Jonathan Larson created the musical Rent based on his friends in New York City struggling with poverty and AIDS in the late 1980s. He worked on Rent for years while waiting tables. The New York Theatre Workshop produced readings and workshops of Rent in 1993-1994 which were very popular. Just before Rent's first performance off-Broadway, Larson tragically died of an aortic aneurysm at age 35. Rent went on to massive success, opening on Broadway in 1996. It became a worldwide phenomenon, telling the stories of its characters through rock music and themes of love, friendship, and living in the moment.

1. Everything is

2. HOW DID GET HERE?

3. HOW BEGAN
Rent was started by Billy Aronson who wanted to create a updated version
of La Boheme; basing it on people like himself. He met Jonathan Larson in
1989, where they both wanted the show based on their friends, in 1991
Jonathan won when Billy was asked by Larson whether he could work on
Rent solo, and Billy said he could.
While writing RENT Jonathan Larson worked as a waiter at SoHo’s
Moondance Diner. While there he dated a girl on and off for four years.
Sometimes she left him for a man however the last time she left him for a
woman. This incident was written as a plot line for Mark Cohen.
He whittled his waiter job down to three days a week, the other four
where spent writing RENT.

4. ED SPACE
It was in the summer of 1992 that Jonathan Larson rode around
New York City, scouting out theatre companies. Trying to find the
right one.
At the time the New York Theatre Workshop where being
renovated. With the doors open and the sound of construction
Jonathan walked inside and knew instantly this would be the
perfect play to produce RENT.
In 1993 the New York Theatre Workshop put on a reading of the
musical.
After some advice from Stephen Sondheim, Jonathan applied for a
Richard Rogers Foundation grant. The workshop production profits
increased by the $45,000 prize.

5. NEW YORK WORKSHOP CAST
• Anthony Rapp (Mark
Cohen)
• Shelley Dickinson
(Joanne)
• Tony Hoylen (Roger)
• Daphne Rubin-Vega
(Mimi)
• Pat Briggs (Collins)
• Michael Potts (Benny)
• Mark Setlock (Angel)
• Sarah Knowlton
(Maureen)

6. RE-WRITES
• La Vie Boheme was toned down because Michael Greif (director) thought it invoking self-congratulatory within the
characters
• Originally the Life Support meetings where seemed to be cheerful, after discussing with his HIV positive friends he
added the questioning of the Life Support credo and after attending a Friends In Deed meeting he wrote the song
Will I, after hearing someone in the meeting ask “Will I loose my dignity?
• Originally Mark and Maureen where to get back together, Michael and Jonathan both agreed it had to go
• Michael suggested minimal props, however the three tables (for the stage show) where a must
• The workshops where a hit, every night the audience getting bigger and bigger, closing week it was sold out
• After the holidays the artistic director, Jim Nicola, Michael and Jonathan sat down in Jim’s office. He explained that
after talking about with the New York Theatre Workshop’s board members they had decided to stage a full
production of RENT the following year. The budget would be $250,000
• Jonathan was required to refine the story line and work on the characters more. He successfully did this and
turned the show into a flashback. The first act began with Mark wondering, “How did we get here?”
• After sitting down with the cast members he brought a song for the lesbian lovers to sing, entitled Take Me or
Leave Me
• Jonathan’s one sentence sum-up for RENT was: Rent is about a community celebrating life, in the face of death
and AIDS, at the turn of the century

7. SONGS THAT WERE CUT
Three original workshop
songs never made the
final cut: You’ll Get Over It
(a duet between Mark
and Maureen), Female to
Female A & B (duet
between Maureen and
Joanne) and Real Estate (a
song where Benny tried
to convince Mark to quit
being a film maker and
become a real estate
agent)

