Broadway’s Annie Revival Takes Easy Street When Casting Title Role

Will the sun come out tomorrow? Theres a great question for the Broadway community. As we all begin to look ahead to the new Fall 2012 season that is slowly creeping torwards Broadway, a bump in the road has been hit on that journey. The upcoming revival of Annie, the Broadway musical about an incredible orphan, has seemed to have taken the ‘Easy Street’ when casting its title role.

Annie is a musical that features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan. The musical is based after the hit comic strip, Little Orphan Annie, and opened on Broadway in 1977 to rave reviews. The musical follows one little girl (Annie) who lives in an orphanage as she works to find out who her real parents are. She does this with the help of a man who adopts her, Oliver ‘Daddy’ Warbucks, and his assistant Grace Farrell. Together, they work through triumph and tragedy to find out the truth behind Annie’s parents and discover love along the way. The original Broadway production opened on April 21st, 1977 and went on to run for six years at the Neil Simon Theatre (Known then as the Alvin Theatre). It received 7 Tony Awards including the triple crown, Best Original Score, Best Book and Best Musical.

The announcement of an Annie revival on Broadway came as a shock to many and left others simply wondering “Why?”. Planned for its 35th anniversary, Annie will return to Broadway as a “New” production with a revised book by Thomas Meehan and will be under new direction with James Lapine at the helm. The production will be put on at a Nederlander Theatre to be announced. However, it is expected the production will take up home in the legendary Palace Theatre come Fall 2012. After all this news had surfaced surrounding this new revival, many people were excited for what would become of Broadway’s new Annie. But one huge question remained, who would play the title role?

A coast to coast search was launched spanning multiple cities to find out who would be Broadway’s next Annie. However, after 5,000 auditions were seen, the announcement came that floored the theatre community. Broadway’s next Annie had been chosen…and she was already a Broadway kid.

Say hello to Lilla Crawford, Broadway’s New Annie. She is an eleven year old who made her Broadway debut in 2011 playing the role of Debbie in the closing cast of Billy Elliot on Broadway. She is a Los Angeles native where she has been involved with over 14 productions with the Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts. Upon hearing the news, Crawford has been quoted as saying, “Oh, my gosh, it happened! My heart just stopped. I thought it would be so cool just to be a part of Annie, but to actually be playing Annie is a dream come true!”

With the notion of a “New” Annie on Broadway and a nation wide search for the girl to play the title role, many people believed one childs dream would end up coming true from this long process. Many young girls dream of the chance to play the title role of Annie. The chance to do so on a new Broadway production is a once in a lifetime opportunity. That is why many people, including us here at Luner on Theatre, were upset to find out someone who has already been on Broadway was selected to play the title role. It seems as though not only Broadway but a nation has not only been scammed but gipped of some little girls dreams coming true as well as a chance for Broadway of epic propotions.

While many factors have to go in to the casting of such a large role for a new Broadway production, we still stand behind our notion of this somewhat scam. Yes, a child in the title role of such a large production on Broadway must have the guts to do it in the first place. Talent is obviously key and of course there is always the route of just picking a name. Broadway’s Annie could have easily just picked a well known child star to play the role. This would have been an easy way to not worry about a major casting process and avoid much drama in the end. Since Broadway’s Annie did not go this route, many expected the notion of an underdog coming out on top to help usher in the new Annie to Broadway. This is not only why but how many people became upset at the decision that ended up being made.

If producers of this show had planned on casting a Broadway kid all along, why did they go through the long process of a nation wide search for a little girl they knew they could easily access? The politics behind this are unknown but the alarm sounding that it is simply producton politics is ringing louder then ever. I think Broadway’s Annie has hurt itself making such a  decision in many ways. Not only have they offended the people who took the time to audition for this long process, many of us outsider theatre community people saw the red flags on this upon its announcement. One wonders “Really? A Broadway kid?”.

