It's about time: The Rent is more than paid up

Don't cry for Rent on Broadway. It's about time. In reality, few shows -- if any -- can truly aesthetically sustain a five year run much less a 12 year one, and part of the reason why the Broadway world has not seen a greater collection of outstanding new work over the past decade-plus is because the economics have become such that only a brand name show that sustains its ticket sales can make it. There's little new excitement on Broadway, especially in terms of musicals, because there is little innovative creativity.

I've been on a bit of a theater binge recently, lessened in the New Year due to my work submission screening commitments, but in November and December, I saw more theater than I had been to in all the rest of 2007 and possibly 2006 combined. Some weeks, I was attending four or five shows, Broadway and Off-Broadway -- sadly, I need to find more time for Off-Off -- and while there is a lot of good theater out there, great theater, not so much. But the thing that is truly noticeable is the difference between a new show and an old one, particularly an older show that has moved into the realm of stunt casting or third, fourth or fifth casts. No disrespect to the many talented Broadway performers who don't receive the honor, opportunity and/or luxury of being an original cast member, but shows can get tired, even when they're new to the audience.

I rarely see productions that have been playing for a while. Most original casts -- or at the very least, the leads -- are gone after the first year, and I try to see things when they're new and fresh, for better or worse. It can be worse sometimes ... some shows grow as the cast and production get tighter simply due to repetition.

In the fall, I went to see Hairspray on Broadway. I had never seen the show, and as mentioned here over the summer, I absolutely fell in love with the movie. The cast included Ashley Parker Angel (one of the members of the Making the Band group O-Town), Alexa Vega (best known for her role in the Spy Kids movies), and Jerry Mathers as The Beaver. Wait ... no ... Mathers played Wilbur Turnblad, Tracey's father. For those of you who saw the movie, it was the Christopher Walken role. I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that The Beav can't really dance, and he sings just a tad bit worse than he dances. Shortly after the performance I attended, Lance Bass of 'N Sync joined the cast. He, Vega and Beav have since left, but George Wendt (NORM!) is now playing Edna Turnblad, the role made famous by Divine in the John Waters movie, Harvey Fierstein in the original Broadway cast, and John Travolta in the movie musical.

No offense to Wendt (NORM!) ... maybe he's great. But when Broadway producers start bringing in stunt or name casting it's because the ticket sales are already on the decline and often that's because the show is too. Sometimes, said casting can revitalize and improve the show. By all accounts, Fantasia (winner of American Idol a few seasons back) did wonders for The Color Purple, not just in terms of ticket sales but bringing a fresh and invigorating interpretation to the role. But these examples tend to be exceptions rather than the rule.

Rent was hit and a phenomenon -- deservedly so or not -- when it was because of when it was. It was a show of its time. It was a show when those remnants of the East Village still existed; when downtown theater types remembered the neighborhood and the AIDS epidemic was becoming more under control but still very real. It was also a real dead time for Broadway, when Andrew Lloyd Weber could do virtually no wrong and anything smaller than Les Mis didn't have a chance. It was a time when Titanic: The Musical and The Life were the closest thing to innovation, and if you don't remember either of those shows, there's good reason -- neither were all that memorable.

Rent was exciting because it was familiar and it was New York and it was "rock" music and its creation was accompanied by a tragic story of its young creator. All these issues have very little to do with whether or not the show was any good. Many will argue that it's awful. Others will argue that it's the best musical of all time. Personally, I'd say they're both wrong. It's a highly flawed but entertaining and provocative enough show. It never was the be-all, end-all reinvention of musical theater as it seemed to be hyped by much of the media frenzy at the time. But it had its moment, and it was interesting and exciting, and it was able to be so because compared to all the other new stuff, it was superior.

I haven't seen the stage production of Rent since some time in 1997 when I saw it for the second and last time. I can't speak to the quality of the current cast or band or production, and I'm sure every member of the show tries as hard as that tremendous group of talent that opened the show on April 29, 1996. But the thing about Broadway and all theater in particular, the primary quality to me that separates it as a performance presentation from film is, unsurprisingly, that it's live. A show is not supposed to run forever. The show that opens in 1996 simply can't be the same show you see in 1999 or 2002 or 2008.

When a show is revived, it usually needs something new and different to make it feel alive again. I know a lot of people have praised the current revival of A Chorus Line which is virtually a duplicate of the original production. As I've mention previously, A Chorus Line is one of my absolute all-time favorite musicals -- and it arguably was a complete reinvention of musical theater at the time. I saw the production soon after it opened and have to admit, I was underwhelmed primarily because I found the cast subpar and the production lacking vitality. Maybe it was an off-night. Maybe they've gotten better since. But theater is a living, breathing, organic experience, subject to the varieties and variations that are utterly unpredictable. And as such, much like it takes my eyes more time to focus in the morning at 36 years old than it did when I was 24, theater gets old.

Rent has aged. Gracefully or not, in dog years, it's almost 84. It's a little sad, but it's also for the best. And maybe there's some young blossoming musical theater writer -- they're out there -- who's ready to wow us with the new Rent (or, better yet, the next Avenue Q) whose ready to pick-up that mantle and help push out the Phantoms and Les Mises and even the relative newcomers like Mamma Mia!. It's just really about time.

R.I.P. Rent. I'm sure some sort of weird nostalgia will bring you back some day, but for now, you're time has come ... and it's about time.

Comments

[Jeanne]

I don't get it! You talked about Hairspray at length and mentioned all the "stars" but not once did you mention the real STAR of the show...Tracy Turnblad...Shannon Durig who has been playing the role on Broadway for over a year and just had her 1000th performance! Everyone talks about Rikki Lake, Marissa and NIKKI Blonsky...but no one ever talks about Shannon! I went to see the show before the movie was released and Shannon Durig was stunning! She is a true star! I had the luck of getting backstage passes and met with the cast and EVERYONE said that Shannon was the best Tracy EVER! And the best to work with. They said when she is gone, they dread it because the U/S was not very good...(michelle is no longer the understudy thank god). It is really sad that all of the celebreties that play the supporting roles are always mentioned as stars, but the current Broadway str is totally ignored! Maybe she just needs a better publicity Agent! Sorry, but this really bothers me! She must be good if she has had this role for so long!

[Aaron]

Jeanne: I don't actually disagree with you much at all in regards to Shannon Durig, who I thought was good in the role. I wouldn't say she totally blew me away, but she's more than competent and did a good job. But what I was talking about was the very fact that the rest of the show had been around so long that the producers decided -- whether for ticket sales help or creative invigoration (and I would guess the former) -- to start stunt casting. One person can carry a show, but not when there is so much working against him/her. In discussing the current Broadway production of Hairspray, I was talking about what is wrong with the show at this point -- nearly six years and over 2000 performances into its run -- and Durig is one of the few elements that does not fall into that category. There are lots of really talented people performing on Broadway in shows that have overstayed their welcomes (including some, I'm sure, in Rent), and many of them are done a disservice by crappy stunt casting.