8. SONG LIST
Act 1
• Tune Up #1 — Mark and Roger
• Voice Mail #1 — Mark's Mother
• Tune Up #2 — Mark, Roger, Collins, and Benny
• Rent — Company
• You Okay Honey? — Angel, Collins, and Man on Street
• Tune Up #3 — Mark and Roger
• One Song Glory — Roger
• Light My Candle — Mimi and Roger
• Voice Mail #2 — Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson
• Today 4 U — Collins, Roger, Mark, and Angel
• You'll See — Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins, and Angel
• Tango: Maureen — Joanne and Mark
• Life Support — Company
• Out Tonight — Mimi
• Another Day — Mimi, Roger, and Company
• Will I? — Company
• On the Street — Company
• Santa Fe — Collins, Angel, and Mark
• I'll Cover You — Angel and Collins
• We're Okay — Joanne
• Christmas Bells — Company
• Over the Moon — Maureen
• Over the Moon Playoff — The Band
• La Vie Bohème A — Company
• I Should Tell You — Mimi and Roger
• La Vie Bohème B — Company
Act 2
• Seasons of Love — Company
• Happy New Year A — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Angel,
Maureen, and Joanne
• Voice Mail #3 — Mark's Mother and Alexi Darling
• Happy New Year B — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Angel,
Maureen, Joanne, and Benny
• Valentines Day Crossover — The Band
• Take Me or Leave Me — Maureen and Joanne
• Seasons of Love B — Company
• Without You — Roger and Mimi
• Voice Mail #4 — Alexi Darling
• Contact — Company
• I'll Cover You (Reprise) — Collins and Company
• Halloween — Mark
• Goodbye Love — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Maureen,
Joanne, and Benny
• What You Own — Roger and Mark
• Voice Mail #5 — Roger's Mother, Mimi's Mother, Mr.
Jefferson, and Mark's Mother
• Finale A — Company
• Your Eyes — Roger
• Finale B — Company
• Playout (I'll Cover You) — The Band

9. THE TRAGEDY OF

10. Jonathan Larson
• A week before his death Jonathan
was watching a rehearsal of Mark
and Roger’s duet, “What You
Own” with director Michael Greif
he felt his first pang of the
aneurysm, however he was
laughing
• On 25th January 1996, Jonathan
suffered a heart attack a day
before the show opened
• Hours before he died he did his
first and last interview for RENT
• As a tribute they canceled the
first show and did a sing through
tribute to Larson, opening with
Seasons of Love

11. RENT OPENED
APRIL 26TH 1996
at the New York Theatre Workshop
100 Years to the day that La
Boheme opened!
What a fluke!

12. THREE WEEKS LATER

13. It opened to Broadway on
April 29th, 1996

14. ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST
• Adam Pascal (Roger
Davis)
• Anthony Rapp (Mark
Cohen)
• Jesse L. Martin (Tom
Collins)
• Taye Diggs (Benjamin
Coffin III)
• Fredi Walker (Joanne
Jefferson)
• Wilson Jermaine
Heredia (Angel)
• Daphne Ruben-Vega
(Mimi Marquez)
• Idina Menzel (Maureen
Johnson)

15. ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST

16. AUGUST 26th, 1996
• At the end of the US
Convention were Bill
Clinton got re-elected to
Presidency the cast
sung Season of Love

17. TANGO: MAUREEN
Left - Film version: Anthony Rapp and Tracie Thoms
Right – Broadway: Fredi Walker and Anthony Rapp
AS A MATTER OF FACT
HONEY, I KNOW THIS ACT
It’s called the…

18. TOUR DE’
• 1996 – Broadway
• 1996 – US National Tour
• 1998 – West End
• 1998 – Australia
• 2001 – UK
• 2003 – West End revival
• 2007 – West End revival 2
• 2008 – Buenos Aires
• 2009 – US National Tour 2

19. September 7th, 2008
Broadway RENT finally closed

20. HOW DO YOU DOCUMENT

21. RENT: THE MOVIE
Anthony Rapp – Mark
Idina Menzel – Maureen
Tracie Thoms – Joanne
Jesse L. Martin – Collins
Wilson Jermaine Heredia – Angel
Adam Pascal – Roger
Rosario Dawson – Mimi
Taye Diggs - Benny

22. MARK COHEN
• A film maker
• Ex-boyfriend of
Maureen
• The peace-maker of the
group
• Works/quits for
Buzzline
• Broke

23. MAUREEN JOHNSON
• Bisexual
• Performance Artist
• Joanne’s girlfriend
• Used to live with Mark,
Roger and Benny

24. TAKE ME OR LEAVE ME
Left – Film
Right - Broadway
Women, what is it about them?
Can’t live with or without them?
Take me for who I am
Who I was meant to be
And if you give a damn…..