And while in the end, someone will obviously always end up getting hurt in casting, I find this a little different. Yes, not everyone will always be happy with your final casting choice. But when you manage to offend a large community, there is something that should be noted. And yes, while it would have been amazing to have some little girls dream come true, one can understand why it didn’t. That tends to happen for many people with many Broadway productions casting. However, for Broadway’s “New” Annie, it sure did seem like it was going to happen and the world was waiting.

Annie will return to Broadway come Fall 2012 in a new production never seen before. Luner on Theatre will be sure to keep you up to date on the latest Annie news surrounding casting, production news and a home for this Broadway orphan. Let us hope that the casting of its title role will not make it a ‘Hard Knock Life’ for its producers as they work today to create the Annie of ‘Tomorrow’. Check out the rest of Luner on Theatre for all your theatre news you don’t only need but want to know and more!

Is Original Musical Theatre Dying or Are We Killing It?

Original Musical Theatre. Something that appears so rarely anymore, or is that what we’re just being led to think? This is a discussion I’ve been meaning to bring up for a while now here on Luner on Theatre as it one of the most important issues that we deal with as theatre progresses in this new century. So, join the argument as Luner on Theatre goes in depth to discover the truth behind the question we pose for you today of “Is Original Musical Theatre Dying or Are We Killing It?”

Its so easy for anyone these days to say original musical theatre is dying. Its almost a second hand phrase used now a days in the theatre community. And with some good reason. After years of tacky musicals here and there with juke box musical after juke box musical, Broadway and theatre fans have declared the idea of original musical theatre dead. Something once so important to the way of life on The Great White Way. But, Is original musical theatre actually dead? I don’t think so at all. We might just be killing it off.

Original musical theatre is something that was once so important to Broadway and still is to this day, whether people think that or not. In recent years, there have been plenty of new original pieces of musical theatre on Broadway. And while some of these productions have done very well, some of them have just absolutely tanked. And interestingly enough, some of the ones tanking are the best examples of new original musical theatre. But who exactly is to blame for this? Producers? Fans? Well, its really a combination of both creating a formula that if it continues on Broadway, no one should expect new original pieces  on The Great White Way for quite some time. Today I have three examples of fantastic new pieces of original musical theatre that had their way to Broadway in the past two years, but no longer exist. Why? Come with Luner on Theatre as we take a better look into exactly why Broadway is killing off original musical theatre.

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a musical that made it’s way to Broadway in September of 2010 after a successful Off-Broadway run earlier that year. The musical features a music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and a book by Alex Timbers. It tells the story of Andrew Jackson, America’s seventh president, and about the creation of the Democratic Party in America. The musical portrays Jackson however as an emo rock star as he deals with issues of the time, most specifically the Indian Removal Act. The musical received positive reviews all around from critics even The New York Times which said “there is no show in town that more astutely reflects the state of this nation than Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”.

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson began previews on Broadway September 21st, 2010 with an official opening on October 13th, 2010. However, the production closed on Broadway January 2nd, 2011 after only 120 performances. The reason for closing according to many? Poor ticket sales.

Ticket sales are hands down one of the biggest factors in the theatre business especially in New York. It very easy for theatre-goers to resort to a classic well known musical they know they will love such as The Phantom of the Opera or Wicked as opposed to taking a chance on a smaller and more unknown production such as this one. And I know with the price of show tickets, it is harder to take a chance and just see a show for the heck of it or one you have never even heard of. However, if theatre-goers continue to not take chances and expand their Broadway experience, their Broadway experience will soon be defined by only these big blockbuster shows and smaller, newer original musical theatre will cease to exist on Broadway. Take a chance. See a show you don’t know. 

The Scottsboro Boys is a musical that found its way to Broadway in October of 2010 as well after having a successful Off-Broadway run earlier that year. The musical features a book by David Thompson with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Kander and Ebb of course being the famous American pair for writing musicals such as Chicago and Cabaret. The Scottsboro Boys is a musical based off the real life story of nine African American who were convicted of raping two women solely based on the color of their skin when it turned out the two women had made false accusations. The musical follows their lives from being arrested, through multiple jail terms and their life after which was short for many and never existed for a few.

