5 things that RENT popularized for the Broadway community

April 29th marks 25 years since RENT opened on Broadway in 1996. What began as a ragtag Off-Broadway production became a cultural phenomenon that ran more than 5,000 performances on Broadway, launched a Hollywood film, and became the go-to piece of theatrical angst for a generation. As think pieces and tributes pour in, why not take a few minutes to appreciate these 5 things that RENT popularized for the Broadway community.

The Youthful SuperFan

While today’s musical theatre is rife with fan groups, and the support of a young adult fanbase can push a project toward mainstream recognition (Be More Chill, Beetlejuice, and Dear Evan Hansen have all benefited from the phenomenon) RENT’s Rentheads set the standard. They were diverse, dedicated, and above all else, devoted to the show they loved.

In 1996, internet chatrooms and forums were beginning to take shape, and RENT was able to spread cross country through the web of dial-up modems and eagerly interested teens who snapped up every inch of content they could. Suddenly, the musical theatre wasn’t that thing your parents were into, or what you did once a year when your high school decided to put on Bye Bye Birdie - it was cool, it was cutting edge, and it became a home for thousands of young adults who were struggling to figure out who they were at the end of the 20th century.

General Rush Tickets

Renthead’s voracious appetite for the show meant that the number of times a person made it into the Nederlander Theatre had social implications. The more understudies, standbys, and alternate cast members you saw, the more bragging rights you racked up. The producers of RENT took notice of the fans who were desperate to get in the doors and created a $20 Rush Ticket system, which was unprecedented on Broadway. Two hours before the curtain would rise, the box office would open up the front two rows of the center orchestra for $20 each, first come first served. Fans would show up hours before the box office opened, camping out on the streets of New York in increasingly elaborate setups, determined to get in at all costs.

The Rush system put the show's most invested audience members as close to the action as possible, and their glee influenced the rest of the audience behind them - their enthusiasm was so contagious that it often couldn’t be contained, especially during the audience interaction of Maureen’s performance art piece.

The Ticket Lottery system

Eventually, the Rush line became too unwieldy to be safe - the Rush line was a production in and of itself, with fans jostling for a spot at the front. When an audience member would exit the theater after that night's performance, it wasn’t unusual to find the Rush line for the following day’s matinee already started, with fans decked out in tents, sleeping bags, and space heaters. The lines would stretch around the block, and the producers became concerned that someone would take advantage of the young age of many of the fans sleeping out next to Times Square, which was not the sanitized advertising center it is today.

They canceled their Rush line policy, and instead instituted a ticket lottery draw - two hours before the curtain, the box office would take names for a randomized draw - the removal of the competition to be first in line ended the overnight sleepovers, but the lottery draws became spectacles, with hundreds of fans crowding the streets in hopes that their name would be called. The crowds ended up being perfect marketing for the production - people on the street who had never heard of Jonathan Larson were pulled in by the crowd, and often bought full-price tickets themselves just to see what the fuss was about.

New York Theatre Workshop

RENT first premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop, a downtown incubator for new works. Before RENT, it was known for inventive new plays and unconventional topics. After RENT it was known for being the place for exciting, up-and-coming theatre. With a 198 seat mainstage and a 75 seat black box space, its current home in the East Village is normally home to at least 5 full productions and 80 staged readings every season. Industry favorites such as Peter and the Starcatcher, Lazarus, Hadestown, What The Constitution Means to Me, and Slave Play have all found a home on their stage, and much of their ability to foster new work can be traced back to the burst of attention and financial compensation they received from their part in bringing RENT to life.

Lin Manuel Miranda

Lin Manuel Miranda has made no secret of his love of Jonathan Larson’s work. The show was his personal a-ha moment, and it gave him the permission he needed to start writing. RENT was as diverse as the community he had grown up in New York, and RENT planted the seeds in his mind that would eventually become In The Heights, and yes, Hamilton. tick tick... Boom!, Larson’s other major full-length musical, became one of Miranda’s few performance credits outside of his own work, and he has now directed the upcoming film adaptation, set for release later this year. In 2004, Miranda applied for the Jonathan Larson Grant, an award for emerging musical theatre writers and composers that is funded by the royalties the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation makes off of RENT.  While Miranda did not win the grant that year, his application letter is public.

“I saw RENT on my 16th birthday, and it simply changed everything. I had been a lifelong fan of musicals, but had never seen a show that spoke to me so directly, that used fresh, new music as a way of addressing contemporary concerns in an honest way… Jonathan Larson gave me permission to write about my life, hopes, and fears.”

RENT closed on Broadway on September 7, 2008, after playing to enthusiastic crowds for 12 years. As we return to the show for its 25th anniversary, take the time to consider just how much of the modern musical theatre landscape can be traced directly back to RENT, and to the legion of fans it brought to the musical theatre. Now more than ever, the youth have a voice, and as a new generation begins to take over Broadway, the power of the art that shapes them cannot be underestimated.

(Photos are courtesy of Andrea Towers, Ali Sousa, Sandy Budiansky, and Lars Skaar)