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| BBC News September 12, 1999 |
The show, which won rave reviews and scooped three prestigious Olivier Award nominations, will end its 18-month London run on October 30. The gritty tale of young New Yorkers dealing with the grim realities of life and love, Rent broke box office records when in debuted at the Shaftesbury Theatre. The show proved to be the venue's biggest hit, grossing £262,000 for the theatre in just one week.
Rent originally opened in New York in 1996 and its popularity soon earned it a transfer to one of the city's famous Broadway stages, taking £150m in its first two years. Audiences waited months for tickets for the sell-out hit, which racked up four Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama Loosely based on Puccini's opera La Boheme, the show hit London in May 1998, with many of the original US cast joining the production. The BBC's media correspondent Nick Higham predicted that the musical might not enjoy the same level of interest it provoked across the Atlantic. "[For British youth] Rent may prove too sentimental, even mawkish - while for the coach trade on which most long-running musicals depend - it may be too uncompromising, not to say too noisy."
There has been growing criticism of the number musicals which are monopolising London's theatres, denying audiences access to drama. Rent, whose current cast includes former EastEnder Des Coleman, will end on the same day as West End veteran Miss Saigon. Miss Saigon has been playing for a decade - in which time it has become British theatre's third most profiatble musical after Cats and Les Miserables. Recently interest in the show has waned, with audiences falling to only 60% of the Theatre Royal's seating capacity. Rent
continues to play to packed house in New York.The show is also touring the United States
and a new production is set to open ion Osaka, Japan. |
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