The Scottsboro Boys began previews on Broadway October 7th, 2010 with an official opening on October 31st, 2011. However, the musical closed on December 12th, 2011 only after 29 previews and 49 performances. The reason for closing according to many? The subject material was still very sensitive to the general public which resulted in a lack of ticket sales.

Subject material is always something interesting when it comes to new musicals. And while in recent years, many original musical theatre pieces have followed cheesy concepts and story lines, many new shows are now turning to something not only solid but something that actually happened. History is slowly creeping its way into many new original productions in New York. And while that may seem boring to many, history is something that explained through theatre not only brings to life our past but teaches us the lessons we didn’t learn the first time around. Yes, the story of the nine Scottsboro boys is horrible. But how many Americans known that story? We cannot erase our past because of the mistakes we have made. We must look at these mistakes and mishaps and figure out how to never allowed them to happen again. The Scottsboro Boys is the greatest example of that in theatre and the production was never even given the chance. How can we expect people to tell the story if we try to pretend the story didn’t exist?

Bonnie & Clyde is a musical that made it’s way to Broadway in November 0f 2011. The musical features a book by Ivan Menchell with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Don Black. The musical is based off of the true life story of famous American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The musical not only follows their epic crime spree but also tells the story of their blooming love interest over time. We also get a chance to see how their actions not only affect their family and friends but the world around them.

Bonnie & Clyde began previews on Broadway November 4th, 2011 with an official opening on December 1st, 2011. However, the musical is set to close December 30th, 2011 after only 69 performances on Broadway. The reason for closing according to many? Negative reviews resulting in a lack of ticket sales. However, Producers did not even really ever give this show a chance.

There has been a huge lack of support when it comes to Producers involving new original musical theatre on Broadway. Don’t get wrong, there are plenty of producers will to bring these new shows to Broadway. However, when they get there, they aren’t giving them to time or chance to try out to the New York audience. Bonnie & Clyde officially opened on December 1st and on December 8th, producers made an executive decision to only sell tickets till the end of the month. However, the show wasn’t closing. One Week. One week is not nearly enough time to by any means assume how the production is going to do. And while yes there was close to a month of previews beforehand, ticket sales for Bonnie & Clyde on Broadway were not god awful. Producers are putting up these new shows and then ripping them right back down before anyone even has the chance to see them. I understand the producers concern when it comes to the money placed behind the production and what not. However, if a continued lack of producer support for new musicals on Broadway continues, many original productions will never see the light they deserve.

And by any means while it is so much easier said then done, producers need to take a chance. Because if you don’t take a chance on a new show, you’re only wasting your own time and money if you are not personally 100% invested in that show. If you’re going to tell the story, commit. And commit so the general public can then commit themselves to experiencing that story and giving said production a chance. Original musical theatre on Broadway is a system that has to work from two forces coming together to give a story a chance to be told. And if neither of those forces are willing to, how can we expect anyone to want to tell a story. A story that is being brought to life on stage because we should experience it. There is something in that story we as a general public should experience.

One final point to mention about all this is the fact that these musicals have received notable recognition only backing my points of them being fantastic pieces of original musical theatre. This recognition comes in the form of theatre awards and theatre awards nominations. Mentioned below are only those that pertain to Tony Awards. However, many more exist for these shows for other award organizations. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson received two Tony Awards nominations in 2011 including Best Book of a Musical. The Scottsboro Boys received a record 12 Tony Award nominations including Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score and Best Musical just to name a few. And only time will be able to tell us the 2012 Tony Award nominations and if Bonnie & Clyde receive any. But here is even more proof that these are solid pieces of original musical theatre whose time in New York has been far too short.

