Maya Chen
Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village, in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the late 1980s. The musical features a diverse cast of characters, including queer and cisgender individuals, with four out of seven principal characters being queer. One of the key gay characters in the original cast is Tom Collins, a gay anarchist professor of computer-age philosophy at New York University and the best friend of Mark and Roger. While the musical has been praised for its queer representation and inclusion, there have also been debates and speculation around the sexual orientation of certain characters, such as Roger and Mimi, and the accuracy of the portrayal of the AIDS crisis.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Creator of Rent | Jonathan Larson |
| Year of creation | 1993 |
| Genre | Rock musical |
| Based on | Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme |
| Plot | Story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive in Lower Manhattan's East Village |
| Queer characters | Mark, Roger, Angel, Collins, Joanne, and Mimi |
| Queer representation | Queer characters are treated as unremarkable in the narrative |
| Number of principal characters | 7 |
| Number of queer principal characters | 4 |
| Number of queer characters of color | 3 |
| Creator's sexual orientation | Straight |
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What You'll Learn
- Queer author Sarah Schulman claims Rent plagiarised her 1990 novel
- Jonathan Larson, Rent's creator, was a straight white cis man
- The musical features a gay character, Tom Collins, who is living with HIV
- The show's queer representation treats queer people's presence in the narrative as unremarkable
- The original stage production does not specify a year, but the film is set in 1989/1990
Queer author Sarah Schulman claims Rent plagiarised her 1990 novel
The 1996 Broadway musical Rent by Jonathan Larson is about artists, love, and landlords in New York City's East Village during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the late 1980s. The musical was based on Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme. However, queer author Sarah Schulman claims that Larson plagiarised significant elements of the musical from her 1990 novel, People in Trouble.
Schulman, a playwright, novelist, and activist, argues that Larson lifted plot points, subplots, scenic details, and entire characters from her novel. She notes the similarities between the Maureen/Joanne/Mark subplot in Rent and the love triangle in People in Trouble, as well as the art-based protests against slumlords and rising rents found in both works. Schulman also points out the inclusion of community-wide AZT alarms in both works, a detail based on her observations that she claims Larson stole from her novel.
In her 1998 book Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America, Schulman analysed the way the musical depicted AIDS and gay people, contrasting it with work created by queer communities during the same period. She also debunked popular myths about Larson, arguing that he was not gay, did not live in the East Village in the '80s, and did not die of an AIDS-related illness as many assumed.
Schulman's allegations highlight the broader issue of straight people co-opting queer stories and selling them as their own. She claims that Rent straightwashed queer lives and AIDS activism, with a straight white male protagonist and a narrative in which gay people with AIDS die while straight people with AIDS live. This, she argues, contributes to the ongoing problem of mainstream AIDS narratives failing to capture the truth of the crisis.
While Schulman never sued Larson or the producers of Rent, she did file a lawsuit claiming ownership of some material in the musical, including the lyrics to the song "Glory." The case was settled out of court in 1998, but the details were not disclosed.
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Jonathan Larson, Rent's creator, was a straight white cis man
Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent, was a straight white cis man. Larson was an American composer, lyricist, and playwright, who wrote musicals such as Rent and Tick, Tick...Boom!, which explored social issues including multiculturalism, substance use disorder, and homophobia. Larson died at the young age of 35, the night before Rent's first preview performance. His cause of death was an aortic dissection, although many people, including his audience, assumed he died of AIDS. This assumption was perhaps due to the musical's themes and the national discourse at the time, which focused on the AIDS crisis and its impact on the gay community.
The fact that Larson was a straight, white, cis man has been a point of criticism for Rent. Playwright, novelist, and activist Sarah Schulman claimed that Larson's story was ripped from her 1990 novel, "People in Trouble". Schulman alleged that Larson took the plot, settings, characters, and themes from her novel without giving her credit. She also argued that Rent straightwashed queer lives and AIDS activism, perpetuating the idea that gay people with AIDS die while straight people with AIDS live.
Despite these criticisms, Rent gained a dedicated following and achieved critical acclaim. It ran for 12 years and won several awards, including the Tony for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Larson posthumously received three Tony Awards for his work.
In conclusion, while Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent, was a straight white cis man, the musical he created sparked conversations and debates about the representation of queer lives and AIDS activism in the arts. The success of Rent and its impact on audiences, both gay and straight, led to a live TV adaptation 23 years after its original release.
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The musical features a gay character, Tom Collins, who is living with HIV
The rock musical Rent, written by Jonathan Larson, features a gay character, Tom Collins, who is living with HIV. The musical is set in the late 1980s in New York City's East Village and centres around a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive amidst the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The character of Tom Collins, a gay anarchist professor of philosophy, is one of the four queer principal characters in the musical. He is the best friend of two of the other main characters, Mark and Roger, and is in a romantic relationship with another queer character, Angel.
