Buying Into a Phenomenon

When “Rent,” a musical by an obscure 35-year-old writer and composer, opened at the 100-seat New York Theatre Workshop nearly two years ago, few people could have predicted that it would be proclaimed a landmark and move to Broadway on a wave of positive reviews, multiple prizes and ecstatic press coverage.

Yet from its humble beginnings, Jonathan Larson’s musical about an extended family of young East Village bohemians coping with the challenges of love, AIDS, addiction, ambition and the threat of death struck a deep chord, particularly among the young, who responded with a passion not seen in theater since the glory days of “Hair.”

As “Rent” opens at the Ahmanson Theatre on Sunday, for a run that continues through Jan. 18, Rentmania is truly a cult of the ‘90s, crystallized in lines of fans waiting, sometimes overnight, for the chance to buy $20 tickets for seats in the first two rows of the orchestra. (In Los Angeles, no lineups are allowed before 6 a.m.) There’s also the “Rent-heads,” who have seen the show dozens of times and log on nightly to the numerous “Rent” Web sites.

What drives these fans? David Roman, 38, a professor of English at USC and author of the forthcoming “Acts of Intervention: Performance, Gay Culture & AIDS,” says, “On one level, the response to ‘Rent’ is the result of smart, savvy marketing choices. But ‘Rent’ is also a show that young people particularly can claim as their own.

“The musical speaks to them of contemporary issues relevant to their lives, and the utopian feelings in the musical about the possibilities of love, friendship, community are very powerful.

“The irony is that most of those people haven’t been within 100 miles of the East Village. It doesn’t matter. They’re able to universalize those characters. In fact, some have never even seen the show; they only know it from the original cast album and the Internet. That, too, is ironic because the musical itself is rather critical of cyberspace.

“Another important factor,” he says, “is that the cast is so accessible. Anthony Rapp [who created the lead role of Mark in New York] and Wilson Cruz in the Los Angeles company have become generational spokespersons, using their current media profile to discuss AIDS, gay issues, the homeless, within the community at large.

“Then there’s the sheer diversity of the show. How many other multiracial, queer-friendly national cultural events can you name?”

On our journey to capture Rentmania, we take you to the following scenes:

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Saturday, Aug. 9, 7 a.m.: A dozen bleary-eyed teens and young adults rouse from sleeping bags, makeshift beds and chaise longues amid clutter scattered along the driveway in front of the La Jolla Playhouse box office. They are on the last leg of a 12-hour vigil that began the night before when they took their places in line to purchase $20 seats for the show. Empty soda and mineral-water bottles and the occasional McDonald’s wrapper are scattered alongside cigarette butts, candles, rock and pop CDs and paperback bestsellers. Among the group are Jonathan Broder, 19, a UC San Diego undergraduate from Sacramento, and his friends, Derek, 21; Jennie, 19; Lorna, 19; and Kristen, 19.

Jonathan Broder: This is my fourth time camping out. I brought three people last time who’d never heard of the show. They flipped out. And they hate musicals.

Jennie: We got here last night at about 10, and the performance was still going on. You can hear the whole thing. It’s like teasing you. Camping out is more fun, more gratifying. You wake up and you’re all scuzzy. And then the box office opens and it’s like, “Wow! I got a ticket!” And you’re in the very front row. This close.

Jonathan: I come from a very conservative Jewish family. I forced them to listen to the CD, and my father said, “This is ridiculous. I don’t want you listening to this.” They’re normal parents, on the lookout for anything that might corrupt their kids. What they can’t see is the positive and innocent heart of the show.

Derek: The more traditional musical’s so slow and unimaginative, has such quaint and cute stories. They don’t have an impact on people. This is just not your typical musical. It’s much better.

Kristen: People love “Rent” because they can relate to the characters. Everybody knows somebody like them. They come together, they break off, they’re either ecstatic or flipped out. That anyone can relate to, even if you’ve never been to the East Village or lived in poverty or had a friend with AIDS.

Jonathan: A friend died of AIDS two weeks ago; he was 24. He came to see “Rent” with me the first time. He walked out of the theater bawling. “Rent” is about a whole alternative lifestyle. When was the last time you could see something like that on stage?

Lorna: That’s why everybody brings their friends to see it. Once people hear the music, they really get into the message of “Rent,” about this desire to be a family, a community.

Kristen: Making every day count.

Jennie: It doesn’t matter who you love, as long as you love.

Derek: Love the people you love with all your heart is what Jonathan [Larson] is saying. Suck the very nectar out of life! Every moment! It’s not about just clocking in and clocking out. It’s about trying to look for the good in everyone. And living every moment as though it can be your last. Just don’t regret anything.

