Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net
 


       Musicals.Net Forums -> Rent
wicked_boy

Rent by Schools

I heard that schools can now do Rent. If so where can I get the rights for my school and what are the differences between this and the Broadway version?
kitty17794

I don't think the US can do RENT in schools yet...but other countries have been able to do it for awhile now. Check MTI Productions.
The Very Angry Woman

http://www.mtishows.com/show_home.asp?ID=000281
wicked_boy

Thanks. Believe it or not I looked on MTI, but I never noticed. Embarassed
ILoveToSing2010

rent isn't really for schools, cause its a small cast and um yea the gays.
<3Wilson<3

how sweet "the gays"
TheWitch

Yes, not the drug use or sexual content but "the gays". Lovely.
kitty17794

The gays? It's for ACTORS. Shocked How could you say such a thing?
Tovers

Wait, so CAN schools do Rent? I really hope not. And which countries are you referring to Kitty?

MTI doesn't really have much information on their site. The high school where I will be working next year wants to do Rent, and I was content in knowing that they wouldn't be able to get the rights, but now I am getting worried.
happyguava

I think a School Edition is in the works, isn't it? I read somewhere that there was a school in the US acting as the guinea pigs. I don't really like the idea of it being performed in schools. Unless it means I can be in it. Then I'm all for it Very Happy
kitty17794

Tovers wrote:
Wait, so CAN schools do Rent? I really hope not. And which countries are you referring to Kitty?


Not sure of every country that can do it, but if you look on YouTube there are several different amatuer productions up that you can watch. Very Happy
DramaRobin2002

Next November, Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania is performing one of the first student editions of Rent. They didn't go seeking the rights, they were asked to do it by producers. The same thing happened a few years back with the student edition of Les Mis before it was officially released. So I don't think that the rights are widely available to schools as of yet but should be relatively soon.
MsDivaKate

I believe its on limited release to U.S. schools, similiar to when Les Mis was first put out as a school edition. There are different trial schools and they are still reworking the exact cuts and edits to the script to make it more school appropriate, which I find kind of humerous because for most school boards you'd have to cut everything except for Seasons of Love to make it appropriate lol

I believe the first school to do it was in Wisconsin or something like that. There's info on it on Wikipedia but I'm too lazy to look it up to find out what the first school actually was.

My concern for high schools doing this show isn't the content of the show, as there are definitely mature high school students who can tackle the themes and liberal school districts that would allow and accept a performance of Rent, but the demands of the vocal score. The style and the ranges are killer on adult voices and now there are going to be high schoolers belting and screaming the crap out of it. Even the most vocally mature high schooler shouldn't be doing stuff like Rent yet. It can honestly blow your voice to sing this type of music that young. I mean even some of the original cast has had vocally issues since doing Rent. You could hear it especially in Adam Pascal's voice in the movie, though its not Rent alone that did it to him. Its his improper vocal technique in most of the shows he's been in lol
kozafluitmusique

MzDivaKate...I totally agree about being the content...it's going to be interesting...
The Tink

"Rent" in a high school setting is wrong. Any high school director who truly believes that his/her students have the ability and the talent to pull it off is someone who would not get within 100 feet from my kids. Add to it the fact that what drama department at the high school level has the time to teach an accurate representation of what that part of NYC was like in 80's... Too much. This whole idea of a school doing a show just because it's popular is an abomination of what educational theater is supposed to be.
MsDivaKate

The Tink wrote:
"Rent" in a high school setting is wrong. Any high school director who truly believes that his/her students have the ability and the talent to pull it off is someone who would not get within 100 feet from my kids. Add to it the fact that what drama department at the high school level has the time to teach an accurate representation of what that part of NYC was like in 80's... Too much. This whole idea of a school doing a show just because it's popular is an abomination of what educational theater is supposed to be.


I agree completely. However, its only the movie that actually set Rent in the '80's. Rent is meant to be performed in the here and now. Nothing ever sets a time frame on it, but its meant to be applicable to the time in which its actually being performed, ex: the mid 90's when it first opened, and now into the 2000's.

However what you said about high schoolers doing Rent are my sentiments on the subject exactly.
The Tink

[quote="MsDivaKate...but its meant to be applicable to the time in which its actually being performed, ex: the mid 90's when it first opened, and now into the 2000's. [/quote]

Actually, it's not meant to be anytime post 1999. Otherwise, the whole "at the end of the millenium" thing would be way wrong. Granted, there are MANY things way wrong with the show. Most of them in the 2nd Act. But at least the time period of the show is one that can be fixed.
MsDivaKate

You caught me on that one. It was late when I was responding and despite being in love with the show, didn't think about "What You Own" as really setting the time.

However its not meant to be the 80's as the film suggested by setting it in 1989.
theatre4life

MsDivaKate wrote:
You caught me on that one. It was late when I was responding and despite being in love with the show, didn't think about "What You Own" as really setting the time.
However its not meant to be the 80's as the film suggested by setting it in 1989.



i always figured the time setting for the show was anywhere from 1994 (when the show first opened) to 1996.
kozafluitmusique

The Tink wrote:
"Rent" in a high school setting is wrong. Any high school director who truly believes that his/her students have the ability and the talent to pull it off is someone who would not get within 100 feet from my kids. Add to it the fact that what drama department at the high school level has the time to teach an accurate representation of what that part of NYC was like in 80's... Too much. This whole idea of a school doing a show just because it's popular is an abomination of what educational theater is supposed to be.


