Feb 03 2009
RENT THE FINAL PERFORMANCE
| Rent was so much more than just a show. For many it was a rite of passage, the songs that spoke to a generation and opened up Broadway to an audience that otherwise might have never been tempted to visit the Great White Way. Therefore it wasn’t enough for the show to be translated into a motion picture. Things had to be changed, and concessions were necessary to attempt commercial success. So in a way the same reason the movie was made is the same reason that it wasn’t a huge hit. The fans of Rent do not simply love Rent, they breathe it and feel it in their souls. So when a film was made with the original cast three years ago, fans were not bringing home the very show they loved but rather, they were given enough to sustain. It was a gentle reminder of what they loved the way a picture or a short home video will suffice for memories that have faded. In the Summer the show played it final performance and the producers decided to film the finale so mass audiences could experience it. I do not believe it was meant as a commercial move but rather as a thank you to all those people that kept the unlikely Tony Winner around for all these years and as a final tribute to the late creator Jonathan Larson whose ironic death on the eve of the show’s opening made the message of “No Day But Today,” all the more meaningful. So is it enough? The filmed show has the all the grittiness of the stage with nothing edited out for ratings and shows why the characters have touched the hearts of so many people, young and old. The actors are not the original cast this time but rather new faces that, for the most part, do their jobs well enough. It is limited on the way that any stage show being put onto a screen would be but, that being said, it was done well. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! As I said before, it is not only simply a play. It should stand in history as a reminder of the fragility of life and why we should live. |
