So last week, I finally got my RENT book in the mail. It's awesome! I got it through the Barnes and Noble site from used bookseller for about $5, which is amazing, especially considering it should have cost me about $40 and despite being 'used', the book's binding had never been cracked open. So it was like getting a brand-new book for only $5!
What makes it even more awesome is that besides the behind-the-scenes background information and interviews with the original cast, the Larson Family, and the many people who collaborated on RENT, it also included a full libretto of a musical, which I listened to on the entire 4 hour trip to my cousin's hometown. She graduates from UC Davis tomorrow morning.
Anyways, so the book was published in 1997, at the height of RENT's critical acclaim. The musical had successfully survived the death of Jonathan Larson, author of the book, music, and lyrics, moved to the Nederlander theatre on Broadway, and in 1996 received 4 Tony awards out of 10 nominations: Best Musical, Best Book (Jonathan Larson), Best Original Score (Jonathan Larson), and Best Actor in a Featured Role (Wilson Jermaine Heredia).
I was introduced to rent my Freshman year of college at De Anza. By that point I was heavily into musicals, especially Wicked, a musical that pulled me out of depression and basically saved my life. Besides my idol, Kristin Chenoweth, the other leading actress in the show was the absolutely stunning Idina Menzel, who of course played Elphaba. I was really excited to find out that she was also in the musical RENT, a movie that my family already owned but I had previously been reluctant to watch.
I watched the movie. I fell in love with the actors, with the music, and especially with the story. Although I had initially watched the movie for the purposes of seeing more of Idina, I was absolutely floored by all of the other actors in the production. I especially loved the character of Angel (portrayed in both the obc and the film by Wilson Jermaine Heredia) and the song Seasons of Love, performed by a show-stopping Tracie Thoms (who later went on to portray Joanne in the closing cast of RENT on Broadway in 2008. Her performance in Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway is undoubtedly my favorite performance of Joanne. I love Freddi, but Tracie steals the show.
I don't have time tonight to look up 5,000 videos of RENT, so I'll just post one. This is the video on YouTube that inspired me to write tonight. It's a clip of Rosie O'Donnell on The View, talking with a 12-year-old girl named Stephanie who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis whose favorite musical is, of course, RENT. Rosie gives her a very special surprise:
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