Jonathan: I’ve heard this message before, but it’s not coming from an ensemble of characters like this. Usually its coming from some older, wiser person, telling you: “You should do this. I didn’t, but you should.” Now that message is coming from someone my age. it sure makes it more real to us.

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In line to buy tickets to “Rent” at the Ahmanson: Tamara Gregory, a thirtysomething senior vice president of Magic Johnson Enterprises; Leonard Schneiderman, a 69-year-old professor emeritus at UCLA’s School of Public Policy and Social Research; and his wife, Paula:

Tamara Gregory: Most of the buzz I’ve heard on the musical has come from New York, not here, and it sounded fresh and contemporary, so I wanted to see it. My mom--she’s a schoolteacher--got me interested and I bought these tickets to take her. I don’t think she’ll find it offensive. I took her to “Love! Valour! Compassion!” with all these naked men and, though she wanted to leave, she hung in there and ultimately liked it. Maybe that’ll be the case here.

Leonard Schneiderman: Death, as a topic, interests me. The untimely dying of young people from AIDS is even more poignant, so it was intriguing to see how they might handle such a subject matter in a musical. Most of our friends are theatergoers, and I would say there’s quite a bit of interest in the musical, more than usual.

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Visit to the Jimbo “Rent” Web site https://www.lifecafe.com: Rent-heads and Cyber-nuts denigrate the official https://www.siteforrent.com as uninformative and unimaginative. A search for the name of Jonathan Larson, however, will key into a number of unofficial home pages, including one by “Jimbo,” which is an elaborately designed scrapbook, music-coded with songs from “Rent” and filled with chat room gossip, updates on various productions of “Rent” across the country, biographies of stars, helpful information on how to get tickets and links to no less than 43 other home pages, which Jimbo describes thus:

The Cat Scratch Club-Jess’s “Rent” page: She rocks and so does this page!

A Tribute to “Rent”: This is Sally Chou’s new site. . . . Stop by and take the “Rent” poll! Post and read messages on her WWW board from other “Rent” lovers around the world.

Maybe It’s a Female Thing: Well, this is the first unofficial West Coast Web site that we are aware of. The site is full of great stuff about the La Jolla cast. . . . Post a message on her Benny Discussion board and check out her photos of Neil Patrick Harris.

Stephen Paul Webb’s Tribute to Marcy Rock: This site is for all the Marcy Harriel fans out there. The Feline of Avenue B’s first Unofficial Fan Page.

A Tribute to Adam Pascal: A home page by Des dedicated to Adam Pascal. Check out the baby picture.

Los Musicals: Vic’s Musicals Page, in Spanish, with a special dedication to “Rent.” An example of how universal the message of “Rent” is to people all over the world.

“Rent” Workshop Lyrics: Stop by and read all about the songs and lyrics during “Rent’s” early years.

Leave Your Conscience at the Tone: An original “Rent” page with full libretto, lots of tributes to the show, “Rent” line diaries and things that make you go “woo.” . . .

House of Bitterness: This is Justin’s home page. Anyone who has seen the show in N.Y. at the Nederlander knows who Justin is. If you don’t, stop by and see why he’s bitter.

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After the Aug. 6 performance of “Rent,” Kathy Humphrey is in the lobby, a fortysomething divorced mother of two who works as an office manager in Northern San Diego County:

I liked the show very much. I was a little nervous at first. It was disorienting, loud and blaring, and I thought, ‘Ohmigod, am I going to have to sit through this the whole evening?’ But then the music became more melodious and the more I got to know the characters, the better I liked them.

I’m a different generation, but it all comes down to the fact that they are basically good people, struggling to make a living and find meaning in life, like we all are. When I saw “Hair” at the Pantages in 1969, I was married with a brand new baby, and that show just made me want to run away from all responsibility! And here, too, there’s an attraction to that bohemian, free kind of lifestyle. Like us, these kids think they know all the answers, and they seek out a surrogate family who are nonjudgmental. But, because of AIDS, these young people are facing serious and sad issues.

I used to think that young people today aren’t as mature as we were. Perhaps they are, facing life-and-death choices as they do.

BE THERE

“Rent,” Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A., opens Sunday at 5 p.m. Regular schedule: Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Also Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26, Nov. 23, 30, Dec. 7, 14, 21, 28, Jan. 4, 11, 18, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 30, Nov. 6, 13, 2 p.m.; Nov. 24, Dec. 22, 29, 8 p.m. Ends Jan. 18. $35-$70.