A stranger has given me
the greatest gift of my life. After the gift of birth and air, the next most
important thing in this world is learning how very precious and wonderful the
gift of life truly is. Some wander around and never find out how lucky they are
or how much they are loved. Some people never realize that you should not count
the heartache or even cups of coffee you have but rather “measure your life in
love.” After a former friend in college introduced me to this gift I have never
ever let it go. I feel it is my mission to share it with the world. I am not
alone in this notion.
I normally don’t burst
into tears typing my blog titles but that is what just happened thirty seconds
ago. I couldn’t even open my eyes, tears were frozen in mid-air. My eyes were
squeezed shut as if I were holding them in because the emotion was too much,
but too wonderful all at once when I realized what the title should be.
Names and titles have
always been very important to me. I love catchy names even in books I see in
the store. I feel like when you give something the proper name not only does it
identify its meaning for others but it also clearly represents your point to
the world. When it comes to giving titles to my posts, many times I have them
months in advance and I hesitate to change them. But sometimes I feel they are
wrong. I get this sensation in my gut that is bothered when I read it. If that
is the case I can’t even move past that point until the right title hits me.
Sometimes it takes days. Right now that took a mere minute. It was as if the
heavens were smacking me on the head and I realized the importance of this blog
and how unbelievable it was that I have not written these words ever before. They
are the reason I am who I am and do what I do.
Take a listen and you will
understand why.
RENT is the story of
struggling artists, but mostly I see it as the story of young people trying to
find themselves in this world. As Angel says, “life support is a group for
people coping we life.” That is what RENT is. It is relatable to anyone that
needs to learn how to see the silver lining in almost any situation. The love
was so powerful from this show it transcended age, social class, gender, any
barriers you can think of. The fans are from every walk of life. That is why on
the outside of the Nederlander
theater for twelve years the walls were covered with the writing of
everyone who came to visit and leaving the messages they learned behind as a
memorial. In a particularly heartwarming moment I noticed that in the Off
Broadway version now playing there is a new wall. Since this show is held
inside and downstairs of a multi-show venue, the wall too is inside and has the
word CREATE on it and instinctively people knew what to do. That is the legacy
of RENT in a nutshell.
RENT was also one of the
first shows to have a lottery on the day of a performance to raffle off
orchestra tickets. This is now a very common practice but RENT started this
trend because they wanted everyone to have an equal chance to see the show. I
won one time and sat first row dead center. It was amazing! I have seen the
show so many times that I have sat almost everywhere in that theater. It is
like a temple to me.
In a twist of fate no
writer could produce, the creator and author of RENT Jonathan Larson’s real
life proved his point. Jonathan died suddenly of an undiagnosed aortic
dissection in his apartment the night before RENT would open Off Broadway. He
was just shy of his thirty-sixth birthday. He never got to see how his dream
would turn out or the reward of all of his work of many, many years would go.
His parents gave the permission for the show to go on, and so that next night
RENT opened on schedule. He beloved cast and friends did the only thing their
broken hearts would let them, they went on. They let Jonathan’s story come to
light and life and changed the course of Broadway and culture forever.
This is a comment I read
online:
“Once the show was over,
there was a long applause followed by silence which was eventually broken when an
audience member shouted out ‘Thank you, Jonathan Larson.’”
It is a popular telling of
that story. That was just the beginning of the story of how a rock musical
would change the world of theater, the kind of people that would go to
Broadway, and how one man’s dream would create a generation of love.
RENT would move on to
Broadway for twelve years and Jonathan Larson would posthumously win the
Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for drama.
RENT would also win the
following awards:
Tony Award for Best Musical (1996) for Rent
Tony Award for Best Book (1996) for Rent
Tony Award for Best Score (1996) for Rent
Drama Desk Outstanding Musical (1996) for Rent
Drama Desk Outstanding Book (1996) for Rent
I have never actually
quoted myself before but sometimes you just have to. This is from my very first
month of blogging in March of 2011, from a post entitled
“What Theater Means to
Me” (http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html):
“The very first time I saw
RENT my life changed. I was with my oldest and best friend and afterward we
were speechless. This needless to say was a rare event. I know different
stories speak to different people at different times of their lives. As a
college student at that time it spoke to me about the concept of friends
becoming your family and learning to love yourself and life for what it was.
