The Theatre Corner: September's Musical of the Month: Rent

The album cover
Photo Credit Here

Here's to the start of a new series I would like to post once a month. So, here's the thing, I want to listen to more musicals. Problem: I get obsessed over things for months at a time. Now, I know this happens to the majority of us, but I want to hold myself accountable somewhat. This means every month, I am going to listen to a musical I have never listened to and at the end of that month, I am going to write about it. And to kick it all off, I am starting with September's Musical of the Month: Rent.

Now, I have been having a hard time describing Rent personally. I mean, it is a very complex plot. But, this is why we have the internet and websites such as Broadway.com. According to them, "Rent tells the story of a group of impoverished friends struggling to survive and create in New York's gritty Alphabet City in 1991." (Full Description here). In a way, it is very inspiring because the characters are defying the social norms in order to create change and be themselves.

Mark and Roger
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I started listening to it later in the month on Spotify Premium (not sponsored). Funny Story, I ended up playing a different playlist on shuffle because I had a friend of mine in the car and she wouldn't have any idea what was going on. Later that night, I went back to listening to the cast album and the songs were on shuffle. I didn't realize it until I started listening to it again a few days later. Needless to say, I started the whole album over again. I will say it was a bit hard to follow. When I listened to Hamilton, I was able to pick almost everything up from my first listen through.

What helped me to know what was going on was watching the movie. I had seen that it was on Netflix (not sponsored), but I wanted to listen to the original cast album before I saw the movie. Once I had seen the movie all the way through, all of my confusion went away and I was able to understand what was going on and who the characters where. That was when I really started to get into it.

Mimi Dancing
Photo Credit Here

When I first clicked on the movie, I recognized a lot of the names on the cast list from the album. Upon further research, I learned that the majority of the original Broadway cast had decided to portray their role once again in the movie. For me personally, I felt that was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. This shows how much of an impact this one musical had on these actors almost ten years after opening on Broadway. This one small detail is what makes this musical one of the best musicals made.

In terms of favorite characters, I was able to narrow it down to three.
(in no particular order)

Mark Cohen: He is an aspiring film maker and upon one of the more "normal" characters of the show. I liked Mark because we are seeing a good portion of the story through his eyes and he has this fun energy about him that makes him impossible not to like.
Roger Davis: He is a once successful musician who is going through HIV, being an ex-junkie, and the loss of his girlfriend April who killed herself after learning she was HIV-positive. I liked this character because it is very inspiring to see someone who has completely turned their life around after something traumatic happening in their life.
Joanne Jefferson: She is a lawyer who is dating Mark's ex-girlfriend, Maureen Johnson. I liked her because she was one of the more serious characters and wasn't about to take any of Maureen's flirt-with-other-people-crap.

Favorite Songs:
(in no particular order)

'Rent"
"Tango: Maureen"
"La Vie Boheme"
"What You Own"
"One Song Glory"
"Seasons of Love"

All in all, I would highly recommend that you listen to Rent right now. It is a wonderful musical that is sure to make you laugh and has a wonderfully happy ending.

Sincerely,
Carlee