Turns out that RENT on Broadway ran it's last show on September 7 of this year. After 12 years on Broadway, it's gone and the Nederlander theater is actually being renovated or has been renovated to become home to Guys and Dolls. Yesterday, Marty was cruising the internet and found a site called The Hot Ticket which evidently shows Broadway musicals in theaters. That's how I found out all of this information. So, last night, we went and saw RENT at the Regal 24.
When we arrived we found out tickets were $20 dollars each instead of the regular price of $10. We hemmed and hawed. Did we really want to spend $40 on a show we had already seen twice and of which we also own the movie edition? Turns out we did.
First, the stage production is just so much better than the movie edition. These are the original songs and you really get the feel for the thing from the stage. This is the RENT with which I fell in love.
Second, the Broadway cast was just spectacular. Obviously because whoever was filming one of their last shows was able to get up close and personal with the cast. They were extra sentimental as anyone who has ever been in a show that becomes a part of you would know. A cast becomes like a family and saying goodbye to a show is like saying goodbye to family. There were tears from some of the actresses which were visible on-screen. Thus, there were tears for me.
Rent saw me through some times in my life. There are memories of when I was in the show Godspell and my cast members introduced me to this wonderful thing. We would stand around the piano during our breaks and sing some of the songs. We would use the songs as our sound checks on stage.
When Marty and I first started this thing called us, back when I simply put up with him, I can remember driving in a car with him from camp back to Atlanta. I started at the beginning of the musical just to see how far I could get before I didn't know the next line. I made it pretty far.
I was devastated when I found out he didn't really like the musical after seeing it the first time. WHAT?!? How could anyone not love this beautiful thing? The movie version made him a fan. Whatever.
Anyway, when I found out yesterday that RENT had closed its doors I was saddened. The lyrics from the songs seem to get stuck in your heart and your head and really begin to take on a life of their own. When we went to NY before Justice was born, 2 Christmases ago, we got to see it on Broadway. That was the realization of a dream, a goal. I'm upset that the next time I go, there will be no RENT signs or tickets on sale, no show for which to stand in line for the lottery. (well, there are other shows that do the lottery now but it's not the same).
I feel like a part of me has to say goodbye to a dear friend.
There's only us
There's only this
Forget regrets
Or life is yours to miss
No other path
No other way
No day but today
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