by Bruce McCabe
Charlotte.com
July 28, 1999

"Rent" contains adult language and themes. That's the advisory that greets those buying tickets for the musical that opened this week at the Belk Theater.

But what does that mean? And is it appropriate to take your children to see it? My friends who know I've seen the show in New York have been asking me those questions since advertisements for "Rent" began to appear in Charlotte.

I actually saw the show twice in New York: the first time alone, the next with my husband and then-14-year-old son. I took my child to see it while knowing exactly what those adult themes were. I would recommend the show to any teen-ager, though not to a child younger than that.

In "Rent," there are people in love and people who argue and hurt each other. There are men in love with men and women in love with women. They sometimes show that love with an embrace or a kiss. There are people who use drugs. There are people with AIDS.

There is also music and celebration, and there are performers with more energy than I've ever seen on a stage.

My son loved it. He bought the sound track the minute we returned home, and I think he knows most of the words by heart. That's no small feat, considering the show is mostly sung.

He wasn't shocked by anything he saw, I don't think. He doesn't know many people like those in the show, but he recognizes them as human beings.

And the show does not glamorize the bad choices the characters make. That's plain to anyone seeing the show. There are consequences for promiscuity and drug use. People get sick and die. And characters find that happiness comes with trust and commitment, no matter where they live or whom they love.

That's not a bad lesson for a teen-ager.