![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() While “Rent” is not as obsolete as other film versions of zeitgeist-specific musicals - like “Godspell” or “Hair” - nor as leaden as last year’s “Phantom of the Opera,” it feels past its prime. The East Village, where the story’s struggling artists, squatters, junkies and misfits reside, is now considerably more gentrified AIDS treatment has evolved radically and the gloomy shadow of Reaganomics and yuppie greed that hung heavily over big-city fringe-dwellers has been replaced by more insidious sociopolitical specters. Eighth on the all-time Broadway list of long-runners at nearly 4,000 performances, “Rent” has now grossed more than $210 million from its New York engagement alone.īut the musical’s of-the-moment edge has faded. There was the added poignancy of the tragedy of creator Larson, who died the night of final dress rehearsal, days before his 36th birthday. Premiered Off Broadway in 1996, the show connected with audiences via its melancholy romanticism and harnessing of the stark realities of AIDS, drugs, homelessness and life on the margins. ![]()
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