No Day But Today
My Love For Musicals.
On one fine day in the city of Manhattan, my family and I went to see Chorus Line, the Broadway musical that captivated audiences over its course. This was back in the 80's and it was the first time I was exposed to live musical theater. I guess you could say that was the day I became a fan of live theater.
Years later, I had another opportunity to visit New York. There were at least three musicals that I wanted to see and fortunately for me, my group of friends who tagged along also enjoyed them as well. We enjoyed every single show during the trip but I became obsessed with one in particular- it was a rock musical that was known as Rent.
Rent-The Musical
RENT, loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme, follows the story of a group of friend's in New York. Each character played brilliantly by the cast, is colorful, alive and unique. The story celebrates art, ,music, sex and the bond of friendship. Rent was written in the 80's, and inspired by real life, the writer puts the spotlight on some of his closest friends who he's lost to AIDS. Despite the serious theme, RENT is ultimately about the celebration of love and life itself.
Rent especially touched a nerve in me because I myself had lost a couple of my best friends to AIDS back in the day before medication. The show brought back painful memories that had been pushed to the back of my mind and I was practically drowning in tears by the end of the show. However the story is not all about tragedy. Rent made me laugh and cry, reminding me of my own younger days of innocence past. In the end, I felt ecstatic to be alive and reminded once again, that there truly is "No Day But Today".
So how was the movie?
When I first heard that they were making a movie version with the original cast I was naturally excited but, at the same time, afraid that the movie would be ruined. It's like movies based on books-they usually disappoint. While nothing could replace the actual live show, they did a rather good job with this one and is a good representation of the stage show.
If you've seen the Broadway show, you'll notice a few changes to the movie-changing some of the minor songs into dialogue and filming on location and using bigger sets-to name a few, but this works and it's probably for the best for a 2-hour movie. If you're a fan of musicals or ever have been a "Renthead", I truly recommend adding RENT-The Movie to your DVD collection.
The Two-DVD Special Edition
This two-disc special edition includes some interesting goodies. In the nearly 2-hour documentary, we learn about the story behind the creation of RENT as well as interviews with friends and family of Jonathan Larson, the writer of RENT, who tragically died before opening night. The special DVD also includes three powerful numbers that were deleted from the movie ( they were included in the stage version ), making the special edition a must-have for any Renthead.
I Love My RENT
Photo Gallery
Click thumbnail to view full-sizeIf you've never seen RENT, check out these videos to some of my favorite songs including Seasons of Love, Rent Life Support Song and No Day But Today.
Seasons Of Love performed live on Broadway. This is the song RENT is famous for.
One of my favorite scenes from the movie. This scene is at an AIDS support group.
Even if you're not a fan of RENT, this is a beautiful and uplifting song. The show ends with this song called No Day But Today.