Stage Sounds: Rent

I received the Rent movie soundtrack for Christmas when I was 16 before I'd ever seen the movie purely based on how much I love Idina Menzel. The gift giver ended up being right on the nose with that one - I listened to Idina's songs, knew I needed to see the movie, and knew it would be in my Top 5 forever as soon as I saw it. This is the first show I've written about that I haven't seen on stage, only the film version, but I hope to rectify that sometime in my life. Rent is a classic, and despite being set at a very specific point in history it's still relevant today.

Rent is classified as a rock musical (literally just a musical with rock inspired music instead of classic show tune style music) and has a book, lyrics, and music written by the late Jonathan Larson, who drew heavy inspiration from 1896's La Bohème, the opera by Giacomo Puccini. The show premiered Off-Broadway in 1996 at the New York Theatre Workshop on E 4th Street before being moved to The Nederlander Theatre on Broadway proper (though it's technically on W 41st Street), where it remained in residence until 2008 as one of the longest ever running Broadway shows. The original run was nominated for ten Tony Awards in 1996 and won four of them: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Wilson Jermaine Heredia). That same year, the original run took home the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Apart from Broadway, the show has so far seen productions in the UK, Australia, Sweden, Germany, and Ireland. 2005 saw a feature length film starring all but 2 from the original Broadway cast, the final Broadway show was filmed onstage and released in 2009, and Fox produced a live televised production of Rent in 2019 starring Jordan Fisher, Tinashe, Vanessa Hudgens, and others. Tragically, the show's creator did not see any of these accolades during his lifetime - Larson passed away in 1996 of an aortic dissection the night before the show's Off-Broadway premiere.

As before, I will focus on one song for each main cast member. In the case of this particular show, I will discuss the original Broadway cast recording as well as the 2005 film soundtrack, so there will be a little bit of comparing and contrasting but not an incredible amount as the casts are almost identical. There will be honorable mentions again because it was so difficult to pick just one song per character, and if I talked about every song I wanted to I'd be writing for a week straight. Therefore, here we go! Warning: possible spoilers ahead.

Mark Cohen (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: La Vie Bohème

Honorable Mentions: Rent; Tango: Maureen; What You Own

Original Broadway Cast (1996) & Film (2005) : Anthony Rapp

La Bohème Character Comparison: Marcello the Painter

Idina Menzel may have been my gateway into Rent, but Anthony Rapp as Mark is without a doubt my favorite character in the show. The filmmaker of the group, he serves as the shows "narrator" and tries his best to be the voice of reason to the others. Rapp also has an incredible voice, and both versions of the soundtrack show off different aspects of his voice based off of how vocally mature he was at the time. Act 1's La Vie Bohème is the big final number of the first half of the show and is technically split into parts A & B, but it's so lyrically chaotic and challengingly fun to perform, you can't help but be impressed by everyone in the cast.

Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes/Here she lies, no one knew her worth/The late, great daughter of Mother Earth/On this night when we celebrate the birth/In that little town of Bethlehem/We raise our glass, you bet your ass/To la vie bohème

Roger Davis (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: What You Own

Honorable Mentions: Rent; Light My Candle; Another Day; La Vie Bohème; I Should Tell You; Without You

Original Broadway Cast (1996) & Film (2005) : Adam Pascal

La Bohème Character Comparison: Rodolfo the Poet

Resident musician Roger is an interesting character played masterfully in both casts by Adam Pascal. Reeling from the knowledge of being HIV-positive and the suicide of his girlfriend after finding out she was HIV-positive as well, he spends a lot of the show pushing the people he cares about away and trying to focus only on writing one more "meaningful" song before he passes. Watching him essentially come back to life during the timeline of the show is very emotional and you definitely end up rooting for him at the end no matter how you felt about him at the beginning. Act 2's What You Own is a duet between Roger and Mark coming to terms with having to deal with their own shit and live their lives no matter what happens around them, and Rapp & Pascal's voices blend together so perfectly that this is probably my favorite song in the whole show.

