Kirchner
Generation X has finally taken out a lease on the future of theatre, and it looks like it is more than able to pay the "Rent" (Coulbourn 43). "Rent" is a musical for our time, for our generation and for generations to come. It has won numerous Tony Awards including best musical, book, score, lyrics, and ensemble performance. This musical is an excellent representation of cultural religion and it has had a profound impact on society both in the 90's and today. "Rent" is not only a representation of the culture of the new millennium but is an excellent representation of the faith of a new generation.
"Rent is a time capsule for the `90's loaded with cultural references - Doc Martens, call waiting, voice mail, beepers, performance artists, a desert called Cyberland, parked trucks loaded with fertilizer and fuel oil, Peewee Herman,
Tabloid TV, ATM's, all packed for a generation weaned on alternative rock and `Friends'" (Royce 11).
These things are social icons in America, who hasn't heard of, or owned, effects such as these. Yet digging deeper we see that it is a depiction of the creed of an alternative religion and shows humanity how we should live our lives. "'Rent' etches its place in your hearts with a timeless, transcendent hope: I want to be somebody; I want people to know that I lived, that I had a purpose, and people loved me; life is not just a quantity measure in minutes and hours and years; life is a quality" (Royce 11). This is a creed of love, tolerance and diversity, and the remembrance of the sanctity of life. It has touched many lives in a way that some cannot even begin to explain. People cannot seem to put their finger on what exactly the magic of "Rent" really is. Yet the raw emotion o...
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... religion really is. It's the love of thy neighbor and loving the little things in life. It's connecting to one another, and being tolerant of one another. This musical exemplifies the culture of the new millennium.
Works Cited
Byrne, Terry. "Music; passion for Rent." Boston Herald 27 August 1996: 27.
Coulbourn, Jon. "This Rent's paid up in full." The Toranto Sun 8 December 1997: 43.
Evett, Marianne. "Zest for life sparks rent." Plain Dealer 18 June 1998: 1E.
Gauthier, Amanda. "Rent speaks to all." Bakersfield Californian 24 February 2000: 5.
Pacheco, Patrick. "Buying into a phenomenon." L.A Times 25 September 1997: 17.
Royce, Graydon. "Heavy 'Rent'." Star Tribune 24 December 1999: 11.
Winn, Steven. ""Rent" moves back in." San Francisco Chronicle 3 June
2001: 32.
Zimmerman, John. "Rent Strikes." Newsweek February 1998: 16.
In Dialogue: Theatre of America, Harold Clurman said, “we make theatre out of life” (27), and it was precisely this view that motivated him to help create a uniquely American theatre. Clurman, considered one of the most influential directors of the modern American theatre, had a unique vision of what the American theatre could become. One of the founders of the quintessentially American troupe, the Group Theatre, Clurman was a contemporary of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, and even married to Stella Adler for twenty years. At a ceremony honoring Clurman, Elia Kazan stated that Clurman’s “greatest achievement [was] himself” (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre). An important figure in our theatrical past, Clurman’s theories on theatre and directing require close attention. In this paper, I will first provide a brief biography of Clurman, second, examine his theories of theatre and directing, and lastly, I will explore his criticisms of the then-contemporary theatre, and draw conclusions to the current state of the Broadway theatre.
A suburban life is a paradise full of shopping, colorful gardens, and well-groomed homes. Despite all these benefits, a suburban life is an isolated life. People living in suburbs are rarely exposed to miseries in society. One of these conflicts is homelessness. When living in an environment surrounded by homes, individuals often have difficulty imagining not being able to sleep in a warm bed, eat a proper meal or even receive necessary medical attention. This grim situation is depicted in the writings of Jeannette Walls. In the autobiography The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls accurately portrays homelessness by explaining its causes, its impact upon daily life, and its effect on victimized families.
The risk taking and ingenuity Sondheim brought to the art of the musical gave others permission to experiment with non-traditional plot structures, more serious topics, the use of ambiguity, or anything else they could think of in musical format. One writer in particular, Jonathan Larson, was influenced by Sondheim. Larson was personally mentored by Sondheim, and Larson’s hit musical Rent, which featured a group of poor, AIDS stricken artists, may have never been possible if Sondheim had not brought similar, grave topics to the Broadway stage first. The same can be said for many more recent musicals, such as Wicked, Parade, and The Last Five Years (“The
Gospel is a religious branch under spiritual music because it relates to praising God. The lyrics usually contain a message of praise, gratefulness, or relief through the glory of God thanking him for everything down to the simplest things in life. The way that they performed showed how spiritual their performance was because they not only sang, but they gestured during the performance. Lifting their hands in prayer, rocking back and forth, and anticipating crowd participation by calling out to us. The pianist, organist, and choir accompanied each other so well, thus creating an atmosphere of spirituality and welcome! All my life I’ve grown up in the church. I’ve done everything from ushering, to singing in my church; I grew up listening and singing gospel, which made it more interesting for me to choose this
“A 12-Part Video Series about Homelessness in Southern California.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, Apr. 2016, www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-biagiotti-onthestreets-20151118-htmlstory.html.
