Wrapping it up with Rent

Songwriter-librettist Jonathan Larson produced Rent following seven years of revisions. Hoping to finally achieve a break-through in his career, Larson never witnessed the sensation that Rent came to be because he died from an aortic aneurysm at the age of 35 on the day public previews were to begin in New York. This tragic event sparked director Michael Greif to do everything he could to make the show succeed. Rent ended up a major Broadway hit and even won Larson the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Known as a “Hair of the 90s”, Rent updates Puccini’s La Boheme, revolving around alternative artists in Manhattan’s East Village at the end of the 20^th century rather than bohemians in 19^th-century Paris. Rent includes characters who are homeless, transvestite, gay, drug-addicted, and more, however it’s overall celebratory rather than tragic like La Boheme. Written for a cast of 15 characters and a 5-piece band, Rent contains around 35 songs ranging from humorous to sobering in style. Rent likely achieved success due to its contemporary subject and aim to celebrate life through the midst of the darkness found in death and disease.

Below you can view the popular “Seasons of Love” from Rent.

Now that we’ve spent the last month looking at a variety of musicals I’m curious…do you have a favorite era or style of musical? There are certainly many musicals that I did not have the time to mention in my blog. Feel free to share your favorite!

Musical Theater Today

As we move into the present day in our examination of the musical, we see an increase in the reliance on visual spectacle. Like we saw last time in our discussion of Hair’s use of rock, many productions incorporate a variety of musical genres including hip hop and opera. Many theatrical productions during this modern era rely on old forms of entertainment such as recordings, films, etc. You may have noticed the abundance of Disney films re-produced on Broadway during the last few decades. One of my favorites just traveled to Cincinnati this past year, The Lion King:

As in previous generations, theater still often draws from literary sources such as Wicked, originally a book by Gregory Maguire that tells an alternative story about the witches of Oz. Some productions tell new tales such as Avenue Q, a story created by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx that addresses the stresses that many young adults encounter as they grow up and gain responsibility. The show is known for its use of puppets controlled by unconcealed puppeteers alongside human performers.

What is your favorite modern musical? Next time we’ll take a look at one of this period’s most famous productions: Rent.

Violating the Norm in Hair

This month Clef Notes is taking a look at the history of musical theater. This week, we’ve reached the post Golden-Age musicals, those musicals created roughly between 1967 and 1990. Today, I’d like to focus in on one famous and innovative musical from this period: Hair.

Hair emerged from a workshop approach to theater that depended on collective input and group improvisation rather than a fixed idea to create a production. Workshop productions explore nonverbal communication and break down the barrier between the stage and the audience. Hair began in the Open Theater’s Workshop with Gerome Ragni and James Rado—two actors who aimed to explore the baby-boomer generation of the 1960s. Hair revolved around the energetic, hippy-youth movement who were anti-war and promoters of civil rights.

Hair eventually moved to Broadway after being reworked by director Tom O’Horgan, who aimed to violate as many norms as he could by including nudity, allowing actors to mingle with audience members, using hand-held mics, and incorporating a rock idiom. You can view a scene from Hair below. Can you see why this musical was considered shocking by some?