OK, it's no secret to anyone that pays attention that I love RENT. I love it. I love the music, I love the minimalist approach it takes in its use of props and sets, I love the grittiness, I love the boldness, I love the honesty. And though I never got the chance to see it live (which I hopefully will someday, if ever there's a revival), I consider myself somewhat of a huge fan of the show.
However, I've found that one thing that I love the most is the backstory. Jonathan Larson lived the life he portrayed in RENT. Dirt broke, hungry, and surrounded by loss, yet he sacrificed comfort for the sake of his music. His everything was given to writing RENT, a project he was so passionate about that he would literally die seeing come to pass.
He poured his heart and soul (cliche, I know) into making this show a reality. Most every element of the show was based on something from his own experiences.
And though success happened for him, he died of an aortic dissection the night before RENT would open.
I guess what I find so admirable is the determination. I honestly don't know if I could say that I would give up basic comforts in life for the sake of art. I can't say that I would break my back for something that didn't necessarily carry any promises. I'd like to think I would, but I can't say in all honesty that I could.
And though many dislike what RENT offers (and I won't lie and say there aren't ANY flaws), this musical changed people's lives. In the end, if art is a form of communication, then this show completely and utterly succeeded. It changed the way people looked at Broadway, and moved people so deeply that they revisited the show over and over again. There's an entire wall backstage of the theater where the show ran for so many years that attests to the power of this show, and the lasting affect it made on people who saw it.
It's a show that dealt with life and the human spirit. It portrayed the honor and beauty of living a life of happiness, despite knowing that at any moment your body could betray you. It completely and beautifully captures the conditions of the time during AIDS epidemic. The fear, the sadness, the hopelessness. Yet instead of letting the characters suffer needlessly, Larson fuels the story with hope. With the idea that a life truly worth living is a life of happiness, in spite of anything else. No matter if your broke and living in the loft of an old warehouse. No matter if the person you love could die any day. No matter if you're looked down upon by the rest of society as undesirable. There's no day but today.
It's not a story about people with AIDS learning to love each other, as I once heard someone so ignorantly put it. It's a story about resilience in the face of adversity, the beauty of diversity, and the true healing power of love.
So again, thank you, Jonathan Larson.
