Friday, August 3, 2007

Rent Rent Rent Rent Rent We're Not Gonna Pay Rent

That creaking sound that you hear must be Jonathan Larson rolling in his grave....

London's Duke of York Theatre will be the home of a newly re-worked version of Rent beginning October 16th.

The Director, William Baker, says "Because of Jonathan Larson's untimely death at the first preview, the show has become frozen as a kind of sacred text. It looked and sounded very much of its time. Audiences have changed since then, and I think it needed reappraising for a London audience." Baker added his Rent is a "digital production for a digital world — more a pop opera than a rock opera." Each song has been reorchestrated to match the character who sings it. "All great songs can always be remixed," Baker explained. "We've kept the vocal melodies, but the sound is completely different."

Oy.

1 comment:

Kim said...

I agree. And I haven't heard it. But making RENT MORE poppy? Oy.