The filmmaker cannot see, and the songwriter cannot hear/Yet I see Mimi everywhere, Angel’s voice is in my ear/Just tighten those shoulders, just clench your jaw ’til you frown/Just don’t let go, or you may drown/You’re living in America at the end of the millennium/You’re living in America where it’s like the Twilight Zone/And when you’re living in America at the end of the millennium/You’re what you own

Mimi Márquez (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Without You

Honorable Mentions: Light My Candle; Out Tonight; Another Day; La Vie Bohème; I Should Tell You; Goodbye Love

Original Broadway Cast (1996): Daphne Rubin-Vega

Film (2005): Rosario Dawson

La Bohème Character Comparison: Mimi the Seamstress

As a Mezzo myself, I low-key love that the three main female characters are all Mezzos as well. Listening to the differences this week between original Mimi Daphne Rubin-Vega (who did not appear in the movie because she was pregnant during filming) and film Mimi Rosario Dawson was incredibly interesting to me. I feel like each woman tapped into a different side of Mimi, and both were really, really well done: Rubin-Vega has a much harsher vocal style than Dawson and lent a sharper edge and cynicism to the young stripper's character, and Dawson's very clear vocal style lent a hopefulness to Mimi that made all of the heartbreak she goes through in the movie feel even more tragic. Act 2's Without You is a duet between Mimi and Roger, and both women pair so well with Pascal's voice that they're both 100% worth a listen.

Without you, the ground thaws/The rain falls, the grass grows/Without you, the seeds root/The flowers bloom, the tides change/The stars gleam, the poets dream/The eagles fly without you/The earth turns, the sun burns/But I die without you

Tom Collins (Bass-Baritone)

Spotlight Song: I'll Cover You (Reprise)

Honorable Mentions: Seasons of Love; Rent; Santa Fe; La Vie Bohème; Goodbye Love

Original Broadway Cast (1996) & Film (2005): Jesse L. Martin

La Bohème Character Comparison: Colline the Philosopher

Collins is another favorite character of mine, and a lot of that is due to his portrayal by the incredible Jesse L. Martin. He has an incredible baritone voice and adds just the right amount of comedy to the role and makes you really, really care about this half-crazy, anarchy-obsessed, disgraced college professor. All of Collins's songs are great, but my favorite is the part of the movie where I cry without fail every time - Act 2's I'll Cover You (Reprise) at Angel's funeral. I will say that I prefer the film version of this song over the original Broadway just because a slightly older Martin pours even more emotion into the song and literally cracks your heart in half.

Live in my house, I’ll be your shelter/Just pay me back with one thousand kisses/Be my lover, and I’ll cover you, yeah/Open your door, I’ll be your tenant/Don’t got much baggage to lay at your feet/But sweet kisses I’ve got to spare/I’ll be there, and I’ll cover you, oh/I think they meant it when they said you can’t buy love/Now I know you can rent it, a new lease you are, my love/On life, all my life

Angel Dumott Schunard (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Today 4 U

Honorable Mentions: Santa Fe; La Vie Bohème

Original Broadway Cast (1996) & Film (2005): Wilson Jermaine Heredia

La Bohème Character Comparison: Schunard the Musician

Heredia won the only cast member Tony for Rent in 1996, and he 100% deserved it for his portrayal of the lovable drag queen Angel. Angel is definitely the heart and soul of the show, starting to show the other characters how to open up to each other and to love and to the world in general the minute he gets introduced to each of them. His death is really devastating when it happens, and watching the fallout of how the other characters react really shows what an impact one life can have on many others. Act 1's Today 4 U is scheduled a bop - it's high energy, it's fun, and not only shows off Heredia's vocals but also his drumming skills.

