By ALLISON RUWALDT
Rent the Musical opened at the West End on September 26, 2026, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, but what is it about, and why is it still relevant today?
Rent was written by Jonathan Larson and premiered Off-Broadway in 1996, and later that same year it was officially moved to a Broadway stage. The musical was inspired by La Bohème, an opera from 1896, as well as the book on which the opera was based, Scenes of a Bohemian Life. Despite all the work Larson poured into the musical, he never got the chance to see its success, as he unexpectedly died the night before it opened Off-Broadway.
Although it was successful and praised initially, those looking at it with a modern lens can easily see the flaws in the characters and their morals, and find it hard to support many of their actions. The musical starts on Christmas Eve in 1989 and follows the lives of seven young artists who are struggling to live in New York City. Of those seven main characters, four of them are confirmed to have AIDS, and while it was never made official in the Broadway shows, early works implied that the entire group had this disease.
While the flaws should not go unnoticed, I believe they do not diminish the impact and message of the musical. As previously mentioned, this musical focused on the AIDS crisis that affected New York in the 80s and the vastly different lives it impacted, as well as the different approaches individuals had when dealing with it.
The first characters introduced are roommates, Mark and Roger, who start the musical by burning their pieces of art for warmth. Mark is an aspiring filmmaker who often makes references to the documentary-style movie he is making about his life. Roger is a musician who is also a recovering addict. It is implied that he contracted AIDS by sharing needles with his former girlfriend. April, his girlfriend, left him a note informing him of their shared disease before killing herself to avoid dealing with the hardships that come with it.
The roommates get a call from their landlord and former friend, Benny, saying that he needs all of last year’s and this year’s rent. Mark and Roger are shocked to hear this, because when Benny married a rich woman and bought the building, he promised they would live rent-free. However, since he’s gotten married, he has completely changed. He no longer cares about the homeless people or tent cities, and he cannot keep the one promise he made to the people who were once his best friends.
Benny is not Mark and Rogers only former roommate, though. Maureen, Mark’s previous girlfriend who focuses on protest performances and advocacy, also used to live with them, as well as Tom Collins. Collins moved out momentarily to work at MIT as a professor, but was fired because he continued to advocate despite the school’s wishes for him to stop. The audience meets Collins on the streets of New York City.
It depicts him getting robbed and beaten, and as he’s lying in pain, he meets the next main character, a street drummer who also happens to be a drag queen named Angel. Angel helps Collins get back on his feet, and it is here that we learn that both Collins and Angel have AIDS. Angel invited Collins and his friends to come to a life support group for other individuals struggling with the disease.
Roger declines, and Mark agrees to meet them there later. Mark leaves to help Joanne, Maureen’s new girlfriend, set up for the protest that Maureen is holding tonight. Benny is planning on evicting tent cities and turning them into high-rent apartments, and she is disgusted with the changes he wants to make. Working together is not easy for Mark and Joanne, but eventually, they gain an understanding of each other and make sure everything is in place for the performance.
Roger is still in the apartment, struggling to write his final song. He is determined to write one last song to capture his legacy. Since finding out about his health condition, he has taken a step back from the typical rockstar life. He no longer goes out, even with his friends, and he avoids taking risks. He wants to make every moment he has left matter by putting it all into his final song.
As Roger is working on his ballad, someone knocks on the door. Mimi, the final main character, comes into the apartment asking if Roger has a light for her candle. Mimi is a young dancer at a strip club and a frequent user. She also has AIDS, but chooses an opposite approach to living what may be her final years. Mimi lives every day as her last, seizing every opportunity she can, so she does not feel like she wasted a moment.
Her recklessness reminds Roger of April, and even though he’s intrigued by her, he is just as repelled by the idea of losing another loved one. Mimi, however, likes the stability Roger brings, and as much as he makes her want to get clean and be better, he also subconsciously puts pressure on her to speed that process along.
While Roger and Mimi are getting to know one another, Mark, Angel, and Collins attend the life support meeting. One of the members speaks about how he’s feeling discouraged, as doctors are saying he’s worse than he’s ever been. However, the support group leader urges the group to focus on how they feel, rather than what doctors are saying their chances are. He says that if you feel okay, then why should you choose to be afraid of what may happen? The group song has lyrics that have always meant a lot to me.
“There’s only us, there’s only this. Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road. No other way. No day but today,” from Life Support, in Rent.
This mantra is sung to Roger by Mark, Collins, Angel, and Mimi, as they convince him to go to Maureen’s performance. Roger is convinced that it is worth it to go out. During Maureen’s performance, Benny attends and eventually calls the police, which causes it to erupt into chaos. However, this did not stop her protest from reaching people, as when Benny went to evict the tent city, none of the people moved.
The rest of the musical follows their dynamics, how the relationships break apart and come back together, and displays them working through ideas of artistic integrity and the concept of selling out. The ideas of this musical, although set in the early 90s, are just as applicable today as they were then.
Artists everywhere are struggling to find ways to continue to practice their craft without feeling like they are compromising the meaning of their art. Especially in a world of artificial intelligence, where more and more companies are giving in and replacing human work, the message of this musical stands strong. It promotes an unconventional bohemian lifestyle, where instead of focusing on how to monetize everything, people can focus on creating, simply because they want to make something.
Rent the musical shows real, flawed individuals living in hard times and dealing with timeless issues. It showcases the struggle of being a creative in a money-hungry society, dealing with adult and complex friendships, and why those struggles are worth it in the end.