RENT the Musical - 2.21.10

An evening date with the Friday Crew.

One of my most favorite musicals ever is RENT. I love the songs. You may catch me singing “Christmas bells are ringing..” on summer time, acting out Mimi’s lines “my heart may freeze, or it can burn, the pain will ease if I can learn.. there is no future, there is no past..” or humming the popular melody of Seasons of Love. When I heard that Rent is playing in the Philippines, it gave me another adventure to pursue and a reason to get excited.

The story depicts several social issues including poverty, homosexuality and AIDS. Rent opens the eyes of viewers to what is hidden and yet prevalent in the society, through the means of a musical. I think this is the main objective of Jonathan Larson, the composer and writer of this musical. He had a passion for social injustice I think, since his other works also had this theme. The actors played their characters very well, two thumbs up. They colored the songs I’ve been listening to beautifully. Now I know who sings which part, and how the songs fit in the whole play.

One thing I didn’t like about the musical though was that that there were too much explicit, suggestive and metaphorical scenes (that could actually be rated R18 by the MTRCB). I think this is also the comment of several other spectators. Many people were taken aback. I believe if the musical was made more wholesome, the whole concept of promoting social injustice would have been better implemented.

During the show, I was really tempted to cover the eyes of our youngest member. I guess one learning I got from this adventure is to really screen out the activities for our fellowship, to make all the time together purposeful. Nevertheless, I still thank God for a wonderful time I had with my brother and two younger sisters before the show and with the rest soon afterward.

"525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.. la..lalala.." Okay, gotta stop singing and get back to work.