Good point! Applause

Especially since sometimes younger children (that are in elementary/middle school) come to the shows.

Haha...that reminds me of the time that one of my friend's (who was in the ensemble) little sister (whose six) asked about something in my high school's production of "Pippin", and her/his mom said, 'you'll find out when you're older'. Very Happy
The Tink

Ms. Diva Kate...

According to you signature, you are hoping to do "Reefer Madness." Is that a current hope? And if so, where are you hoping to do it. Bad/Quirky/Bizarre musicals (ala "Starmites" and "Reefer Madness") are a secret love of mine.
DramaRobin2002

The Tink wrote:
Ms. Diva Kate...

According to you signature, you are hoping to do "Reefer Madness." Is that a current hope? And if so, where are you hoping to do it. Bad/Quirky/Bizarre musicals (ala "Starmites" and "Reefer Madness") are a secret love of mine.


Totally OT, but "Starmites" and "Reefer Madness" are also guilty pleasures of mine.
MsDivaKate

The Tink wrote:
Ms. Diva Kate...

According to you signature, you are hoping to do "Reefer Madness." Is that a current hope? And if so, where are you hoping to do it. Bad/Quirky/Bizarre musicals (ala "Starmites" and "Reefer Madness") are a secret love of mine.


Ha we're all off topic, but oh well. Its going to be through a company that a friend is getting off the ground. Its all depending on the funding and what space they can secure.

Oh and yes its current! We're hoping for this summer, but it may get pushed til next summer so we can have more funding and development.
Brock07

Back to RENT..........lol

I think if a high school would do the show, the script would have to be altered sooooo much that it would cease to be RENT. Now I have never seen Les Mes and I don't know anything about the changes (perhaps someone could clear that up?) but if you take away the theamatic material, the show would suck. As someone else said, all we would have left is Seasons of Love...

Now college theatre on the otherhand....now there's a possibility. And those kids would probably be better at portraying some of the material because its stuff that they probably would have more experience with.
MsDivaKate

Well for Les Mis the changes weren't so much for content as they were altering the keys of certain songs to be a better match for the high school voice and cutting out songs or verses of songs altogether to shorten the show to just under 3 hours long, instead of the usual nearly 3 and a half hours.

And it was I who said it would cut everything but Seasons of Love for Rent lol

I do know that if you research on wikipedia or online you can find info on the school that performed it first and perhaps it will give some insight on what cuts were made.

As for school editions, I believe they are limited so that no one in your production can be over the age of 18 or 19? At least in the Les Mis School Edition its listed as so. That would pretty much cut colleges out, since they generally consider them along the same levels as regular, adult, community and regional theatre. For colleges I would assume no cuts would really have to be made, as the voices are better trained and equipped at singing the roles and content stops being an issue as everyone involved is a legal adult.
DramaRobin2002

I know I read somewhere that most of the content cuts in Rent will be language and drug references. And I think it's safe to say that "Contact" will be gone.
OzHair

Well, I figured somebody had to add a lonely little "yes" to the original poll question. As some of you already know, we did the show back in 2005, the first amateur production in Australia.

Still trying to get my head around the concept of a school version of Rent, though. I just can't see it working somehow, unless it was taken on by a really liberal school, in order to minimize the cuts required.

Ah well, I guess you crazy Americans will give anything a try... Wink

Cheers
wicked_boy

OzHair wrote:
Well, I figured somebody had to add a lonely little "yes" to the original poll question. As some of you already know, we did the show back in 2005, the first amateur production in Australia.

Still trying to get my head around the concept of a school version of Rent, though. I just can't see it working somehow, unless it was taken on by a really liberal school, in order to minimize the cuts required.

Ah well, I guess you crazy Americans will give anything a try... Wink

Cheers


When you did it, was it a child friendly version? Or the same as the stage? (with drugs etc.)
OzHair

wicked_boy wrote:


When you did it, was it a child friendly version? Or the same as the stage? (with drugs etc.)


Ours was the full production, as we were an adult theatre group, not a school. So, yep, drugs, AIDS, swearing, all intact Smile

I played Collins, BTW. Cool

In fact, resurrecting something from an older thread, here's a link to a Behind-The-Scenes video of our production:

www.caliburnproductions.com/MdNRent.html

Cheers
theatre4life

OzHair wrote:
wicked_boy wrote:


When you did it, was it a child friendly version? Or the same as the stage? (with drugs etc.)


Ours was the full production, as we were an adult theatre group, not a school. So, yep, drugs, AIDS, swearing, all intact Smile

I played Collins, BTW. Cool

In fact, resurrecting something from an older thread, here's a link to a Behind-The-Scenes video of our production:

www.caliburnproductions.com/MdNRent.html

Cheers





will you ever be posting your clips on youtube again?
wicked_boy

Your production looked way cool!
       Musicals.Net Forums -> Rent
Page 1 of 1