RENT was on Broadway for 12 years and I have seen the show too many times to
count. I would literally have to count my playbills as I save everyone from
every show. I continued to go back to feel the inspiration, love and
invigoration it provided me every single time. RENT taught me one of the
greatest lessons of my life- NO DAY BUT TODAY.”
As it turns out Mr. Larson
and I are fellow alma maters of the same college, Adelphi University (AU). He
was actually attending AU the year I was born, 1981. It is ironic that as a
freshman when I learned of my love of RENT and his background story, I would
then meet the teachers who knew him and would recount stories of how they could
predicted his talent. Talk about serendipity.
In the years that followed
college, I moved on and RENT followed me. I shared it with everyone in my life.
I was there every year to see it, and of course during the week of its final
performance. I went to see it in theaters, and especially to see it on the big
screen when the very final show was filmed. I cried every single time, over and
over again, because each time I learned something new about myself and about
the strength of one man’s mission.
I was lucky enough to
still be visiting Adelphi when the latest generation decided to stage their
interpretation of RENT. I will admit for a die heart fan of the original
version it is hard to watch change and time affect what is lodged in your
memory. But the all time greatest thing did happened. At the end during the
applause, the lights spelled out “Thank you Jonathan” on the floor and the
entire cast blew a kiss to the sky. It was all I could do not to gasp out loud.
It was the most wonderful tribute at a place he once called home. I loved that
his life was full circle at that moment and that his family could be there to
witness it.
On July 18, 2012 I read
online that the Life Café, the real site where Jonathan Larson wrote RENT (also
a place in RENT) had closed both of its locations due to financial problems. It
was a place of pilgrimage for many RENT-heads as dedicated fans are known, and
the bench where Jonathan sat had a plaque on it. In order to preserve that
piece of history, Jonathan’s parents and the Life Café made arrangements for
the bench to be moved to Adelphi University, which has the space and history
for such an artifact. Although this campus has had many modifications since the
days he was there, the heart, soul, and spirit of this school is where the
bench belongs to pay proper homage to this artist. There are also two collages
from Life magazine, a wooden “Thank You Jonathan” plaque hand-carved by Jonathan’s
Uncle Gene, and a large panel from the original RENT
stage set at the Nederlander
Theatre.
On a recent trip to Garden
City I was able to pass by Adelphi University and get to visit this bench and
the other memorabilia. To say it took my breath away is an understatement. I
thought it would make me sad but actually it made me smile. I felt happy and
content. It was a spiritual feeling for me. It must be like the feeling some
people get when they go to holy place and pray. For me this was sacred ground
and I felt lucky I got to be so close to it and pay my respects. It felt like
everything was as it should be, or at least as it should be in these
circumstances. I knew I would be seeing RENT in its final few performances Off
Broadway and in my way of making peace of the changes I knew I would see and
the uncomfortable feelings I might have with anyone changing “my” play. I was
sorry I never got to go to the Life Café but I don’t think I would have handled
that well. Now at least it will live on in my heart and head forever.
I am not going to give an
actual review of this last performance I saw. I don’t think that’s important. I
have decided that the real important message should be about keeping Jonathan
Larson and his message alive. As any diehard fan will tell you, you can
critique anything. I have had problems with different shows I have seen and
even the movie. The magnitude it had on that big Broadway stage is something no
other production will ever be able to compete with so that is why I absolutely
LOVED that they filmed the very last Broadway performance. During that final
show some of the original cast members came out on stage to sing the last song.
That scene still gives me chills. The fact that I get to own that piece of
history is even better.
So with all my indecisiveness, that I now can’t imagine I
had, I guess I just didn’t want to imagine a world again where RENT was not
playing on a stage eight nights a week. I had been crushed when it closed on
Broadway but it now seemed fitting that it was ending again Off Broadway where it
had all began. I know that in our hearts the memories and messages live on. For
me that’s the most important part.
“I guess I just came to
say goodbye love. Goodbye.”
For your ticket to see
RENT:
(show details)
For the Life Café:
Follow on Twitter
@Lifecafe
For information on the
bench:
For further reading:
For RENT clips:
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