The cast of Rent will present the culmination of months of hard work to the Choate community tonight and tomorrow. Photo by Amitra Hoq/The Choate News
Yesterday, Choate started staging Rent, the 1996 Broadway rock musical written by Jonathan Larson. Set in New York City’s East Village, the play follows a group of young and impoverished artists struggling to create a life amid the terror of the AIDS/HIV crisis.
Rent is unique because of its original songs and style. Max Brown ’21, who plays the role of Tom Collins, said, “Rent is an operetta, which means almost everything is enhanced with music and singing. What excites me the most is that there are so many genres represented in this show. For one, I sing a gospel solo during the show, while there are other songs with elements of rock and R&B.”
Unlike traditional opera musicals, Rent incorporates contemporary genres and styles, creating a vibrant and engaging atmosphere. Will Flamm ’21, who plays the role of Roger Davis, said, “The music of the show is truly epic. The show draws in and integrates beautifully so many styles of music. The songs are easy to understand and super catchy.”
The addictive beat and memorable lyrics of the show’s songs can get stuck in anyone’s head. Even Lin-Manuel Miranda, best known for his e musical Hamilton, has credited Rent as an inspiration for his success. Miranda has said that the music of Rent triggered “a revelation that you could write about now, and you could have musicals that really felt contemporary” in him.
No matter how vital Rent’s music may be, its message feels even more so. Brown said, “Rent teaches how, even in the midst of a strong epidemic, people can rise above and live their lives triumphantly by taking advantage of every day.” Similarly, Emily Goodwin ’21, who plays Maureen Johnson, said, “I think the message behind Rent is basically, well, quoting one of the songs, ‘no day but today,’ and it’s all about living in the moment and spreading love and not worrying about what could happen tomorrow and just living in the moment and being present.”
This message has long resonated with audiences, and Choate’s theater community is particularly excited to share it. Jackie Ng ’20 said, “Boarding schools are very unique in the sense that we are in a ‘bubble,’ which could be seen as negative. I think it also provides us with perspectives unique to the boarding school scene. This makes Choate’s plays and musicals so special because we are able to make small changes to the plot or to the way things are presented to reflect the ideals we have here at Choate.” Ng believes the show will allow Choate students to reflect on ideas and events beyond the ‘Choate bubble’ and provide new perspectives to the community.
The actors share similar sentiments about opening night. Brown said, “No matter how many new things Tech Week throws our way, I think the cast of Rent is definitely ready for opening night. We have an exciting show for the Choate community, and the only thing we might not be ready for is the thrill of the first reaction from a crowd that’s never seen something like this before.”
With the energy of the cast primed for opening night as well as the growing excitement of a potential audience, Rent’s opening show is sure to be a blast. Brown said, “Rent is unique. It deals with love, loss, fear, pride of sexuality, but most of all, hope. It’s different from anything the Choate community has seen. It’s thrilling, rebellious, and something worth waiting for.”
“Rent was the first musical of its time. It broke the barrier of what musicals had to be. So, that was difficult because since it’s so loved, we wanted to make it new and original but also wanted to keep the love and message of Rent.”
“There’s barely any speaking in Rent, and it’s a musical about AIDS and being HIV positive, and it was first put on in the 90s.”
“It’s very ‘out there’ and it talks about things that people are very hush-hush about, like homosexuality, drag queens, stuff like that.”
“I think the message behind Rent is basically, well, quoting one of the songs, ‘no day but today,’ and it’s all about living in the moment and spreading love and not worrying about what could happen tomorrow and just living in the moment and being present.”
“This year, there was definitely more focus on vocals since it is primarily more singing, whereas last year we had to learn how to cheerlead, so that’s a little different. But besides that, it was basically the usual process with blocking. It was pretty similar to last year minus the fact that last year, the focus was more on dancing and making it look like we knew how to cheerlead whereas this year, we’re focusing more on telling the story and our vocal quality.”
“The piece I’m most excited to perform is a song called ‘Over the Moon’ and I think it’s a very good definition of what the show is. It’s very out there, and I think it’s kind of what Jonathan Larson, who created the show, was trying to do because it’s very much spreading a good message in an odd way, so that’s fun. And I’m most excited for people to see ‘La Vie Bohéme’ because it’s the big dance number of the show and we all just have such a good time. And Dr. Curtis has a feature in that number, so look for his cameo.”
