by Stephanie Shea
Daily Bruin
January 24, 1999

Two boys glared at each other with fierce intensity.

"I'll fucking bash your head into the pavement. I'll bash you into a coma," Brandon threatened. His opponent just stood his ground.

"Um, bashing people's head into a coma is not exactly in the spirit of the show," a girl nervously pleaded.

No, this is not next week's "Dawson's Creek" preview, but instead is an episode that some "Rent" fans remember as "The Run." The event took place during the August 11th "Rent" rush line of last year when a boy wearing a "Rent" t-shirt threatened to disrupt the legitimacy of the unofficial list.

For the uninitiated, to rush for a show means to camp out -- often a day before -- to buy tickets the day of the show. In the case of "Rent," the front row seats are reserved for rush ticket holders at $20 a seat.

The first person to wait in line starts a list of names and number of tickets desired until the number of reserved seats are accounted for. Each person is allowed to purchase up to two tickets. This is known as "the list." Depending on the theater, the list is either official proof to who is entitled to a rush ticket or meaningless. But even when theaters do not honor the list, one is started.

Fans usually respect an unofficial list's power, and things run smoothly. However, once in a while a troublemaker will arrive and threaten to make a run for the box office when the tickets go on sale, discrediting those who have been patiently waiting and creating a chaotic free-for-all.

This is what happened on the 11th as approximately 20 people made a mad dash for the box office with sleeping bags, snacks and knapsacks trailing behind them. After the dust settled, the lucky ones sighed in relief, and the unlucky ones grumbled as they turned away. But such drama and passion has grown to go hand in hand with die hard "Rent" fans, sometimes called "Rentheads," "Rentrats," "Rentaholics" or as a couple of ex-Bruins editors prefer "squatters."

But there is something unique about these "Rent" fanatics. It is not just their unrelenting enthusiasm or willingness to sleep on hard, cold concrete. They return again and again to see the show, and when the production leaves their town, they fly or drive across states to follow their favorite casts.

"Jonathan Larson, whatever he did, really hit home with a lot of young people," says Kamilah Martin, who plays Joanne. "They're just so excited so they keep coming back and back. You're seeing the same people in the front row all the time. You're like, 'Weren't you here like the last five shows?'

Seventeen year-old Tina Olson has seen the show 70 times and followed various casts to Tempe, New York, Toronto, Detroit, Cinncinati and Palm Desert, just to name a few. She explains that repeat performances of "Rent" are not repetitive.

"First of all, live theater is never the same because it's always different," Olson says. "Someone always sings something a different way. When I first saw it over and over again, it was because I noticed something different every single time. And now that I've seen it so much it's not necessarily that as it is I want to see how different actors portray the roles. Now, I'm still getting things that I missed when I first saw it though."

However, non-Rentheads sometimes just can't comprehend the fans' fervor. Carol May, a 24 year-old administrative assistant and student who has seen the show 28 times, is familiar with their reactions.

"They don't understand at all," May says of her non "Rent" friends. "They think I'm completely insane for travelling to see it, and they pretty much want to know why, but it gets them interested in seeing the show. But they still don't get it. I just kind of smile and nod and go about my business."

When asked why they like the show so much, fans undoubtably attribute the message. The musical promotes a positive, inspirational "no day but today" mantra. It also imparts social messages as it salutes "people living with, not dying, from disease."

"I had seen other fluff pieces like 'Phantom' and 'Cats,'" May explains. "They were fun, but they didn't mean anything. Then I saw 'Rent,' and it was just kind of life-affirming. It was about acceptance and loving your fellow man. That's kind of how it touched me."

Daphne Rubin-Vega, the original Mimi says that she feels that prior to "Rent" young people had not really identified with musical theater for a long time. She says, "I never did. But I did identify with 'Rent.' There was something about it that was touching to me, and I think it speaks to the freak in everybody - anyone who feels somewhat freakish, to the queerness in all of us.

"That oddity in us often sparks individuality and creativity - our personality," she continues. "Instead of being a detriment, it's an asset. And that was what was most fun about being in the show and playing this very extreme kind of character because you can really celebrate the freak in you. I don't think anybody really likes 'Rent' that doesn't somehow identify with aberration."

And the "Rent" fans have openly accepted their uniqueness. Most fans go to the stage door after the performances to chat with cast members. Martin says fan encounters can be both flattering or frightening depending on the fan.

"They're really supportive and it's really cool to have people in those front two rows just screaming their lungs out. It's cool to see them mouthing the words," Martin says. "But sometimes it can get a little crazy if they're screaming too much and you can't hear what's going on. It's just like 'Oh my God. Be quiet.'

"As far as when they come backstage they're just people who are just excited about it," Martin continues. "And a lot of people just want to be in the business or want to be in the show and they're just like 'Oh my God. You're so cool because you're in the show.' And you're like, 'Not really.'"

Martin says that there was an incident once where a girl wrote a letter about having a rare disease and needing very risky surgery. The cast came together and supported and prayed for her. She came and saw the show before her surgery and later was supposedly in a coma for two weeks. However, afterwards they discovered that the story had been fabricated.

"She kept coming to the show and standing in the corner and just looking at us all and she would never say anything after all that happened," Martin remembers. "It was just really freaky to be around. It's just weird because we like to take the time to sign autographs and be nice to people. If they have questions about the show or about the business or whatever we take the time to do that. Sometimes when this happens it kind of makes you not want to do that."

On the other hand Rubin-Vega says that the fan experience has never been frightening for her. She says that it has always been flattering and at times perplexing.

Likewise, some fans are worried about coming across as stalkers. Olson, who always goes to the stage door afterwards, admits that it has been a concern of hers.

"I don't want people to be frightened of me," she says. "I do it because I love the show. I would like to talk to (the actors). I think they're wonderful performers and probably really great people, but I don't want them to think that I'm stalking them."

The relationship between fan and object of affection is delicate and complicated, but is not the crux of the Renthead experience. In fact, relationships among the fans themselves seem to be more important. The endless hours of waiting provide a strong basis for getting to know one another. Ideal rush experiences include playing games and sharing stories. But bad experiences can also serve to bond fans.

Two days ago, Rentheads who were rushing for the run's first preview performance were complaining. "It was raining," bemoans Jinae Kang, who arrived for Wednesday night's show on Tuesday at 7 pm. "We got kicked off the premises. We had to hide at the hotel for a while. We had to split up. Some people slept in their car. We had to go around the building and sleep on the concrete floor. We had to take no blankets, nothing. It was raining. We waited in the gym and it was freezing. We all had coughs this morning and we're sick."

Despite the laments as it neared 6 pm, Kang and the other friends she's met in line are getting excited about being able to buy tickets. They agree that seeing original Broadway cast member Rubin-Vega will be worth all they've endured. Further down the line, other fans are whispering about the various cast member sightings that they've witnessed throughout the day. One girl is giving others free eyebrow pluckings and a young boy runs up the escalator proudly displaying two mysteriously-obtained "Rent" posters. Indeed to some, the last line of the opening number rings true, "Everything is Rent!"