And while some may say that this is the business of Broadway, I would have to say I agree with you. Theatre comes and goes almost daily in New York City. However, original musical theatre that isn’t given a chance is on another level for me. Putting an end to good theatre does nothing but hurt theatre itself. A story untold is a lesson not learned. Original musical theatre can’t be expected to flourish if we are consistently chopping away at it. And thats why I challenge everyone to give original musical theatre more of a chance. Go out and see a show you have never heard of. The shows mentioned above are by no means the only pieces of original musical theatre given too short a life on Broadway. And no one problem plagues only one show. However, they are some of the strongest examples of great original musical theatre pieces on Broadway. How are we able to say that the original musical theatre art form is dying if we ourselves are mostly responsible for killing it off?

Nice Work If You Can Get It Will Be Hard Work To Keep Around

“Its nice work if you can get it and you can get it if you try” – That lyric comes from the famous Gershwin song Nice Work If You Can Get It which also happens to be the name of a new Gershwin show making it’s way to Broadway this spring. And while we are just beginning to learn the very first details of this new Gershwin Broadway musical, its already starting to look like this Nice Work If You Can Get It is going to be hard work to keep up with.

Nice Work If You Can Get It is a new musical that will feature the hit songs of George and Ira Gershwin as well as a book by Joe DiPietro. Producers of this new Broadway musical have described the production in the following description: “Billie Bendix, a tough-as-nails bootlegger who meets wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter on the weekend of his nuptials. Mayhem ensues”.

Broderick & O'Hara

A great factor working in favor of this new Broadway musical is both the cast and creative team that have been placed behind it. At the helm for the entire production is three time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall who is set to direct and choreograph this hot new production. She comes to Nice Work after her latest Broadway work, the Tony Award winning revival of Anything Goes. Our two lead stars are Broadway veterans Matthew Broderick, who will star as Jimmy Winter and Kelli O’Hara, who will star as Billie Bendix. Also, in supporting roles you have Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, Tony Award nominee Michael McGrath and Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson just to name a few.

Clearly a lot of talent has been invested into this production for it’s premiere on Broadway as the new and latest Gershwin musical. However, earlier this week Nice Work If You Can Get It released their production artwork and personally left me disappointed as it looks like Nice Work If You Can Get It is heading for that old fashion Broadway sort of feeling. Check it out below:

Nice Work If You Can Get It Logo

Nice Work If You Can Get It Artwork

The issue with Nice Work If You Can Get It is the fact that it is yet again another Gershwin musical. And don’t get me wrong, I love the Gershwins. Their music and lyrics are some of the greatest melodies unmatched by anyone else in the theatrical world. However, this show needs to find its own identity in a world of already existing productions with these same showtunes. The old fashion approach to this musical is not only the wrong direction for it but what I personally believe will be the downfall of this production in the end.

If anything, the producers of Nice Work If You Can Get It need to make old NEW again. And while that is no easy task, it can be done in today’s theatre world. A good old fashion Broadway musical that is premiering stands no chance against the modern world of musicals like The Book of Mormon, Sister Act and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert to name a few. You can see great examples of this in the many revivals that are being produced in a new fashion such as How to Succeed in Business or Promises, Promises to mention a few. However, you have to take this old fashion songs people love and dress them up in a new fashion for a new century. The music of the Gershwin’s is eternal and can be dressed up in a new fashion for all to love. I’m not saying you need LED’s, a flying system or something else over the top like that. But what I am saying is the design of this new musical needs to capture the essence of old in the style of new. This will show the difference between this musical and all other previous Gershwin musicals. The idea of a Gershwin musical is 2012 is incredible not only because of how long their music has lasted but because of the opportunity that has now been created. Modern technical aspects, the new talent of this century and a new era on Broadway are all working in the fashion of wanting this musical to succeed. Nice Work If You Can Get It cannot pass up any of these opportunities if they want to survive in New York.

