Hungry for more Rent? Have we got a video playlist for you!
For a treasure trove of free Rent videos—full-length documentaries, songs, interviews, and clips—go to this Rent YouTube playlist and enjoy hours of music and commentary.
“A zealous, inventive and hungry composer”
Playwright Jonathan Larson was in his early 30s, had been mentored by Stephen Sondheim, and had two plays already under his belt—Superbia and Tick, Tick . . . Boom! (which was largely autobiographical)—when he dug out a project he’d abandoned earlier, an adaptation of Puccini’s opera La Bohème. He decided to set the new play in the AIDS-panicked 1980s, based on his own experiences living in an unheated walk-up in New York City. The result—Rent—was a masterpiece, but one that he didn’t live to see succeed; he passed away suddenly just before the show’s opening. Read more about Larson, along with Sondheim’s thoughtful (and, at times, brutally honest) comments about him, in this overview of Larson’s life on dramaturg Kamilah Bush’s website.
AIDS, Art & Activism
The tragedy of the AIDS epidemic—and the infuriatingly slow response from the U.S. government to to stop its spread—sparked activism on an unprecedented level. With so many artists affected, their communities found their voices—and their filmmaking skills, and their organizational talents—to put AIDS front and center in the minds of the public. Read about the artists who broke the rules to sound the alarm, and watch a powerful set of films about key moments in the media war on AIDS.
That’s so ’80s (and a little ’90s)
Keep the 1980s vibe going with our multimedia extravaganza:
· Clips of classic 1980s New York music, from Grandmaster Flash to DNA
· A glossary of all the 1980s references and in-jokes in Rent’s dialogue, from Elsie the Cow and the Gracie Mews building to Václav Havel and the Sex Pistols
· A brief history of politics and economics in 1990s New York City—and a collection of NYC videos.
More to explore!
In preparation for Rent rehearsals at OSF, dramaturg Kamilah Bush developed a deep dramaturgy site for the show packed with even more background information, including:
· Connections between Rent and Puccini’s La Bohème
· The Tompkins Square Park Riots—a 1988 clash between houseless people and New York City police, one in a series of confrontations that brought the plight of the houseless into the news cycle and the minds of the city’s residents. (Also see videos about this pivotal time on Kamilah’s video page.)
For students, teachers, and younger playgoers
OSF Study Guides offer resources and links to use in preparation for reading, streaming, or attending a play. These materials also offer teaching suggestions, discussion questions, research topics, related websites, and additional resources for each production. Visit the Rent Study Guide to delve into the story’s themes, historical background, and contemporary interpretations.
Thanks to Rent Dramaturg Kamilah Bush and Music Director Dolores Duran-Cefalu for sharing their wealth of resources.