RENT Live On Broadway

That's right. The last performance of RENT on Broadway was 7 Sept 2008. It was taped and they showed it in theaters for only four performances. Sept 24, 25, 27 & 28. So, naturally, I walked my ass down to The Bridge this Sun afternoon & watched it. I was not disappointed. I felt like I was there... except for the super-charged energy you feel in the air when actually physically there.

Some notables that I recognized were
Tracie Nicole Thoms (Joanne) - Played Joanne in the Movie version
Renee Elise Goldsberry (Mimi) - Used to play Evangeline on One Life To Live
Jay Wilkison (Gordon & Others) - Used to play Riley on One Life To Live
Eden Espinosa (Maureen) - Played Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway and the most recent LA production. (she seems to be following Idina Menzel! =) hehe)
Gwen Stewart (Mrs. Jefferson & Soloist in "Seasons of Love") - She was in the Original Broadway Cast in the same role
Rodney Hicks (Benjamin Coffin III) - Was in the Original Broadway cast as a Swing cast member

Rent opened off Broadway in Jan of 1996 and moved to Broadway in April of 1996. Rent tells the story of artists and musicians struggling to survive in Alphabet City in NY. It was one of the first Broadway Musicals to feature an ethnically diverse cast, including gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters. It is currently 7th on the longest running shows on Broadway.

I give RENT Live On Broadway
4 Stars... Did you expect anything else? Of course it gets 4 Stars. It was just a joy to just see the last performance on Broadway. Rent is one of the musicals that got me into theatre! It's sad that this era is over, but I'm glad I watched. The cast was amazing. (not as good as the Original Cast...but still really great) The guys who played Mark & Roger were great. Of course, I loved seeing Tracie Thom & Renee Elise Goldberry as Joanne & Mimi. They have such wonderful voices. Seeing Eden as Maureen was also a treat, since she is my second favorite Elphaba in Wicked (after Idina Menzel... of course) Now, she's my second favorite Maureen, too. I never realized how much she looked like Idina until today. The cool thing about the movie was that there was an actual intermission. It was 10 min long and it just showed the crew sweep the set. The movie theater actually put the lights up just like it was an intermission at a show. People left and went to the bathroom. It was kinda cool. The other cool thing was that at the end of the show some original cast members Antony Rapp (Mark), Jesse L. Martin (Collins), Wilson Jermain Heredia (Angel), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Mimi), Fredi Walker (Joanne)...and former cast members came to sing "Seasons Of Love".