Concerned fans count down the minutes to Rent’s theatrical release.
By Brandon Voss
Rentheads, or rabid fanatics of Rent, the late Jonathan Larson’s still-running 1996 Tony and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning Broadway rock opera, fear change. Although stage-to-screen adaptations are nothing new, the results can either be thrilling (Chicago) or abysmal (The Phantom of the Opera). So was it the wisest choice to entrust this gritty tale of transsexuals, gays, heroin addiction and AIDS in Alphabet City to director Chris Columbus, the man who helmed Home Alone and the first two Harry Potters?
Discovering Columbus
“When I first met with Chris, I just wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to shy away from things, that he wasn’t going to alter some of the storytelling just for the sake of appealing to the middle ground,” says star Anthony Rapp, who has been called “the heart and soul” of the project by Columbus. “That fear was immediately put to rest.”
“I operate off of my gut and it’s never steered me wrong,” adds Jonathan’s sister Julie Larson, a co-producer and constant presence on set. “When we met Chris, everything just felt right. It was so serendipitous. He was determined to honor what excited him when he first saw the show as an audience member and as a fan. We didn’t have to worry.”
Can You Spare Any Change?
Still, Rent purists have been boohooing over original aspects that have been altered or lost in film translation, including excised numbers such as “Contact” and “Halloween” (the latter of which will be available on the DVD extras). “People will miss certain things,” Rapp concedes. “But if Chris has cut anything, it’s been with the utmost respect, care and thought. Believe me, it works.”
“Anybody who wants it to be exactly the same is going to disappointed,” warns newcomer Tracie Thoms, a longtime Renthead herself who, along with Rosario Dawson, has also stirred controversy by joining the six returning major cast members (Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin and Idina Menzel). Adds Larson: “My hope is that everyone sees the movie with an open mind. Let go of the play; what’s captured on film is the emotion that you felt in the theater. This is just the next step in the journey.”
Fellowship of the Rentheads
“We were very aware of how passionate the fans are,” says Larson, who reveals that many Rentheads who showed up on set to share their support — or skepticism — were cast as background talent. “The fact that they were thrilled with what they were seeing meant a lot. We felt that we were on the right track.”
Rapp points to another big-screen adaptation that had fans kvetching online before its release: Lord of the Rings. “Though some things are substantially changed,” he says, “the fan community rallied around that film because they recognized that the spirit was respected and that the filmmakers were coming from such a pure place. I hope we have a similar response.” But when Rent opens this Thanksgiving weekend, will lower Manhattan and Middle-Earth alike rejoice or riot?
HX, November 2005.