Measure In Love

(Photo credit to Ashely Smith, Wide Eyed Studios.)

I’m sure I’ve written about Rent at some point in the history of Zoe Writes Theatre, but I can’t find anything in my archives.  So here’s this…Rent is one of my most favorite musicals of all time.  It changed my life as an adolescent, and was pretty much what got me in to the modern musical.  I’ve seen this show in quite a few forms- on Broadway, on a tour (with two of the original actors), and at a local theatre.  Adding to this list is now the production done at the Arden Theatre.  And boy, do I have a lot to say about that.

First of all, I was delighted to get an email saying my seats would “be in our immersive couch seating which is the front two rows of the theatre.”  I absolutely love that sort of thing.  And I wasn’t let down.  When we went into the theatre, the first two rows were made of squishy couches and chairs.  We sat front row center, and were insanely close to the stage.  I already knew I was in for a super cool experience.  I love being that close to the stage, to the actors.  Add that to getting to see one of my favorite musicals again, and I really couldn’t wait.

Now, something that I get to talk about with Rent is how various productions differ.  Obviously Broadway and the tour are going to have the same costumes and set up.  When I saw it at the Media Theatre, they sort of did a mix of the more traditional costumes and sets and also their own sort of thing.  It was interesting, but I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.  I guess I sort of wished they would choose one or the other.  But the Arden went completely different…and I absolutely loved it.  They truly did their own thing, and they made it work.

People always talk about Broadway being the best of the best.  That you haven’t totally “made it” until you’re there.  I think this is bullshit.  My mother and I were talking about it after the show.  Every single actor in Rent was completely pure talent,  their voices, their acting, taking on as hard a show as Rent.  Philly is a really good hotspot for these people.  Maybe they don’t want to go to Broadway.  And all of the actors in Rent proved that they are perfect right where they are.  They were totally unbelievable.

Rent is a show about love.  It’s a show about choices, and friendships, and relationships in general.  I imagine it’s a very hard show to tackle.  There’s so much to it…so much emotion and intensity.  There are so many messages the actors have to get across.  And I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that from a production of Rent the way I did at this one.  I’ve seen damn good productions, but the rawness, the realness of this one really blew me away.  The actors were perfect together.  Not just their chemistry, but the way their voices worked together.  They brought forth so much emotion (yes, I cried quite a few times).

There are so many lessons to be learned from Rent, and the actors are the vehicles to make this happen.  I’m talking about the really deep stuff…hope, relationships, life and death, running away, choices, and like I said above, love.  These lessons in a two and a half hour show can be a lot.  They’re truly so clear in what we’re watching, especially when the actors are really bringing it to us.  In all fairness, it can be a hard show to watch.  But it’s such a gorgeous show, that I feel I walk away with more than I did walking in.

I’d like to get a bit personal about how Rent has changed my life.  I was always on the outskirts of things.  I was different from everyone else, just the way these characters are the fringe group.  They’re different from everyone else, and they embraced this.  So I learned I could embrace it, too.  Rent taught me about love.  How many forms of love there are.  How to measure my life in love.  At my wedding, instead of a dance with my dad, I had a dance with my mom.  I insisted we dance to “Seasons of Love”.  It was perfect.  It meant everything.

This is truly a show I could see a million times, and it would never be enough.  Seeing the show always brings me back to that little, barely a teenage girl who had a lot to learn from this group of Bohemians in Alphabet City.  Rent will always have a special place in my heart…this production at the Arden was truly above and beyond.  I was sucked in, watching these actors bring this story to life.  So maybe it wasn’t Broadway, or a tour, but it was a truly phenomenal version to watch.  The actors were perfect.  The costumes were perfect.  The set was perfect.  I don’t think I could have asked for anymore.

Measure your life in love!