Rent again
A few years back, our high school theatre troupe staged Rent. The production was such a controversy--for the administrators, anyway. Oh, woe to us young, supple, catholic maidens, if we were to be misled by these lurid visions of bohemia! and gaynessess! and carcinogens! and performance art! and gaynessess! and smack! (and, oh em gee, gaynessess!) And like a great custody battle, Banaag (the troupe) sparred with the Admin until the good ol' parents finally wrote the school to shut yar trap! and get on with it.
In the end, the Admin conceded. As long as it was censored. And prohibited to freshies and sophomores. And required a massively long handout to help us "process what we learned from the play". Eh. Pwede na rin.
The Admin treated us like children and we hated it. Who wouldn't? To me, Rent was good music in a good story, and I liked it.
Fast-forward to third year college. Lotsa things happened, lotsa things still happening. The Rent soundtrack had been gone from my playlist for years... until I read about a local group that staged Rent very recently. Apparently, they lacked the intensity and emotion that the play required. It was not a favorable review.
Strangely, I never thought about that, the aspect of depth. I also never considered the references in La Vie Boheme, wc now make me laugh (dildos and curry vindaloo, anyone?). All I knew was that I loved the music and I loved watching it. I was young(er), and though I didn't understand the context of the play, and the battles each character waged against tragedy and despair, I simply felt their emotion. The music went direct. It just connects so that Roger or Angel speaks straight to your heart. Well, my heart anyway. Then there's the sense that, hey, I know how that feels!, I know what he means! with all the humor and defiance and happiness. And I discovered this just now, when I decided to listen to Rent again.
I've always liked Rent, but I think I've never loved it more. Gotta get myself a copy soon.
(There's also a growing AIDS scare in the country right now, which makes Rent even more relevant! Actual Reality: Act up, fight AIDS!)
Now that I think of it, standing up the Admin was totally in the spirit of Rent..... and, damn, heckling the Admin--and winning--was always fun.
