbase and Rent's fanbase is that, these 40 somethings probably don't have Mamma Mia posters and wallpaper in their offices and homes. These are just the average, middle aged people that come to the theatre to have a good time at a silly little show.
Rent's fans are teenagers. Yes, the come many times, but they are also freakishly annoying. They have Rent everything. They are obsessed with the original stars to a stalking point. The Wicked fans are very similar.
I have nothing against young people who love theatre. I am one myself. However, I personally don't like Rent and one of the reasons is its annoying fans.
Updated On: 5/7/06 at 11:54 AM

[ALWrules]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 3:04pm

1) It is dated, as stated above.
2) Some good songs, but many(like the tile song) are just hard rock music that isn't very appealing to me,
3) The theater, need I say more?
4) The staging, need I say more.
5) The characters: I found myself hating them because I felt they had screwed up their own lives, not "the man."
6) The theme of challening authority. I hate the simplistic teenage idea that all authority is bad, especially on something like collecting the rent. Come on!
7) The ending. REALLY,REALLY,REALLY, CHEESY!!!!!!!!!!

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 5:23pm

I love Rent, but it's staged SO far away from the audience.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 10:50pm

jv92 you said a mouthful

[teebz]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 10:58pm

allofmylife--that was the funniest thing ever!!

i HATE those commercials--its so obvious that they're scripted.

"baptist revival" hahahaha

[Chopstitute]

Posted: 5/7/06 at 11:20pm

*Yawns* How boring can you be? Rent is dated, Rent is cheesy, Rent is stupid, Rent has annoying fans, Rent is boring... how many times has this been said? About... eh... I'd say five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred times, over and over and over.

Yes, okay, some Rentheads annoy the crap out of me, yes, but that's no reason to say that Rent's fans are all freakishly annoying teeny boppers. That's a horrible stereotype, and most of the people who have half a brain in the Rent fandom (there are many) hate the people who never stop blabbing about how hot Adam Pascal is. It's annoying as hell, and these people are NOT RENTHEADS, so there is no reason for them to be lumped with the group that are.

Now you're asking for my definition of a Renthead, eh? In my opinion, it's someone who was deeply touched by Rent and gets that there is 'no day but today', someone who understands the power of the show, and whose life has changed because of it. It's not measured in if you've seen the show twice or two hundred times, or if you give a damn when so-and-so left. It's if you get it.

Sadly, with the release of the movie, the number of real Rentheads is dwindling. It's now become mostly crazy 'fangirls' who sing Light My Candle at the top of their lungs every second.

And, lastly, RENT is for people who like musical theater, but also enjoy other types of music. If you're a musical theater junkie (which I am), but hate hate hate all other music, you're not going to like it. I personally like some (older) rock and roll music, and that's one of the reasons I like Rent so much.

I do think that older people and younger people have different connections with the show, but I think it's a 'young at heart' thing. Personally, the main theme of the show is being yourself, no matter what. Yeah, I know that sounds cheesy, but it is. For outcasts (which I find most Rentheads to be, sorry guys, but we are) it really helps you let yourself understand life a lot better, and helps you get through life a lot easier. And you know what, screw it if they have a Rent poster, it reminds them to keep living, reminds them of 'no day but today'. Does that give you any right to judge us?

Another thing, I think it's immature and ridiculous that people claiming to be older than the "teens" who love Rent come on here and bash the show. I don't go on the Mama Mia boards and bash that, or the Cats boards, or whatever. You stay on your boards, and I stay on mine. This good with you?