I have my own theories as to why one of Broadway's biggest-ever hits only ever had
modest success in the UK, and although I've seen
Rent twice before, this is
the first time I've seen what could be called a "straightforward" production in this
country: I saw the notorious
Rent Remixed, which must still serve as the gold
standard of "so bad it's good," and the one time I
have seen it played
straight was the 2011 off-Broadway revival, in which the audience could be described
as... very much what you might imagine an American audience to be. So it's
interesting to see this 20th anniversary touring production played more or less as
written to a British crowd, although clearly one made up largely of established
fans. Technically an adaptation of the Puccini opera
La Bohème, Jonathan
Larson's rock musical is an ensemble piece set in New York's "alphabet city" in the
mid-nineties, with the AIDS crisis still in full swing.
