RENT, the Musical is Showing at RCBC until March 2011

Most artists refuse to compromise their individuality. Bohemian is a word applied to those whose lifestyles don’t fit the status quo, and artists are well-known to live bohemian lives, until life itself catches up with them. The operating words in bohemian living are “creative freedom,” “live and let go,” “La vie Boheme!”

Written by Jonathan Larson (1960-1996) and narrated from the point of view of the character of a struggling filmmaker (MARK), RENT, the stage musical that runs February and until March at the RCBC theatre, captures the essence of La vie Boheme in the lives of three lovers. The love relationships are between a pole dancer and a rock artist (ROGER and MIMI), a stage actress and her gay manager (MAUREEN and JOANNE), a transvestite and a straight-guy computer geek (ANGEL AND COLLINS). The play also often looks sideways and gives a glimpse of a mother’s endless concern - however suffocating - for her child - and a friend’s loyalty to his peers that goes beyond the point of exhaustion. Lives in RENT are not exactly ideal, but the essence of how to measure our days is amply illustrated by the chorus – Seasons of Love, which says that really, we have to make every minute count, live our days, not in fear, not in hopelessness, not in hate but in courage, in faith, and in love:

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How
about love? Measure in love.
Seasons of love.

A long running Broadway musical in the early and up to the late 90s, RENT captures the struggles of artists whose basic necessities include a space to be creative and intellectual stimulation from other artists. RENT tackles a common problem – an artist’s survival in a pragmatic world. This is complicated by the cost of a carefree, impassioned life – in this play, AIDS, and that other curse, extreme poverty.

To understand AIDS, one actor went out of his way observing AIDS patients in hospitals, and talking with them for a time to empathize with their situation. The lead actress, meanwhile, says that after doing this musical, she now looks at the beggars on the streets of Manila with wisdom, realizing that they may be victims of their own choices.

RENT itself is a title that leads to deeper introspection. While it tells mainly on artists who are unable to pay rent and are in danger of losing their space and freedom, RENT also symbolizes how much our lives is simply a stewardship, that we have been rented out space and time, and however we use them will define our triumphs and failures. As a musical, RENT captures the pathos of its characters, via the predominantly rock music belted out with passionate energy by the ensemble cast. One favourite scene is that of Collins reprising the song that Angel, his lover sang to him. This song captures RENT's essence:

COLLINS
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
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 -- I'll cover you
I think they meant it
When they said you can't buy love
Now I know you can rent it
A new lease you were, my love, on life
All my life
I've longed to discover
Something as true
As this is.