Rent broke new ground in terms of queer representation when it debuted in the early '90s, with its unremarkable treatment of queer people's presence in the narrative. Larson's queer characters simply exist without explanation or justification, marking a departure from the more familiar "token gay friend" narrative often seen in theatre, film, and television. The inclusion of a gay character living with HIV reflected the reality of the AIDS crisis during that time, which had a significant impact on the gay community.
However, some have criticised Rent for straightwashing queer lives and AIDS activism. Despite having queer characters and themes, the musical's creator, Jonathan Larson, was a straight, white, cisgender man. This has led to discussions about the perspective from which the story is told and whether it accurately represents the queer experience during the AIDS crisis.
In the original stage production of Rent, the character of Tom Collins refers to himself as having AIDS. However, due to the interchangeable nature of the terms "HIV" and "AIDS" during that time, it is not definitive that Collins has progressed to AIDS. The musical also explores the impact of the AIDS crisis on straight characters, such as Mark and Roger, who struggle with their own HIV+ status.
Overall, while Rent has been praised for its queer representation and inclusion of a gay character living with HIV, it has also faced criticism for its portrayal of queer lives and the AIDS epidemic from a straight perspective.
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![Rent [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61gNC08X3PL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
The show's queer representation treats queer people's presence in the narrative as unremarkable
Rent, the rock musical by Jonathan Larson, has been praised for its queer representation. The musical, which debuted in the post-AIDS early '90s, features a principal cast of seven characters, four of whom are queer. Notably, the show treats the presence of queer characters in the narrative as unremarkable. Larson does not spend time explaining or justifying his queer characters; they simply exist as part of the diverse landscape of the story. This approach was ahead of its time, as it avoided the token gay friend narrative that was more familiar in theatre, film, and television.
One of the queer characters, Collins, is particularly significant. He is Mark and Roger's best friend and a gay man living with HIV. However, he is also a professor of philosophy and a self-described anarchist, showcasing a well-rounded character beyond his sexual orientation. Additionally, the romantic subplots between Angel and Collins, and Joanne and Maureen, are queer relationships that are treated as unexceptional within the context of the story.
While Rent has been applauded for its queer representation, it has also faced criticism for its portrayal of queer characters through a straight lens, as Larson himself was a heterosexual, white, cisgender man. Some have argued that this resulted in moments that felt like the perspective of an observer rather than an inhabitant of the queer community. For example, the musical uses the term ""queer" as a slur several times, reflecting the language of the time it was written rather than contemporary sensibilities.
Despite these criticisms, Rent broke new ground in queer representation by including a diverse cast of queer characters and treating their presence as unremarkable. This affirmed the importance of queer stories and experiences in the theatrical canon, even if there are aspects of the portrayal that may not hold up to modern standards. The show's impact on queer representation in musical theatre is undeniable, and it continues to be a landmark work in the genre.
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![Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SDxJNQfVL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
The original stage production does not specify a year, but the film is set in 1989/1990
Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. It is loosely based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa. The musical tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village, in the thriving days of the bohemian culture of Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The musical was first seen in 1993 in a workshop production and began performances on January 26, 1996, off-Broadway. The show's creator, Larson, died suddenly the night before its first performance.
The original stage production of Rent does not specify a year, but the film is set in 1989/1990. The 1989-1990 setting was added by the filmmakers, which led to various continuity errors in the script. References to "Thelma and Louise" and the Oklahoma City bombing suddenly made no sense. However, the line "at the end of the millennium" dates the entire production. From this, we can gather that the original stage version of the story takes place no later than 1999. In the context of the film, the line is spoken in 1990, the last decade of the then-current millennium.
The musical revolves around the lives of seven principal characters, four of whom are queer. Of these, three are people of color (Angel, Collins, Joanne, and Mimi). Two (Joanne and Mimi) are cis women, and another co: 20>(Angel) could be a trans woman or genderfluid/femme-presenting. Two of the romantic subplots (between Angel and Collins and Joanne and Maureen) are queer. Collins, Mark and Roger's best friend, is a gay man living with HIV. He is a professor of philosophy and a self-described anarchist.
The stage production of Rent premiered in the post-AIDS early '90s. A 2005 film version further popularized the show. The story is set in New York City's East Village amidst the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the late 1980s. In the stage production, Collins and Angel refer to themselves as having AIDS. However, it is unclear whether Roger and April have/had AIDS, and it is possible that April did not, as she likely did not have time to progress to AIDS before her death by suicide after finding out about her HIV-positive status.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the original Rent had a gay character, Tom Collins, a professor of philosophy and a self-described anarchist.
Yes, of the seven principal characters, four are queer. Of these, three are people of colour (Angel, Collins, Joanne, and Mimi). Two (Joanne and Mimi) are cis women, and another Angel) could be read as either a trans woman or genderfluid/femme-presenting.
Rent is a rock musical about a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the late 1980s.
Rent was created by Jonathan Larson, who has been described as a straight, white, cisgender man.
![Rent [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516CgH-EDLL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
![RENT (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81reolbqVvL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
