Rent Information

After more than 4,000 performances Rent is still going strong. Rent is an edgy Broadway rock musical that lets audiences experience the grittier side of New York's Greenwich Village. Loosely based on the 1896 Puccini opera La Boheme, Rent compassionately touches on issues such as homelessness, AIDS, and drug addiction. The urban musical drama Rent features a young cast that struggles to attain their individual dreams without losing hope. Through a series of events, eight very different lives come together in Rent. In song, Rent fleshes out the controversy in the life of each character. Although often standing out for its untraditional, non-Broadway approach, Rent explores life through its songs. Rent features some of the most powerful songs on Broadway.

Some of the New York City location references in the 1996 play are no longer accurate. However, Rent does capture a moment in time with all its flaws enthusiastically exposed. Mark, the narrator of Rent, is alter ego to the show creator, Jonathon Larson. In a strange twist of events Jonathon Larson died from an aortic aneurysm after the final dress rehearsal for Rent. Ironically, he collapsed during a rehearsal of What You Own, a song he had written about dying.

It took seven years to bringRent to its first public performance. Jonathon Larson wrote the book as well as the music and lyrics for Rent, drawing from some of his own experiences as a struggling writer in New York. Producer Jeffrey Seller encouraged Jonathon Larson after seeing a rough reading of Rent in 1993. He felt it had some great songs and some that went on too long, lost in a weak story. Stephen Sondheim, Jonathon Larson's mentor, pointed him in the direction of a grant to fund a workshop production of Rent. Jim Nicola, artistic director for the New York Theatre Workshop, got Michael Greif involved as director and a collaborative effort to strengthen the plot of Rent began. Later versions of Rent added more edge and realism. After seeing the updated workshop version of Rent, Jeffrey Seller brought in additional financial backing and provided more focus for the production. Though it wasn't planned, Rent premiered on the 100th anniversary of La Boheme.

Nominated for 10 Tony Awards, Rent took home four including the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical. Rent also earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996, six Drama Desk Awards out of 10 nominations, and two Theatre World Awards. Rent also garned the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Obie Award. The cover of Newsweek featured Rent and Time hailed it as a landmark. In 2005, Rent was made into a feature film.

Rent is playing at the Nederlander Theatre in the New York Theater District. Rent has played in England, Japan, Australia, Germany, and many other countries. It is currently touring North America.

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