50 Fun Facts About Rent

Who wrote the music, lyrics and book of Rent?

He supported himself for years waiting tables while writing hundreds of songs for the show.

Rent is loosely based on which 1896 opera?

The opera's tuberculosis became HIV/AIDS, and 1800s Paris became the East Village of around 1990.

In which Manhattan neighborhood is Rent set?

The Life Café, where 'La Vie Bohème' takes place, was a real restaurant on 10th Street and Avenue B until 2013.

Which playwright first conceived a modern La Bohème and worked with Larson on the first songs?

In 1991 Larson asked to take the project over as his own; the two agreed he would share proceeds and get credit for 'original concept & additional lyrics'.

Where did Larson wait tables to support himself while writing the show?

A fellow member of the diner staff was Jesse L. Martin, who would go on to play Tom Collins.

How many songs did the final version of Rent contain?

Cut numbers included 'Real Estate', in which Benny tries to talk Mark into becoming a real estate agent.

Where off-Broadway did Rent begin performances in January 1996?

The 150-seat house sold out every show, forcing the move uptown.

Larson died the night before the first preview. What was the cause?

It was undiagnosed and believed to have resulted from Marfan syndrome; he was 35.

Larson's only newspaper interview was with a critic from which paper?

Anthony Tommasini had been drawn by the coincidence that Rent was debuting exactly 100 years after Puccini's opera.

Where on Broadway did Rent move in April 1996?

The house on 41st Street was previously derelict and still under renovation when the show arrived.

Besides four Tony Awards, which other major honour did Rent receive?

The Tonys were for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score and Featured Actor for Wilson Jermaine Heredia.

How many Tony Awards did Rent win from its ten nominations in 1996?

Idina Menzel's featured-actress nomination lost to Ann Duquesnay of Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.

Which original cast member won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, for playing Angel?

He said he loved Angel's transformation but found the high heels extremely painful.

What is Mark Cohen's occupation?

He is the show's narrator, and his footage of the Christmas Eve riot lands him a job offer from the tabloid show Buzzline.

Roger's girlfriend April killed herself after learning what?

Her note is how Roger learned his own status, which drove him into depression and the desperate wish to write one last song.

Tom Collins is a professor of what at New York University?

Mark describes him as a 'computer genius, teacher, and vagabond anarchist who ran naked through the Parthenon.'

In 'Today 4 U', Angel explains how she earned a wad of cash. What did she do?

The dog turns out to be Evita, the Akita belonging to Benny's wife Alison.

Benny plans to evict the homeless from a lot in order to build what?

He offers Mark and Roger free rent if they can persuade Maureen to cancel her protest against the plan.

Maureen's avant-garde protest performance 'Over the Moon' is based on which nursery rhyme?

In early drafts she was a serious, angry character whose piece riffed on Oedipus instead.

Where does Collins dream of escaping to open a restaurant?

The song of that name was one of the first three that Larson and Billy Aronson wrote together.

The riot that ends Act I was inspired by a real 1988 riot over a curfew in which New York location?

The real riot broke out over a city-imposed curfew in the park.

The song 'Seasons of Love' opens Act II. It is also known by what number?

That is the number of minutes in a common year; the cast recording includes a version featuring Stevie Wonder on vocals and harmonica.

The Life Support scenes and the song 'Will I?' were inspired by Larson's visits to which group?

The first line of 'Will I?' came from a man at a meeting who said he was not afraid of dying, only of losing his dignity.

Which sleazy tabloid TV company keeps calling Mark with a job offer?

Its producer Alexi Darling sings Voicemail #3 and #4; Mark eventually takes the job and then quits it to finish his own film.

In the finale, Collins reprograms an ATM to pay out to anyone entering which code?

Moments later Maureen and Joanne carry in Mimi, homeless and close to death.

What is the title of the song Roger finally writes and sings to the dying Mimi?

The melody quotes 'Musetta's Waltz' from Puccini, the very tune Mark jokes that Roger keeps accidentally reproducing.

Mimi revives at the end after seeing a vision of whom telling her to go back?

The friends resolve to enjoy whatever time they have left, affirming that there is 'no day but today.'

Who originated the role of Maureen Johnson on Broadway?

It was her first professional theatre job; her later concert special was titled after her first line as the character, 'Which way to the stage?'

Which original cast member played landlord Benny and later married his Maureen co-star?

The marriage to Idina Menzel lasted from 2003 until their 2014 divorce.

Which original Tom Collins later spent nine years as Detective Ed Green on Law & Order?

He took a brief hiatus from the police drama in 2005 to shoot the film version.

Who originated the role of Roger Davis, earning a Tony nomination?

He auditioned on a whim after a high-school friend, then dating Idina Menzel, mentioned the show; he later played Radames in Aida.

Which future How I Met Your Mother star made his musical debut as Mark Cohen on the 'Benny Tour'?

He later directed a starry three-night Rent at the Hollywood Bowl in 2010 with Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi.

Devoted fans who camped out for cheap tickets became known by what name?

The name came from the $20 rush tickets for the first two rows, sold by lottery two hours before each show.

How much did the discounted same-day rush tickets for the front rows cost?

The pricing was widely copied and credited with drawing a younger audience to Broadway.

Rent closed on Broadway in September 2008 after how many performances?

The twelve-year run made it the seventh-longest-running Broadway show at the time.

Roughly how much did the original Broadway production gross?

A 2006 one-night original-cast reunion alone raised over $2 million for charity.

Who directed the 2005 film adaptation of Rent?

The screenplay was by Stephen Chbosky, later of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

How many of the eight original Broadway principals reprised their roles in the film?

The two missing were the original Mimi, who was pregnant, and the original Joanne, who felt she was too old.

Who played Mimi in the film, replacing the pregnant Daphne Rubin-Vega?

She won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress for the part.

Which pop star was considered for Roger in the film before the director stuck with the original cast?

The film grossed just $31.7 million against a $40 million budget.

Roughly how much did the 2005 film gross worldwide, against a $40M budget?

It stayed in the box office top ten for three weeks but never covered its costs.

Fox's Rent: Live in January 2019 ended up airing a dress rehearsal for most of the show. Why?

Brennin Hunt was injured before the final act, so only the ending was performed truly live.

Which Hamilton creator cites Rent as a main inspiration and referenced it in 'Wrote My Way Out'?

The parody Broadway show in Team America: World Police, meanwhile, is called Lease.

A 2014 production of Rent was the first Broadway musical staged in which country since the Cold War froze relations?

Rent alumnus Andy Señor Jr. produced it and made a documentary about the experience, released in 2020.

Which Puccini aria did Larson draw on melodically for Rent's song 'Light My Candle'?

Musetta's Waltz from La bohème is quoted outright elsewhere in the score.

In Larson's earliest drafts, what was the character who became Roger originally named?

He wrote musical plays back then, Mark was a painter, and Maureen's performance piece riffed on Oedipus rather than Hey Diddle Diddle.

Who directed the original Broadway production of Rent?

He also ran the La Jolla Playhouse, which is why the 'Benny Tour' opened in San Diego in 1997, and he returned for the 2011 revival.

At which West End venue did Rent make its UK premiere in April 1998?

Several Broadway originals including Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Jesse L. Martin crossed the Atlantic for the West End run.

Which Motown legend featured on a remixed 'Seasons of Love' included on the 1996 cast recording?

The double-disc 'complete recording' was followed by a single-disc highlights album in 1999.

Where was Rent revived off-Broadway in 2011, less than three years after the original closed?

Almost everything about the staging was different from the original, though the original director was back in charge.