Rent

"No day but today."

Rent is definitely one of my favorite musicals. I say that a lot, but it just means that all these musicals are so good, I cannot even pick one as my favorite of all times. I have to thank my beautiful Mississippian family for introducing me to this wonderful musical.

Rent was first a Broadway musical, then was made into a movie in 2005. The film follows the lives of seven bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, "cross-dressing", drugs and paying the rent. Mark, Roger, Collins, Angel, Maureen, Mimi and Joanne try to survive and create in the East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990, under the shadow of AIDS.

Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème. It opened off-Broadway in January 1996. Jonathan Larson died suddenly the night before the premiere. The show won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Awards for Best Musical among other awards. The Broadway production closed in September 2008, after 12 years and 5,124 performances. The movie, directed by Chris Columbus, came out in November 2005.

Six of the original Broadway cast members reprised their roles for the film: Idina Menzel, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Taye Diggs. Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms took over the roles of Mimi and Joanne for the movie. In my opinion, they are all wonderful. Their voices are absolutely beautiful (Oh my goodness, have you heard Jesse L. Martin's voice? Listen to "Santa Fe"!) and they depict these characters amazingly.

It was very hard to try to pick a favorite song. They are all absolutely great. I have a soft spot for "Will I", "Seasons of Love", "La Vie Bohème", "Another Day" and especially "Goodbye Love". But they all deserve a listen. I also really really love the message on Mark and Roger's answering machine (I tried to find it on Youtube.. but I guess you'll just have to watch the movie to know what I'm talking about).

I really recommend you to watch this movie. The story is absolutely beautiful, it makes you think and it is the most important thing. It has a beautiful message. The songs are all wonderful and I just love all these actors. Go watch it!