525,600 Minutes

The musical RENT, which opened on Broadway in 1996, is finally coming to the big screen this November. I always have a bit of apprehension when an outstanding stage musical is done as a movie. What works on stage doesn't always work on the screen and, particularly in musical such as RENT where the minimalistic set adds so greatly to the work, the realism of Hollywood can be damaging if not carefully planned and artfully executed. Even still, I am greatly anticipating the release (and have been since Nov 2004 when I found out it was being made), and suspect that the production will be worthwhile since it gleans much of its cast directly from the original Broadway cast.

RENT is the story of seven New York friends who find themselves struggling with finances, love, friendship, and disease and over the course of a year learn to live each day to the fullest because you never know what tommorrow will bring. An essay I wrote about the theme of RENT won me a $1000 scholarship once upon a time.

If you live in New York, Los Angelos, or Toronto you'll be able to see this film on Nov 11th. The rest of us have to wait until November 23rd (a day which I have already marked to keep clear on my calendar). For more information you can check out the official site or view the trailer (requires Windows Media Player, for Mac users the official site has two trailers that I believe are in Quicktime)