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RENT: Behind the scenes and the story line

What is RENT? How did RENT become RENT? Yes, well, this is a little...LITTLE...glimpse into the making of RENT.

Putting together RENT took over seven years, The creator, Jonathan Larson, lived in a crappy little apartment in downtown NYC where he has a bathtub in his kitchen. He worked at the Life Cafe, and had many sleepless nights composing. He had the choice of being an actor or a composer when he was little, but it was all about the music to him. Many things and people contributed to the set up, casting, and facilities, but the story line was almost a mirror image to Jon's life. He even dated a dancer for four years, who sometimes left him for other men...and finally left him for another women. Also, the musical was celebrating the 100th birthday of the opera, "La Boheme." Even some of the character's names are the same. Jonathan, along with many others, worked 20 hour days to perfect RENT. The night before the show opened to the public, Jon went home and died making tea of an aortic aneurysm. The cast didn't know what to do when they found out. First, they wanted to cancel the show, but they knew that wasn't what Jonathan would have wanted. So, they decided to be solely a sing through. As the show was sung to a packed audience, the cast began to stand up from their chairs on the stage, and began to act the play out. "It was incredible and terrible. It was like we had to do it. We were all sobbing and crying," said Anthony Rapp, who played Mark in the original cast.

RENT...simply, is..."About a community-celebrating life, in the face of death and AIDS, at the turn of the century. It's about being young, being brave, being scared, being in love and in trouble, and having hope for today, and faith for tomorrow."