The biggest fight though Nice Work If You Can Get It fights though is against previously existing Gershwin musicals, most specifically Crazy For You. Crazy For You is hands down the most famous of Gershwin musicals and to many would be considered a perfect piece of musical theatre. Truly capturing not only the essence of their music but a Broadway musical, Crazy For You has tapped its way into people’s hearts across the nation since it premiered on Broadway in 1992. With tap dancing, big company numbers and a fantastic love story – Crazy For You scores in all categories. This is now something this new Gershwin musical has to live up to. Many people I fear will easily compare this upcoming production to this other perfect Gershwin musical we all already know to exist. This is just yet another reason why producers of this musical have to make Nice Work If You Can Get It Broadway’s old fashioned musical in the newest fashion.

What do you think? Should Nice Work If You Can Get It go for an old fashioned Broadway approach? Or would you like to see this old fashioned musical born in a new century? Tell us what you think!

And who knows, maybe I could be entirely wrong. This production could absolutely be headed in this new direction and we could simply have no idea from the artwork and logo released from the producers. And trust me, I understand that main point of this article was me saying make old new again. Despite how many times I found myself mentioning that point, I think it is truly the most important for this production. However, producers should make smart and wise choices while launching this new musical in New York. With the talent placed behind this production both on and off the stage, I only hope to see Nice Work If You Can Get It succeed in New York. However, old choices in a modern world will make the nice work if you can get it hard work to keep around. Luner on Theatre will continue to bring you all the Broadway news you need to know about Nice Work If You Can Get It and more as it’s Broadway debut approaches.

Disney’s Destiny: Pixar Productions?

The name Disney & Pixar are just simply names that go together anymore. Something like peanut butter and jelly or Ying and Yang. However, while each company is well known in its own perspective, the pair is probably best known for their work together on movies over the past decade. Beginning in 1995 with Toy Story, the two companies have since to date produced 12 movies together. But this blog post is not about movies. Yesterday, I did a blog post about Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo: The Musical. A truly fantastic piece of theatre I think more people deserve to know about. However, I bet you also didn’t know that there is a Toy Story: The Musical. But thinking about both of these productions recently got me thinking on a much larger scale the question of, Is Disney’s Theatrical Destiny in Pixar Productions?

Let’s cover a little history first before we dive into this question. Disney & Pixar began their partnership in 1995 with their first movie together Toy Story. In 1998, the two produced A Bugs Life and in 1999 followed with a much anticipated sequel Toy Story 2. The new century brought many new films to the pair beginning with Monsters Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003 and The Incredibles in 2004. Beginning in 2006, Disney & Pixar managed to produce film after film each year with Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008, Up in 2009, Toy Story 3 in 2010 and Cars 2 in 2011. Wow! Talk about some Epic history.

Recently, a few Disney & Pixar films have been converted into stage musicals. The two so far that have been converted, Finding Nemo & Toy Story, have both received positive reactions from both the business and entertainment side of things. And this is where I began thinking. While Disney has announced many of their new productions in the works (Click Here to Check Out Future Disney Productions) Could Disney’s Theatrical Destiny lay in Pixar Productions?

Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo: The Musical

Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo: The Musical first came about in the beginning of 2006 when it was rumored to be replacing Tarzan Rocks! at Disney’s Theatre in the Wild. The production was confirmed a few months later and the exciting announcement came that Tony Award Winning Composer Robert Lopez ( Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon) and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez would write new songs for the stage production. The production would “combine puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops”. Tony Award Winning director  Peter Brosius with Michael Curry, who is a puppet designer, signed on for the production as well. Curry, who created all the puppets used in the Tony Award Winning production The Lion King, was designated as lead puppet and production designer.

The production runs about 40 minutes and is performed five times a day. Lopez took direct inspiration from the movie for some of the songs such as “In the Big Blue World”, “Fish Are Friends, Not Food”,“Just Keep Swimming” and “Go With the Flow”. However, there are many original songs in the show such as “Not My Dad” or “Where’s My Dad/We Swim Together”  that fit perfectly into the production and seem like they have always been there.

If you want to check out more of my thoughts on Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo: The Musical, click here to check out my previous article on it.

