A revival of Rent? Already? Didn’t it just close? Yes it did.
New World Stages are becoming a popular destination for shows that close on Broadway. The 39 Steps did it. Avenue Q did it. Million Dollar Quartet did it. And now Rent, the musical that every high school theater students since 1996 claimed as their own, is reopening Off-Broadway. I’m a fan of the New World Stages. They’re small seating theaters with nice deep stages that can be set up to handle many different show demands. I’ve seen tiny shows like Musical of Musicals: the Musical there and bigger shows like Avenue Q. It’s just a great multi-theater venue.
There’s a performance highlight reel for the new production of Rent going around. I’m not holding my breath. I’m glad that the show got some slightly varied sets and costuming, but the little we hear of the singers sounds like they’re mostly trying to copy the OBC recording. Who knows if original director Michael Grief insisted on this? It just feels…familiar. Rent is an exciting show and I’m not sure this production will capture that. We’ll see what the reviews say tonight.
What do you think? Are you ready for another long run of Rent so soon? Or do you wish more time than a little over 2 years had passed since the last NYC production? Sound off.
