Rent
Theatre Review: Presented by Opera Australia, RENT returns to blow us away in the Sydney Opera House
Jonathan Larson’s RENT musical was first performed on stage on 26 January 1996, the day after he passed away suddenly in his kitchen. Larson didn’t get to witness the lasting impact his creative work has had at a global level. Almost 30 years later, RENT returns to our country and finds itself in the most…
Theatre Review: Rent’s narrative lacks impact, but the iconic songs stand strong
The streets of New York’s East Village are bustling with love, art, culture and spirit. Despite oppressive powers threatening to break friendships and crush dreams, this resilient group of friends celebrate the power of the human spirit, bringing people together to stand up for what they love. This is Rent. Jonathan Larson’s hit musical has…
Theatre Review: Tick, Tick… Boom! doesn’t fully explode
Tick, Tick… Boom! is the semi-autobiographical story of playwright Jonathon Larson, who was most notable for creating the musical RENT. This story focuses on his time as a struggling writer, living in New York, writing his first musical, Superbia. The story opens with the sound of ticking, the sound that becomes louder and louder in…
Theatre Review: RENT remains a timeless look at NYC during the AIDS crisis – The Queens Theatre, Adelaide
Rent is a musical written by Jonathan Larson about a year in the life of a group of artists struggling to survive in New York during the AIDS epidemic. It Is loosely based on Puccini’s opera La Bohème, contrasting the lavish life with the poverty and homelessness of New York. Some hundred years previously, in…
Interview: Dear Evan Hansen director Stephen Chbosky on adapting the stage musical and the isolating feeling of making a film during the pandemic
A coming-of-age stage musical that won immediate critical acclaim from its opening in 2015, Dear Evan Hansen‘s inevitable stage-to-screen adaptation was always going to be a mammoth task to whichever filmmaker dared to take it on. For Stephen Chbosky, it was a challenge he tackled with open arms. As the film arrives in Australian cinemas…
Theatre Review: Rent – Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney (Performances to 1st November)
RENT is just one of those musicals that everyone knows. Perhaps it’s due to the success of the film, or perhaps just because it’s story and characters are so resonating, but it has clearly become a mainstay staple in musical theatre 101s. For whatever reason it is also a musical that I had actually never…
