Rent Tickets

Behind Rent the Musical

In 1988, after reading Giacomo Puccini’s classic opera, La Boheme, Billy Aronson aimed to create a musical adaptation with a setting in modern New York City. He met Jonathan Larson and the two began collaborating with Larson mainly composing the music. Suggesting that the show be set in East Village with the title “Rent” because the word also means “torn apart”, Larson started making changes to the show, taking it as his own in 1991. Aronson agreed as long as he received a share in the proceeds. Larson’s dream of creating a rock-opera geared towards the MTV generation was finally under way. After writing hundreds of songs, Larson kept 42 in the show. In 1993, the show began its workshop in the New York Theatre Workshop. In 1996, 100 years after Puccini’s opera debuted, Rent was nearly ready to debut and Larson had his first interview with the New York Times. Rent received a positive review but unfortunately Larson passed away from an aortic aneurysm a few hours after the interview was conducted. Rent became the hottest show in town, selling out all the shows so that the production had to be moved to Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre in 1996 where it continues to run today.