25. JOANNE JEFFERSON
• Lesbian
• Harvard graduate
lawyer
• Represents Mark

26. ROGER DAVIS
• Singer
• Ex girlfriend killed
herself after leaving him
a note saying “We have
AIDS”
• HIV Positive
• Ex junkie
• In denial about AIDS

27. LIGHT MY CANDLE
Left – Broadway
Right - Movie
Your smile reminded me
I always remind people of… who is
she
She died, her name was April
It’s out again
Sorry bout your friend
Would you…

28. MIMI MARQUEZ
• HIV Positive
• Heroin junkie
• Nightclub dancer
• Roger’s love interest

29. BENJAMIN COFFIN III
• Ex room mate of Mark
and Roger
• Landlord
• Wants to evict them to
build a arts studio
• Mimi’s ex client

30. TOM COLLINS
• Philosophy professor
• Has AIDS
• Anarchist
• Gay
• Angel’s love interest

31. I’LL COVER YOU
Left – Film
Right - Broadway
Open your door
I'll be your tenant
Don't got much baggage
To lay at your feet
But sweet kisses I've got to
spare
I'll be there….

32. ANGEL DUMOTT SCHUNARD
• Drag queen
• Has AIDS
• Forms a friendship with
all cast epically Mimi

33. LA VIE BOHEME
Left – Broadway: Mimi – Dafnie Ruben Vega and Mark – Anthony Rapp
Right – Movie: Mark – Anthony Rapp, Mimi – Rosario Dawson

34. 525,600 Minutes of Rent
• Regular performances of Rent including April 24, 2006, gala,
as of April 24? 4,157.
• Number of $20 orchestra seats bought in same-day ticket
lottery since the offer began? 141,338. (34 orchestra seats,
in first two rows, for each performance.)
• Number of actors the Broadway production has employed?
139.
• Number of Broadway Rogers? 13.
• Number of Broadway Mimis? 10.
• The actor who played Roger for the most performances on
Broadway? Manley Pope. (He also toured.)
• The cast member who has played the most performances?
Owen Johnston II.
• Number of paper lantern "moons" on the Paul Clay's set
since 1996? Two.
• Ounces of glitter in Mimi's hair over the decade? 2,080.
• Number of Ricola brand herbal cough drops for company
members? 123,162.
• Actor who has played most roles in Rent? Darius de Haas.
(He went on as Benny, Tom, Angel and many ensemble
parts.)
• Number of company marriages as a result of Rent? Three.
Actor Chad Richardson (an ensemble member, a Mark and a
Roger) and actress Cristina Fadale (a Maureen) and prop
person Billy Wright and assistant stage manager Kathy Haley
and most notably original cast members Taye Diggs and Idina
Menzel, who are now married.
• Number of engagements? One. Matt Caplan (a Mark Cohen)
and Karen Olivo (an understudy, a Maureen, a Mimi, a swing).
• Yards of spandex for Mimi's costume? 106.
• Number of hair extensions for Mimi? 103,925.
• Number of sound systems used since 1996? Two. (The first
one was replaced during the run — this is a rock musical,
after all.)
• Number of kimonos worn by actresses playing Mimi over
the years? One. The same costume has been passed down.
(Angela Wendt is the production's costume designer.)
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/99239-
How_Many_Minutes_Have_Passed_Since_Rent%27s_Broadway_Opening%3F_We_Did_the_Math

35. FACTS FROM RENT BY JONATHAN
LARSON
• About Life Support
– The support group depicted in Rent
is based on Friends in Deed, a SoHo
based support group
– During a FID meeting Jonathan
attended, a member asked "Will
I lose my dignity?", inspiring
"Will I?“
– Gordon,Ali,and Pam were all real
AIDS positive friends of Jon, who
appeared by name in the show.
– "This is a show about my friends, so
you are all playing my friends"
---Jonathan Larson
Miscellaneous
In "biographies" Jonathan wrote for
each character, the following things
were established:
• Mark + Benny were roommates
at Brown University.
• Roger's band's name is "Well
Hungarians“
• Mimi left home when she was 15
• Maureen dreamed of being
Patti Smith
• "Without You" was originally
intended for Joanne and Maureen.
Then J+M had a song called "Female
to Female". Now, of course, they
have TMOLM.

36. RIP JONATHAN LARSON
THANK YOU!
by Tansy Bradshaw