Twelve Years of Rent

The waves of fortune keep washing cool stuff up on the shores of my life. The other night- 4 tickets to RENT. Oddly enough, even being the culture hag that I am, and having seen the movie more than a few times- (I own the DVD), I had never seen it in the theater. I knew the story behind the story- Jonathan Larson's untimely death the night his play opened on Broadway- he was 36 years old. It is ironic and horrendously fitting that the author of a play which relates to a disease that consumes so many young people- that his life also ended so awfully early. The credo of the play "No Day But Today" hits a little harder when seen from that perspective. For more on the show http://www.siteforrent.com

So- it was me, an office mate, her friend and VLH in the 12th row of the orchestra, stage left. The set was distressed and multi-leveled with blue-gray acoustic tiles soaring to the rafters serving as a backdrop for a twisted pile of metal and garbage that I know is an echo of a similar structure in a community garden on the lower East Side of Manhattan.

And the play began. The cast are for the most part relative newcomers to Broadway, having cut their not inconsiderable teeth touring with Rent as well as other shows. I think that Declan Rogers who played Roger had a cold- either that or a mouth-ful of marbles as he spent a great deal of the 75 minute 1st act mumbling his lyrics. I fully enjoyed the performances by Tamyra Gray- a former American Idol contestant and astonishing acrobat- her rendition of "Take Me Out" performed while looping her lithe frame through a metal banister 3 stories above the stage in high-heeled boots and skin tight electric blue latex pants literally took my breath away. And oh how I loved watching Justin Johnson as Angel leaping his way through "Today For You" in patent leather platform heels- you go...girl, kinda. Loved it.

I watched the show and tried to imagine what this all looked like in 1996 when it opened- when men kissing men and women kissing women and cross dressers kissing everyone would have been ground breaking. When tattered clothing onstage meant you were watching Les Mis or some other period piece that had nothing to do with the present time. When walking out to your car meant you might actually encounter a homeless guy with a squeegee.

And when AIDS was actually something new. A raging epidemic that outlaw groups like Act-Up were fighting and there was a question as to whether their guerilla tactics were effective or alienating. When the fight against AIDS was a street fight and newspaper headlines in less urban areas talked about the plague that was "killing all the right people."

Rent as a play felt a bit dated, with so much of the shock value gone from all the kissing and the street folk relegated to dark corners these days. But, as Angel was dying... as it happens every time I see it- I cried and cried, more than a bit aware that this might alarm VLH- who does not know me well enough to know how I feel about AIDS- not enough of my personal history to know that I held the man who made my wedding dress and walked me down the aisle as he lay dying in St. Vincent's of this disease. I looked around the theater and wondered, to all the young, healthy, mostly out-of-towners- was this a STORY? Because I know for me- at that moment it was NOT a story. It was a reminder. It has been awhile since I looked at the statistics- so I did and was sickened (statistics from http://www.until.org/statistics.shtml:

United States:

An estimated one million people are currently living with HIV in the United States, with approximately 40,000 new infections occurring each year.

75 percent of the new infections in women are heterosexually transmitted.

Half of all new infections in the United States occur in people 25 years of age or younger.

And in the larger world the story is worse

Over 22 million people have died from AIDS.

There are 14,000 new infections every day (95 percent in developing countries). HIV/AIDS is a "disease of young people" with half of the 5 million new infections each year occurring among people ages 15 to 24.

The UN estimates that, currently, there are 14 million AIDS orphans and that by 2010 there will be 25 million.

And if the larger world has an orphan issue with regards to AIDS, about 2 years ago I started volunteering to cook at God's Love We Deliver- www.glwd.org an organization which provides meals to homebound people with AIDS. They deliver over 3,000 meals a day in the NY Metro area. That in and of itself was a sad statistic to learn but what struck me was that 15% of those meals are for dependent children. 450 children who could lose their parents- it is amazing to me that the 14 million number does not affect me as those 450 do. Not because they are here- but because I cannot conceive of 14 million children left alone. The grief is unfathomable. For the 450- I can help, a little. So I chop onions.We each do what we can.

I guess what I want to say. Dated or no- marbles in the mouth or not. I want Rent to continue to run. If an audience member can care about the death of Angel, maybe they would be compelled to look a little further- be a bit more careful in how they conduct their sex life- maybe even send a dollar or chop an onion. But it is most important that people realize- it's not over. Our friends are still gone. And very young people will continue to die in staggering numbers. So it all helps. What was heartening was at the end of the show the audience rose to its feet and gave a standing ovation. I hope at least a few will be moved to do more.