La Vie Boheme!

Only thing to do is jump over the moon

the Slayer's favourite part of the entire musical when I watched it with her 5 years ago, and consequently, the only line that stuck firmly in my head after the show was over.... haiz....

What can I say? 2 Thumbs Up solid to last minute tix... the moment I read in the Sat papers that the last 4 shows were selling for $50, I rushed to Sistic and bought up the tix for the last show on Sunday night.

And $50 for what used to be a $100odd seat..... is more than worth it, especially for a show with a stellar cast like Rent. :)

All the vocals were power to the core, and the acting was fabulous. Most noticeable being the drag queen character, Angel, who tragically sucuumbed to AIDS in the 2nd act of the show. Some of the other characters too didn't seem that outstanding at first, but when it came to solos, *phew* their voices could blow you away to kingdom come.

There is no solid plot to Rent. It's not the kind of show where you can describe it as "This guy went to that place and did those things and fell in love with a girl and eventually...". Rent is more like a snapshot of a year [one xmas to another] in the lives of a bohemian community living in a fictional part of NY, and the drama surrounding the various characters, as they struggle with crime, homelessness, drug use, AIDS and the risk of selling your artistic soul to the mega corporations.

Homeless folk:
"Christmas bells are ringing...
Christmas bells are ringing...
Christmas bells are ringing...
SOMEWHERE ELSE"

But the music is fantabulous all around. Not the usual almost-operatic types [think Phantom] but lively, passionate rock, accompanied by a live band on stage, which makes ALL the difference from the usual orchestra. :)

As for the themes of the play... the Bohemian values in it may seem estranged from our Singaporean audience quite a bit, considering that, well, this is Singapore and not many people are living in almost-poverty to pursue their art. ^_^! But I think it will strike a chord with the growing numbers who are getting increasingly fed up with our paced lifestyles and long for something more. [yea, like me] Maybe secretly, we DO wish to be bohemians. ;)

Ditto with the theme of AIDS, which involved a number of characters. But I feel in this aspect, it is good for us to watch, simply because we are so far removed from the emotional aspects of AIDS, and its effects on the sufferers as well as those around them. Watching the character of Angel especially might enlighten us just a little bit more on this.

Overall, a GREAT musical. The movie is expected to come out next year, but like Chicago, I expect it to be a poor substitute. [but hey, you are paying only about $7-8 for it] If I've piqued your interest in the musical, you can check out the link to the official website:

Rent - Broadway Musical: Has song samples you can listen to, and info about story and cast. The whole story has also been put up, sans lyrics

and for those who can't catch the lyrics:

Rent Lyrics: Seeing that the entire musical is in song, you could probably read the whole thing from all the lyrics, but no kick lah.

If you want more concise info:


Wikipedia on Rent: Concise info all on one page

La Vie Boheme!

I'll leave you now with my favourite song from the musical:

525,600 minutes
525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes
how do you measure,
measure a year?
In daylights,
In sunsets,
In midnights,
In cups of coffee.
In inches,
In miles,
In laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes
How do you measure
A year in the life?
How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love.
Seasons of
Love.

525,600 minutes!
525,000 journeys to plan.
525,600 minutes
How can you measure the life
Of a woman or man?

In truths that she learned,
Or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned, or
the way that she died.

It’s time now to sing out,
Though the story never ends
Let's celebrate, remember a year
In the life of friends.
Remember the love!
Remember the love!
Remember the love!
Measure in love.

Seasons of love!

Seasons of love.