Best production of RENT you've seen?

[aces25]

What's your favourite production you've seen? 

[TotallyEffed]

For me, RENT is like A Chorus Line. I’m sure many directors could reimagine it in beautiful ways, but I adore the original staging and design so much. The costumes are iconic.

[uncageg]

Ouside of the original, I absolutely loved the off-Broadway revival.

I really liked the set. For me it gave a bit more of a sense of place physically nit yet still jad that open feel that the original set had.

Loved all of the performances also and it was nice to see a lot of them move on to do the shows they have done since.

It was also nice to experience it in a smaller theater.

[BwayLB]

The only production I've seen is the 20th anniversary tour

[FosseTharp]

Hands down, Cromer’s production at ATC in Chicago.

[steven22]

The original. Hands downs.

[CollegeDreamer]

The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle did a production a few years ago, while different, I have to say I preferred it to year one of the 20th Anniversary tour. Out Tonight was AMAZING, I still remember it to this day.

Montage: https://youtu.be/LNQgfNOCuBQ

[haterobics]

OBC.

[Mister Matt]

So far, nothing has topped the original cast in the original Broadway production.  Towards the end of its run, many cast members started playing around and turning it into an ego-driven circus with the Rentheads in the front rows at the audience behaving like it was .  It wasn't until the live filming that it started getting back on track again.

[haterobics]

Mister Matt said: "It wasn't until thelive filming that it started getting back on track again."

It closed after the live filming?

[thirtythirtyninety]

I was fortunate to see the OBC in May 1996, pre-Tonys, at the Nederlander.

In the years since I’ve seen the show all over the country, but it’s really hard to imagine anything topping that original experience.  It was truly transcendent for me.

[mailhandler777]

The non equity tour back in 2007-2008 is my favorite production.

[Withonelook2]

Saw it on Broadway but not with OBC. Hated it.
Saw it several years ago at Tulane Summer Lyrc theater in New Orleans & loved it!

[Mister Matt]

It closed after the live filming?

Are you asking me?  If it was the final performance, the it was back on track for that, I guess.  For several years before, it started turning into a hot mess, which was a real shame.

[denali.fire]

I saw this via a lottery ticket the night before it opened. Can't beat that and the original cast.

[dmwnc1959]

BwayLB said: "The only production I've seen is the 20th anniversary tour"

Seeing this in six weeks. Very excited! Unfortunately it’s playing at the cavernous Heinz Hall, same place I saw “Fun Home” and “Dirty Dancing”, but those shows held up well there so I’m sure “Rent” won’t get swallowed up either. Good thing I have front row balcony seats.  

[Christopher P Groves]

I saw the touring around 2006 and it was good, but the 20th Anniversary cast was great.  

[Alex172005]

I’ve only ever seen the one recorded on broadway, and the 20th anniversary tour, and oh boy the tour was so great. Nothing against the recorded cast, but the one I saw on tour was great.

[thejcm]

I've never seen anything outside of the tours of the original production so I would have to say that the best of those (to me) was the 2003 non-equity cast. It may have been because it was the height of my obsession with the show but it was during a time when the fanbase seemed to collectively agree that the Broadway production had gone a little stale with a lot of career Rent actors rotating in and out, and the non-equity production had recently reopened with a cast of energetic unknowns. The cast included a pre-Idol Constantie Maroulis as Roger, Rebecca (Pre-Naomi) Jones as Joanne (and the Mimi u/s), and later on Aaron Tveit (but I can't remember if he came along with the group that started in the 2004 cast). Again, I fully admit the nostalgia-goggles are firmly fixed to my face but not even seeing Anthony and Adam in their original roles matched that cast for me.

For perspective, I saw 3 different casts with that non-equity tour (The Collins Tour) in 2003, 2004, and 2006 (I think) in addition to the Broadway Tour with Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, and Gwen Stewart reprising their OBC roles, and the 20th Anniversary Tour when it opened in Lexington last year.

[lucas_glenn]

haterobics said: "Mister Matt said: "It wasn't until thelive filming that it started getting back on track again."

It closed after the live filming?"

It was filmed twice, once on the actual closing date and once on August 20, 2008. Then the two films were mashed together. 

[dmwnc1959]

lucas_glenn said: "It was filmed twice, once on the actual closing date and once on August 20, 2008. Then the two filmswere mashed together."

After listening to the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for the past week and trying to understand why this was sounding more like a rock musical I looked it up and YouTube and found this film. RENT is nothing, nothing what I imagined it to be. And it’s much more than a rock musical - more like a rock opera, I guess? Almost no talking except for the narration by Mark and minors bits here and there.

I’m going to have to watch it a couple more times before going up to Pittsburgh in two weeks to see the 20th Anniversary Tour. This will take some getting use to compared to the more traditional Broadway shows I’ve seen which had changing sets and a broad mix of extensive dialogue mixed in with the musical numbers.