Controversy Over Characters Sexuality

PC Here

For those of us who sing “Seasons of Love” as a pre-show ritual, it may be hard to understand why, when Rent went on tour for the first time in 1997, it would be viewed with such criticism for the contents in the show. But, Charles Isherwood, a writer for The Advocate, writes about Charlotte, North Carolina’s decision to ban the show from performing in their town. Isherwood mentions that there was a huge protest against a previous show called Angels of America and many feel that Rent would cause the same effect since both shows have homosexual tones displayed in the show. “Explaining why she passed on Rent, Judith Allen, president of Charlotte’s Blumenthal Center for the performing arts, said simply that the musical would be ‘too risky on a subscription series that’s only four years old.’”, yet she didn’t comment further on her statement. It was also mentioned by Isherwood that due to the town being very religious and conservative, they felt that Rent would be perceived as promoting homosexuality... Commissioner Hoyle Martin said when he was trying to decide if Rent should be shown in Charlotte, “I did not enter into this lightly...I sat down with 48 members of the gay and lesbian community because I think you always have to listen to the other side, but in the end, it only reaffirmed what I believe. There are many gay and lesbian people in Charlotte who are responsible to God for that--and who I have no problem with. But I have a problem when some of them shove it in my face. I don't shove myself in their face." But regardless of Charlotte, NC, they had no problems booking places all over the rest of the country, in places such as Chicago, Il, Salt Lake City, UT, and Columbus, OH just to name a few. They performed their tour through the years 1997-1998 and continued on Broadway, not needing Charlotte to help them continue to make this show a hit. Isherwood, Charles. (1997). Rent Control. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=4&docId=GALE%7CA19715192&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=&prodId=ITOF&contentSet=GALE%7CA19715192&searchId=R2&userGroupName=azstatelibdev&inPS=true&authCount=1&u=azstatelibdev

Instagram: @The_Theatre_Corner
Twitter: @Theatre_Corner