Being an artist was a large struggle being that those jobs weren’t as easy to follow and make a living off of and the price for living in the city is a difficult one even with a steady job. This musical has drug addicts, homeosexuals, the poor, artists just trying to make a living, and just people who have AIDS/HIV, covering all of the major people found in the time of the actual epidemic. The Musical is also based off of Puccini's opera, La Boheme but Larson just took a twist and set it in modern day with different issues. In December 1995 Larson wrote a one-sentence summary of the show: "Rent is about a community celebrating life, in the face of death and AIDS, at the turn of the century." Rent was a huge breakthrough in musical theatre with the music and bring such an amazing and new relatable story to the young and struggling of the
Epstein, Dan. 20th Century Pop Culture: The Early Years to 1949. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001. Print.
When I hear the word Rent, I immediately see an eclectic Broadway production, overflowing with talent, adventure, and magic. I picture scantly clad actresses, strutting across the stage. I envision stunning duets and thought-provoking lyrics. That single word transports me to a different time and place.
The musical Rent by lyricist, librettist, and composer Jonathan Larson surprised Broadway in 1996. Rent stormed Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre and became a phenomenon. It won several prestigious awards, including a Pulitzer. Located on the eve of a new century, Rent depicts a year in the life of a group of friends living in the Lower East Side of New York. All in their twenties, they live a bohemian life, guided by principles that tend more towards the achievement of ideals to an agreed social mobility. This life somewhat offset from the rest of society ensures that the characters must face the inevitable gap between their dreams and reality. In their case, the reality is, among others, in the form of a concrete evil in this era: AIDS, which is the major theme of this musical. Indeed, throughout the play, everyone is affected directly or indirectly by the effects of the virus, whether interpersonal or social, and inevitably, medical. Yet despite the potentially disastrous consequences of such a syndrome, a positive momentum bonds the small community. In the end, despite some setbacks, rather than daunted, the eight friends learn to celebrate life and try to enjoy every moment with those they love. Aware of the terrible reputation of the virus, Larson tries to deconstruct the negative image of AIDS, not only insisting to live with it and
The aisles of the theatre fill with a herd of animals and life-size puppets that charge with excitement (Kroll 70). The crowd is mesmerized by the burning intensity of paintings and the fierce costumes that take their breath away (Kroll 70). With a marvelous combination of lighting and color The Lion King musical is a must see. The Lion King musical represents the 21st century through its expression of youth that is brought to life by its enchanting costumes, expressive sensitivity and playful animations that come to life, in a time of political dispute.
Religion has been incorporated into just about all music genres and has even succeeded in creating its own genre in the process. All artists find many different ways to incorporate religion into their music. Some choose to express it in a manner that will enlighten others, some
Ethics, according to the Oxford dictionary is “a set of moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity”. Ethics consists of doing what the law requires, following the standards of behavior our society accepts, and also has to do with what you believe is right or wrong. Rent control is not unethical, but is very controversial. If on one hand it is a good thing because it prevent landlord from being unethical charging the tenants unfair rent price, on the other hand it is unfair for the landlords to be imposed a rental price below market price which he/she is morally entitle to. Rent control can create several problems not only for the landlord but for the economy as well.
In Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk discusses how the current definition of the American Dream is tied to the concept of pursuing economic wealth and materialistic items. To demonstrate the issue, Palahniuk gives us a personal story of a victim who suffers from consumerism. Palahniuk writes about a young nameless man who says, “And I wasn’t the only slave to my nesting instinct. The people I know who used to sit in the bathroom with pornography, now they sit in the bathroom with their IKEA furniture catalogue” (43). In this quote, the author is referring to the narrator who reflects on his life at his apartment after a long day at work. The narrator is frustrated with his life and has a self-identity crisis because he feels like he does not fit
...ch also connects to Clay’s life. In the novel, Clay and his friends engage in sexual activities with both men and woman equally. Clay would be able to relate to the movie Rent and would maybe see it as a new perspective and chance to fix his own life like the characters in the movie struggled to but eventually began to on the road to recovery and sobriety.
For thousands of years, people have been arguing that theatre is a dying art form. Many people think theatre is all just cheesy singing and dancing or just boring old Shakespeare, but there is much more to theatre than those two extremes. Theatre is important to our society because it teaches us more about real life than recorded media. Theatre has been around for thousands of years and began as a religious ceremony that evolved into an art form that teaches about the true essence of life. Theatre can incorporate profound, and provocative, observations of the human condition that can transcend time; lessons found in Greek plays can still be relevant to the modern world. People argue that the very essence of theatre is being snuffed out by modern