Disney & Pixar’s Toy Story: The Musical

Now heres another piece of theatre you should know about! Disney & Pixar’s Toy Story: The Musical came about in 2008 when Disney decided it would replace Hercules: The Muse-lcal on Disney’s Cruise Line The Disney Wonder. After a year of workshops and pre-production on the show, it opened officially in April of 2008 in The Walt Disney Theatre aboard The Disney Wonder. The production was directed by LA director  Stefan Novinski with Warren Adams choreographing the production. David O came aboard (Ha!) to help with the music direction and arranging for the production while Mindi Dickstein, a New York City playwright best known for penning the book and lyrics for Little Women: The Musical, wrote the book.

The 55 minute production includes many songs inspired directly from the movie such as “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”, “To Infinity and Beyond” and “The Claw”. There are also many original songs such as “One Toy”, “Thats Why We’re Here” and “Make A Little Noise”. Its difficult to find individual song clips online form Toy Story: The Musical, but you can search the production to view it in its entire form if you’d like.

You can also click here to check out a Behind the Scenes look into how Disney & Pixar executed their idea of Toy Story: The Musical.

Disney & Pixar Future Productions?

While I can’t be the one to exactly say which Disney & Pixar film would be the next to transfer into a stage musical, I can say that the two companies have quite a lot of options. And thats all most definitely for one important reason. While many musicals are adapted form movies, many a times this does not work out. Bad story plots and a lack of development in characters leads to a worse translation on stage then it did in the movie. This is because all you have on stage is the actor. Yes, lights are on, set pieces are moving but this is it. There is no “Cut! Let’s try that again guys”. Live theatre is the human nature at its rawest form. And a production can not thrive or be executed properly or most importantly tell the story unless there is a good story to tell. And thats where Disney & Pixar has their gold mine.

Every single Disney & Pixar production has a great story to tell. Even Disney & Pixar’s worst fim (Whichever that may be for you) is still an excellent film with an excellent story. This means that most of these stories could amount into incredible stage productions. Imagine the costumes of Monster Inc, the story behind Up, the technology that could be in WALL-E or the daring adventure of Toy Story 3. All Disney & Pixar films have the potential because their creators started out with one of the most essential pieces, a story.

Another incredible idea to think about is the technology and investment Disney & Pixar would be putting into each of these productions. You can see the photos above from both Finding Nemo & Toy Story and some of the technical effects for these productions are mind blowing. Nemo’s puppetry to Toy Story’s life like costumes, the technology invested into these production would be so incredible it’d be literally bringing these movies to life on stage.

Whil Disney Theatricals has already charted their course for their future productions, Disney may want to take a look into this potential option.While these may not be Broadway musicals they are creating here, Disney & Pixar does have the ability to create some truly fantastic regional and family pieces of theatre. Which Disney & Pixar movie do you think would do best if it was to be brought to life in a stage musical? Or question is, What Disney & Pixar production would you like to see become a stage musical? Tell Us! Before you know it, Disney & Pixar may be working their magic on their lastest creation yet which might just happen to be your favorite! Now thats what I call Magic!

 

RENT Revival; Rightful Return or Ridiculous Repeat?

Heated from the title of this article alone? I figured I would be offending at least half of you by the title of this article alone. So whether you’re heated or not, here we go with a new hot controversial blog post by Luner on Theatre as we take on one of most legendary productions in Broadway history. After a historic 12 year run on Broadway, RENT returns this summer to Off-Broadway’s New World Stages. However, is this production of RENT a Rightful Return or Ridiculous Repeat?

RENT began Off-Broadway in 1993 when it had its first reading at the New York Theatre Workshop. It was workshopped again in 1994 multiple times at the New York Theatre Workshop and finally opened there on January 25th, 1996. The production was hailed as a “landmark rock opera” and was also considered “hope for the future of the American musical”. It continued to sell out the 150 seat theatre it had at the New York Theatre Workshop so it moved uptown to Broadway as it became very clear to producers, something was different about this show.

