Stuff I Love: With a Thousand Sweet Kisses

I spent the summer of 1996, the summer before my senior year in high school, sitting in the theatre office in my high school, planning the upcoming season (I was in my second season as Business Manager), hanging out with my friends, and listening to the original cast recording of RENT on repeat. I'm surprised we didn't wear the CDs out (it's a two CD soundtrack) given the amount of times we listened to it. Something about the musical and the story of its creator, Jonathan Larson, completely captivated me and my friends. What did suburban white girls (mostly) have in common with the hip, cool characters of Larson's East Village? Quite literally nothing. I hadn't even been to New York when we started listening to the soundtrack. I didn't know anyone who was a junkie, although I knew kids in my high school who did drugs. I didn't drink in high school, and I was the mom of my friend group at 17. Which is cool I guess. It usually translated into always having easily accessible snacks for the group and making sure everyone made curfew.

But I knew every word to every song. I could sing the show in my sleep (and still can). Before the days of instant access to everything, I bought every magazine and paper I could find that had any information about the cast and Larson. Larson died the day before the off-Broadway opening of RENT, which only makes the show even more beloved. My parents bought me tickets to see the show on Broadway as a graduation present (we saw most of the original cast), and yes, I did sit next to my mom during the song "Contact." My parents knew what they were getting themselves into when they bought those tickets.

RENT is a lot of things: it's a modern day La Boheme, it's the precursor to many of the modern rock musicals, it's one of the most beloved musicals of all time, it's revolutionary. It makes you laugh and cry, often within the same song. It's about love and community and inclusion. It gave a face to the parallel epidemics of HIV/AIDS and crack and the impact both had on generations of young people. It's about art and politics and being your authentic self and creating.

I might not have had any life experiences in common with the characters in RENT, but I was young and believed that I could do anything. I was at the point in my life where I was about to head off to college and become whoever it was I was supposed to be. I was going to fall in love and create great art. I was going to have my "one song glory" like Roger (although it wouldn't be a song since I don't sing and can't play any instruments, but you get my point). I would find my tribe. Pick a song in the show and there's at least one lyric, maybe more, that speaks to my soul. It's that sort of show.

To say I was surprised that a live version of RENT was going to be on Fox last weekend would be an understatement. I had zero idea this was coming. I'm sure there was an announcement, but since I rarely watch network television anymore, I probably missed it. I'm ambivalent about these live musical broadcasts networks seem to believe we want. On one hand, my musical theatre nerd self gets so excited about a musical. I mean, I used to borrow cast albums (on vinyl) from the library and make up my own dance routines. I love musicals. On the other hand, these experiences almost never go right. The productions The Wiz and Hairspray have been the most successful of the fully staged productions, and Jesus Christ Superstar was an amazing concert/musical production. I've set the bar super low for these productions so I'm not disappointed, just like my Grandma K taught me.

I didn't hate RENT, but I didn't love it either. I DVR-ed it because I can't stay up past 9 pm on a school night. And it wasn't like I was missing an actual live broadcast. Because of a cast member's injury (more on this in a moment), only the last 15 minutes were live. The rest of the broadcast was from the recorded dress rehearsal the night before. The sound was terrible, but it's never good on these shows. The live studio audience was too loud (not a concert, y'all) and the cast, overall, was underwhelming. The set was impressive and cool, appropriate for a live broadcast, but was too overwhelming for this production. I really loved Roger's first pair of pants. No joke, not only do I want to see Brennin Hunt wear them again, I'd like a pair for myself. That's how good these pants are. Brennin Hunt was my favorite of the cast. He's definitely a Roger for 2019. Vanessa Hudgens was pretty good, better in "Take Me or Leave Me" than in "Over the Moon." Valentina was really pretty. I admit to fast forwarding through a lot of the recording. I skipped to my favorite songs, watched the awkwardness that was "Contact" on broadcast tv, and cried during "I'll Cover You - Reprise" because I will always cry during that song.

The lesson we learned from RENT Live! is to have an understudy. Hunt seriously injured his foot during the dress rehearsal. Rather than have a backup option of another actor, the production went forward with the recorded version until the last 15 minutes of the show. The climax of the show is staged in a way that Roger (Hunt) can sit pretty much the whole time, so that's what he did. And it was fine. The show ended, the curtain came back up on the original Broadway cast and "Seasons of Love" played as God and Jonathan Larson intended. Adam Pascal, the original Roger, and Jesse L. Martin, the original Collins, have gotten even hotter with age. I wish Adam had decided to jump in and play Roger; that would have been some amazing live theatre. If not Adam, what about one of the guys in the chorus? Trust me, they've all wanted to be Roger since they were 17. The last 15 minutes of the show, the actual live part, was the best part. It showed what this production could have been.

The next morning, I did what any RENT fan would do and listened to the original cast recording in my car on my drive to and from work. I sang along, because I always sing along, and I listened to the show as adult me, not 17 year old me who was in love with Adam Pascal. I still get chills during the certain songs and I laugh at Anthony Rapp and Idina Menzel. Wilson Jermaine Heredia's Angel will always be the heart of this show. What I was struck by on this listening and the "live" production, was the realization that the thing that Benny wanted, CyberArts, is now a thing that artists and tech people do all the time. Collaborative/multipurpose art spaces are super popular. Co-working spaces are a great example of people from all sorts of career fields working in a shared space, often stumbling into new ideas and creative endeavors. When I was younger, I loved Taye Diggs (I mean, come on), but disliked Benny. He was the villain, he was the living embodiment of Allison's comment from The Breakfast Club "when you grow up your heart dies." I still don't love Benny, but the original idea that Benny and his former roommate had, is now the norm. I have to wonder if Jonathan Larson was writing this show today, what would be the CyberArts of today? What would be the thing that took the heart out of art and creativity and innovation and revolution? I don't know, but I've been thinking about this all week, while humming random songs from the soundtrack.

And that's what makes watching the "live" production valuable. In addition to having an opportunity to watch a show about love, diversity, inclusion, community, and creativity on broadcast tv during prime time, I revisited one of the formative artistic creations of my youth and am thinking about it in a different way. At 17, I wasn't a fully formed human yet, and I had no idea what I'd be or do in my life. I'm not sure I'm fully formed human at 39, but I do know who I am and what I value. Listening to RENT makes me realize a lot of those things can be found in the songs and characters of this show. And that, is the power of art.

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