Twenty Years of Love

It’s been 11,037,600 minutes since Rent first premiered on Broadway, but just as the protagonists sing out in “Seasons of Love,” measurements of love, laughter and strife seem more apt to evaluate the past two decades. Premiering at the tail end of the AIDS epidemic, Rent was groundbreaking for its portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV/AIDS. 21 years later, it has not lost any of its political impact or meaning for members of marginalized communities.

In a 2017 interview with Variety, Tom Viola, the executive director of Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, said, “If you’re not insured, if you don’t have access to health care, if you’ve just been thrown off your insurance by this Republican administration, trust me, it may as well be 1996. That is a very scary proposition. I think seeing Rent today will allow folks to come together to push back on that.”

Sammy Ferber, a company member in Rent’s 20th Anniversary Tour, also noted how the show has changed since its premiere.

“What I find fascinating is that Rent is now a period piece,” said Ferber. “The original production had a mission of ‘proudly showing the world the truth about AIDS and the devastation it brings’; now the show has a mission of ‘needing to remember our history.’”

While some of the musical’s main themes are undeniably political, Rent itself is not trying to be political per se. It is, above all else, a musical about the bohemian lifestyle and love. If, in the course of telling an authentic story about starving artists in the East Village in the ’90s, political talking points like HIV/AIDS appear, it is not because playwright Jonathan Larson or Puccini (whose La Bohème serves as the inspiration for Rent) are trying to make a point. Instead, they are telling a genuine and human story—especially if that means tackling the taboo.

Director of the Anniversary Tour Evan Ensign said in the aforementioned Variety piece, “I always say that AIDS is actually just a circumstance in the show. It’s about figuring out how we fit in, about how we create family, about acceptance.”

The millennial generation grew up with Rent. For Lee Condakes (COM ’16), the show first entered his life in sixth grade.

“The very first song I ever heard from Rent was ‘Seasons of Love,’ and it wasn’t lifechanging or anything, it was just catchy,” said Condakes. “I learned it on the piano and it has now been programmed into my fingers over the course of the last 11 years. I couldn’t forget those chord changes if I tried.”

However, Rent’s deeper meaning really began to resonate with Condakes as he matured. “It didn’t really hit me until I was older that I found the most similarities between myself and the composer rather than any one of the characters,” said Condakes. “He showed me that being gay didn’t mean being marginalized for the rest of my life. He didn’t exactly make it mainstream, but it was probably the first time I had ever seen a gay person be considered important in something that has now become a staple of popular culture. That’s saying something.”

The original production had a mission of ‘proudly showing the world the truth about AIDS and the devastation it brings’; now the show has a mission of ‘needing to remember our history.’”

While the show’s avid fan base is wellknown, its concrete impact on those fans is sometimes forgotten.

“[I’ve] met people who’ve seen the show over 100 times in various different forms,” said Ferber. “[These are] people who’ve met their spouses because of the show. People who came out to their families because of the show. I love being a part of something that actually matters. I love having an impact.”

“I don’t think it has more meaning or more significance now than it did then,” said Max Cohen (COM ’17). “However, I do think it is more pressing now to tell stories like Rent.”

Now, during a new presidential era, one that has already seen increasing political activism from millenials, Rent has become resonant in new ways. It not only puts underrepresented communities (HIV positive individuals, LGBTQ+ persons, etc.) in the spotlight, but also showcases a historical period marked by activism.

“AIDS didn’t just get easier to manage over time; people fought and fought and fought and died to make real change in our country,” said Ferber. “In our current political climate, I think the activists of the AIDS era can be wonderful role models for how to create lasting change.”

Although undeniably powerful, limiting Rent’s direct impact to social issues or individuals is doing a disservice to the monumental impact of its artistic form and fan reception.

“It was the first show I’d seen that was all music, which I thought was amazing,” said Cohen. “Plus, I had come from a place where musicals were all fantastical or melodramatic and this was something real, but not even close to mainstream.”

“Rent has always been one of my favorite musicals. It was revolutionary in so many ways, from unapologetically using a rock sound to staring into the face of AIDS,” said Ferber. “I’ve always admired the risks Jonathan Larson and the original creative team took to make Rent the show it is today.”

“It’s a lot like the Wicked effect; everyone hates to love [Rent],” said Shawna Michelle James (CFA ’18). “The show holds such significance in the musical theater cannon as an important entry point for young actors, a staple of (sometimes) representative theater and popularized a genre of theater that paved the way for musicals like American Idiot to be actualized.”

From its impact on the craft to the effect it has had on audiences for 20 years and counting, Rent’s influence remains tangible and its messages of love persist.

“This [show] is a passion project for all of us,” said Ferber. “It’s unbelievable that a show could last so long, still be loved by so many people [and] that a 20th Anniversary Tour would even be considered!”

Rent measured a year in love during a time when the HIV/AIDS diagnosis meant almostcertain death. Now over two decades later, the world has undoubtedly changed—for better and for worse. However, the one thing that has not changed —that never will change—is love.

Practicing and spreading love, especially when it is hard to see it in the world, is a powerful thing; go forth and create the kind of world you want to live in. It won’t be easy, as the musical’s title track so masterfully encapsulates. In the end, we will remember our years in love.

BY DANIELLE BOZZONE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAYMOND ZHAO & MARISSA WU | DESIGN BY JAMI RUBIN