RENT moved to The Nederlander Theatre on 41st street and opened there on April 26th, 1996. The original cast included Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia,Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker. The production scored in every single aspect. Hitting the right note with the critics and scoring the word of mouth popularity from the New York crowd, RENT was up and running. The production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1996 and scored 4 of them including Best Musical. However, did anyone in 1996 realize the revolution that was about take place?

The musical scored big with the generation. One critic said RENT spoke to Generation X as Hair did to the baby boomers. People known as RENT-Heads who were die hard fans of the show were all around and all about the production. RENT ran for 12 years on Broadway to become the 9th longest running show in Broadway history. The production closed on September 7th, 2008 after performing 5,124 performances and grossing over $280 million dollars.

RENT RETURNS: CLICK HERE

Less then 3 years after one of the most legendary productions in Broadway history closed, RENT will return to Off-Broadway. Producers Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum and Allan S. Gordon announced earlier this year that the ground breaking production would return to Off-Broadway this summer. But is this all really appropriate? In a world filled obsessions and doing things that work well, is RENT’s return rightful in the sense that it belongs in the New York theatre scene or ridiculous in the sense that the same production that conquered Broadway for 12 years will simply return? So, lets take both sides of the arguement.

RENT, for the millionth time, is a ground breaking production. It changed the New York theatre scene forever and brought to life ideas people had never before decide to challenge in musical theatre. The production has an overwhelming amount of fans and followers that are beyond excited to hear this news of its return. however, there are also plenty of RENT-heads that are looking at this newly aimed revival and asking “Why?”. However, some do feel as though RENT should have never closed in the first place and belongs a permanent place on Broadway like such other legendary productions such as Les Miserables or The Phantom of the Opera.

The production will feature a creative team including Michael Greif directing the piece, Larry Keigwin choreographing, Tim Weil as music supervisor, Mark Wendland set designing, Angela Wendt costume designing, Kevin Adams designing lights, Brian Ronan sound desiging and Telsey + Company in charge of casting. Hint: Do you see an issue in the creative team?

Michael Greif, who is set to direct the production, was also the original director of RENT off and on Broadway back in early 90′s. The question worth asking now is, Will Greif simply repeat his work form the original production due to unbelievable success?  No one can truly say. However, once the production launches people will be able to tell what Greif has done to the production since its last stint on Broadway.

Some are saying however that the major difference of this production will deal with what occurred back in 1996. Jonathan Larson passed away the day before opening night of RENT Off-Broadway. Many of the choices and future decisions made about RENT were picked how people believed he would have wanted things. Some are saying now that this production will be different considering that will not have to take into effect his death as much considering it is now a decade after it has occurred. However, is that technically right? While it the directors call on how the show is envisioned and executed artistically, shouldn’t one stay true to the playwright? This question will come into effect once critics see if any lines, songs or music has been changed which one might assume could happen.

I also feel like this will become a much more heated topic if the production is to move back to Broadway. The production is currently set for an open run at New World Stages so the chance of RENT returning to Broadway is a possibility. In a world filled with Broadway shows consistently opening and closing, there are quite a number of free theatre’s and I’m sure that number will only goes up as the awards season comes to a close. Luner on Theatre would like to clarify we do not hope that theatre’s will become empty as time goes on, just simply a saying.

However, the real question is, WHAT DO YOU THINK!? Is RENT a rightful return or a ridiculos repeat? We are beyond interested to see what you think about the return to Off-Broadway one of the most influential American musicals of all time! And do you think RENT will return to Broadway? And if so, is that right or wrong? What do you think about this RENT chaos?! Tell us!

Luner on Theatre will keep you up to date on all the latest RENT news and gossip about this controversial return to Off-Broadway. Don’t forget to tell Luner on Theatre what you think! We’d love to hear all sides of this question we have proposed. RENT is set to return to Off-Broadway at New World Stages beginning July 14th, 2011 with an official opening set for August 11th, 2011. For more information, visit the New World Stages Official Website.

Larson at RENT - New York Theatre Workshop