It was my lucky day today on Avenue A/When the lady in the limousine drove my way/She said, "Darling, be a dear, I haven’t slept in a year/I need your help to make my neighbor’s yappy dog disappear/This Akita, Evita, just won’t shut up/I believe if you play nonstop, that pup/Will breath its very last high strung breath/I’m certain that cur will bark itself to death"/Today for you, tomorrow for me/Today for you, tomorrow for me

Maureen Johnson (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Take Me or Leave Me

Honorable Mentions: Over the Moon; La Vie Bohème; Goodbye Love

Original Broadway Cast (1996) & Film (2005): Idina Menzel

La Bohème Character Comparison: Musetta the Singer

I love Maureen when Idina is Maureen, but if you look at the character as a whole she's definitely not perfect. The group's performance artist who has a heart for protest, she's pretty self-absorbed and has a hard time thinking of other people over herself for the majority of the show. That being said, she has some of the absolute best numbers in the show in my opinion, most notably one of the most well known songs in the show: Act 2's Take Me or Leave Me. A duet with her fiancée Joanne, the vocals are incredibly powerful from start to finish, and it's just so, so good.

Every single day, I walk down the street/I hear people say, "Baby, so sweet"/Ever since puberty, everybody stares at me/Boys, girls, I can’t help it, baby/So be kind and don’t lose your mind/Just remember that I’m your baby/Take me for what I am/Who I was meant to be/And if you give a damn/Take me, baby, or leave me/Take me, baby, or leave me

Joanne Jefferson (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Tango: Maureen

Honorable Mentions: Seasons of Love; Take Me or Leave Me; Goodbye Love

Original Broadway Cast (1996): Fredi Walker

Film (2005): Tracie Thoms

Joanne was the other main character who was recast for the film - Broadway Joanne Fredi Walker was the oldest of the original cast members (she was 33 when the show premiered) and felt when the movie came around that she was too old to believably portray Joanne. She did ask the filmmakers to cast a Black woman as Joanne in her honor when she turned down the role, and they did so in the form of Tracie Thoms who did a really incredible job. You start the show off not liking Joanne much because you know she's the person Maureen cheated on Mark with, but you find out very quickly that she's as much of a Maureen victim as Mark is and that she's actually pretty cool. She's very firm in her beliefs and is arguably the most mature of the group (she's a public interest lawyer with an Ivy League degree), but she learns to show off her vulnerable side throughout the show to become increasingly more relatable. Act 1's Tango: Maureen is so awesome, no matter if it's Walker or Thoms singing with Anthony Rapp as Mark.

This is weird, it’s weird, very weird, fucking weird/I’m so mad that I don’t know what to do/Fighting with microphones, freezing down to my bones/And to top it all off, I’m with you/Feel like going insane, got a fire in your brain/And you’re thinking of drinking gasoline/As a matter of fact, honey, I know this act/It’s called the Tango Maureen/The Tango Maureen, it’s a dark, dizzy merry-go-round/As she keeps you dangling, you’re wrong, your heart she is mangling, it’s different with me/And you toss and you turn ‘cause her cold eyes can burn, yet you yearn and you churn and rebound/I think I know what you mean, the Tango Maureen

Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: You'll See

Honorable Mentions: Rent; La Vie Bohème; Goodbye Love

Original Broadway Cast (1996) & Film (2005): Taye Diggs

Benny, the main antagonist of the story, doesn't have the biggest part in the movie but he's important nonetheless and is played in the original run and the film by the talented Taye Diggs. Pretty much every other main character (except Angel and Joanne I think) has been burned or betrayed by Benny in the past as he let his ambition to climb the corporate ladder and make a name for himself eclipse his formerly "bohemian" ideals and turn his back on his friends. Diggs does a really good job portraying him as a douchebag who will pretty much say or do whatever he has to get his way. Act 1's You'll See is a little different from the stage to the screen; the stage production includes Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins, and Angel, while the film version only has a trio of Benny, Mark, and Roger. Whichever way, they're both good, and show off the really good vocal control Diggs has and shows you right away what type of person they're dealing with in Benny.

What happened to Benny, what happened to his heart/And the ideals he once pursued/And the owner of that lot next door has a right to do as he pleases/Happy birthday, Jesus/The rent, you’re wasting your time/We’re broke, and you broke your word/This is absurd, there is one way you won’t have to pay/I knew it, next door, the home of Cyber Arts, you see/And now that the block is rezoned, our dream can become a reality/You’ll see, boys, you’ll see, boys

If you've never watched Rent, I definitely recommend giving it a shot. It's got a good story and great music and will likely never go out of style. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!