Rent

I haven't seen a musical in a long time, so seeing the BACI production of RENT was a rare treat. In a nutshell, Rent is a modern version of the opera La Boheme in which a community of artists struggle to survive and celebrate living in NYC. The community is plagued with HIV, and our forced to deal with the reality of homelessness, loss, and living for the moment. While I couldn't personally relate to the plot (thankfully), I embraced the idea of living in the moment.

The cast was absolutely amazing. I particularly enjoyed Mimi. Mimi is a dancer with a drug problem and HIV. She is the love interest of Roger, a struggling musician, who also has HIV. Roger dreams of writing a meaningful song one day, but just can't come up with anything. He finally does and sings it to Mimi as she is dying. Mimi is brought back to life through her guardian "Angel". Angel is a transvestite who in generally brought the community together. She dies from AIDS, but seemed to watch over them from above.

I wasn't crazy about some elements of the plot, but I loved the music. I am glad I went to see it.