Jonathan Larsons Rent, a postmodern remix of Giacomo Puccinis La bohème, took New York by storm in the mid-90s. The story was über-original at the time (it turned Puccinis penniless bohemians in love in 19th-century Paris into 20th-century hipsters in the Big Apple). The groundbreaking show features characters with AIDS, characters who were gay and characters who were fighting the capitalists. It moved from a workshop to off-Broadway to Broadway, winning a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award along the way. The politics of Larsons musical might be yesterdays news, but the appeal of starving artists and doomed lovers will never grow old. And the cool rock-opera music still works its heart-pounding magic. The musicals signature song is Seasons of Love, with its famous Five million, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes
opening, although Ill Cover You and Out Tonight are also audience favorites. See Masquerade Theatres production of Rent at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sunday. Through August 1. Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713-861-7045 or visit www.masqueradetheatre.com. $36.25 to $66.25
Sundays, 2 p.m.; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Starts: July 24. Continues through Aug. 1, 2010
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.