www.livedesignonline.com/theatre: Translating a Broadway musical for television is not always easy, especially a musical as groundbreaking as Rent in 1996 when it moved to the Nederlander Theatre from Off-Broadway. But directors Michael Grief and Alex Rudzinski and the designers of Rent: Live, broadcast on Sunday, January 27 on Fox, captured the essence of the musical and the gritty, industrial feel of New York City’s Lower East Side in the 90s and the AIDS era.
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Of all the live musicals that major networks have done in the past few years, I must say that the set for Rent was by far my favorite. Something about the way it was reminiscent of old Rent sets, but also new and exciting really did the show justice. The most important part of staging an older show with a new scenic design is the necessity for it to feel the same. You could do a set that's almost identical, but if it doesn't have the right feeling, it's not going to be right. This set may look different from others, but it still feels like Rent, and is therefore successful (even if the production wasn't.) In terms of the more technical elements, I think that the execution was really successful, as the audience definitely felt like they were appropriately integrated, but the set didn't feel like you were in a giant warehouse with a couple scaffolds. It felt both intimate and giant, depending on what mood they were going for. Overall, a very successful staging, that in my opinion helped the quality of the show.
I think Sherwood did a great job with the sets for this show. He talked about he wanted to incorporate the audience in the show by designing a set that combines elements of a rock show as well as a musical, which I really think worked because there were songs where the audience was jumping and kind of acting like they were at a concert which was really fun to watch. My problem with many of the live productions in the past on Fox or NBC are that I can’t always tell if they are trying to make it more like a movie or more like a musical, which I think is largely because of the set. But with this show the set was on a stage and more like a set that one would see in a theatre as opposed to a movie set, so it felt to me much more like a musical than it did a movie which I really appreciated. The show felt more cohesive than many in the past. This may also be because of something he talked about which was that he had many recycled elements in the show so it felt very authentic.
The production design of Rent Live was one of the most visually interesting I’ve seen from the recent flood of live television musicals. I took some issue with it presenting the show like some sort of concert - it felt a little too on display, especially given that the audience was in and around it in seating banks. Also, the scene where Angel dies looked unfinished to some degree. The beds all lined up was not the cutest to look at, but I appreciated the message of it I guess. Overlooking those qualities, however, I thought overall the set was beautiful and went very well with the show. The multiple levels of it gave it a grand, powerful feeling that is reminiscent of the message the show itself gives. The colors used in the art around the set ranged from rich and vibrant to worn down and experienced, which to me gave the show a timeless quality.
As a fan of the more intimate feel the movie version gives to Rent, I also did not like the concert element of the this live version of the musical. I thought it was a bit too much, mostly on the audience’s side as they were screaming and cheering more like a concert audience than a musical audience and I really felt that detracted from the show. Overall, however, I really did like the set design. It was a nice homage to the original Rent design as well as the classic look that has come to define all other productions with jumbles of metal and tons of scaffolding. The dirty window panes gave rise to the image of an old Manhattan loft, while also paying a little tribute to the movie as they mirrored the window used in that production design. I thought it was also an excellent management of such a massive space; watching it, I did not feel lost or like it was too repetitive even tho it was extremely cohesive.
I saw this production on FOX when it aired and I was not particularly blown away by the actor's performances but I did love the technical aspects. I also thought that putting the apartment on a stage in the middle of this large audience - kind of like a music show - was a really interesting choice. I think the part that stuck out the most to me was the christmas tree made of trash though. It was an interesting juxtaposition to any tree I have ever seen before and it made the show mean more. I felt like it worked along with their story and how this christmas is turning out to suck. Honestly though, I am not the biggest fan of "Rent" - don't get me wrong it has an amazing story and a deep message - I have just never seen a performance of it at thought - "Wow, this is what this show is about”.
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