By Mattie Lugar; Photo Credits to Mattie Lugar
I don’t know if this is something widely known about me, but I am a huge fan of musical theater, so when I heard about the 30th anniversary concert for “Rent,” I knew I had to watch it. “Rent” is such a powerful and impactful musical to watch, especially in today’s day and age, and I know somewhere Jonathan Larson is smiling fondly seeing his hard work pay off.
If you are unaware as to what “Rent” is, it’s a rock musical that tells the story of a ragtag group of young artists trying to survive in the shadow of the AIDS crisis in New York City. Written in the early 1990s by Jonathan Larson, it eventually moved from New York Theatre Workshop and opened on Broadway at the Nederlander Theater on Apr. 29, 1996.
Unfortunately, Larson unexpectedly passed the night before “Rent” opened previews off-Broadway, so he was never able to see the show in all its glory and what it has become today. If you’re interested in another musical by Larson that’s more about his life, I highly suggest listening to or watching “Tick, Tick…Boom.”
Held at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York City, this concert was a culmination of 30 years of casts and tours and brought out the magic and chaos of live theater. If people weren’t lucky enough to get tickets for the show, there was a livestream link to watch the show virtually. Getting to see not only many of the original cast perform, but many other notable Broadway legends had me smiling at my screen for pretty much the entire performance.
While celebrating the 30th anniversary of this historic show, the livestream and tickets helped raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a nonprofit organization that helps to bring care and access to lifesaving medication for individuals living with HIV and other illnesses.
The livestream itself was almost five hours long, with an hour before and after the concert set aside for interviews and backstage access, along with previews before the show started. Getting to see an inside scoop at the little rehearsal time, and what “Rent” means to different actors truly shed a new light on this show, and if you haven’t had the chance to experience “Rent” in any capacity, I highly encourage you to do so.
I haven’t yet had the chance to see “Rent” on the stage, but I have seen the 2005 movie more times than I care to count, and this will always be a show that will stick with me.