Raissa's Site

It is such a bittersweet feeling to know that the musical Rent is closing down in Broadway after 12 years.  When it first opened in Broadway, I knew that it was one of those musicals that I just have to go see but for some reasons wasn't able to until last year when my sister and I and some friends went to NYC for a trip.  Before, we left L.A., we were already set on watching a Broadway show.  For me it was either "Rent" or none at all.    I mean we will already be in New York, why are we not going to include that in our itinerary.  We were not sure we would be able to get tickets but we persisted and it paid off.  My sister's friend, Yvan was able to score us tickets and we knew we had to fix our plans for the day around it.  It was also a good thing that our hotel was only a good 2 blocks away from the theater.  By the day that we were going to watch it, I have lost count of how many times we have passed the theater. 

I may have memorized a lot of the songs by now.  Who doesn't know "Seasons of Love"?  It was. however, my first time watching it.  I refused to watch the film version until I have seen the theater one.  Never mind if the cast of the film version was almost the entire original theater cast.  I just didn't feel right about doing that. My companions and I were so lucky because the cast when we watched it included Tamyra Gray of AI fame and more than that, the narrator, Mark Cohen was being played by Anthony Rapp, the original actor who played it when it first opened.  How cool was that.

"Rent" was how I expected it to be and more.  It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.  A lesson in loving and also of letting go...of acceptance and hope.  I cried, I am not going to deny that.  With it closing soon, I have never felt so blessed to have been given an opportunity to experience it before it ended.