Original Broadway Cast - Rent [Original Broadway Cast Recording]

Artist:

Original Cast

UPC:

600445000322

Description:

Music and lyrics written by Jonathan Larson.
Principal cast: Adam Pascal (Roger Davis); Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen); Jesse L. Martin (Tom Collins); Taye Diggs (Benjamin Coffin III); Fredi Walker (Joanne Jefferson); Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel Schunard); Daphne Rubin-Vega (Mimi Marquez); Idina Menzel (Maureen Johnson); Kristen Lee Kelly, Byron Utley, Gwen Stewart, Timothy Britten Parker, Gilles Chiasson, Rodney Hicks, Aiko Nakasone.
Additional personnel: Stevie Wonder.
Recorded at Sorcerer Sound and Right Track Recording, New York, New York. Includes a 36-page booklet with a plot synopsis and complete lyrics.
RENT was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
This 43-track set includes in its entirety the unlikely opera about AIDS, drugs, squatters, down-and-out artists and (of course) love that won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for drama and went on to knock Broadway off its feet at a time when the Broadway musical was widely assumed to be dead. Like the climactic love song that seems to magically rescue one of the main characters from near-death, RENT itself may well be responsible for bringing Broadway back to life.
RENT was written and composed by Jonathan Larson, who died suddenly hours after the final dress rehearsal. Larson`s music is almost seamless in the way it quilts together show-tune tradition with current pop styles, reflecting the story`s blend of a classical plot (it`s loosely based on Puccini`s opera "La Boheme") with a thoroughly modern setting. A tango, in which a man and woman compare notes on a lover they have shared, fits comfortably between an electronic dance tune with rapped vocals ("Today 4 U," sung by the play`s drag-queen hero) and a rocking entreaty to come "Out Tonight." The latter is sung by Daphne Rubin-Vega, whose coquettish pop voice and sensual presence help her stand out from a great ensemble cast.
The play`s unexpectedly optimistic message is spelled out in a breathtaking pop song called "Seasons Of Love," which leads off the second act. As a bonus, Stevie Wonder joins the cast for a reprise that puts a soaring coda of hope on this dark opera.

Track Listing:

DISC 1:

1. Rent, musical play: Tune Up #1
2. Rent, musical play: Voice Mail #1
3. Rent, musical play: Tune Up #2
4. Rent, musical play: Rent
5. Rent, musical play: You Okay Honey?
6. Rent, musical play: Tune Up #3
7. Rent, musical play: One Song Glory
8. Rent, musical play: Light My Candle
9. Rent, musical play: Voice Mail #2
10. Rent, musical play: Today 4 U
11. Rent, musical play: You`ll See
12. Rent, musical play: Tango: Maureen
13. Rent, musical play: Life Support
14. Rent, musical play: Out Tonight
15. Rent, musical play: Another Day
16. Rent, musical play: Will I?
17. Rent, musical play: On The Street
18. Rent, musical play: Santa Fe
19. Rent, musical play: I`ll Cover You
20. Rent, musical play: We`re Okay
21. Rent, musical play: Christmas Bells
22. Rent, musical play: Over The Moon
23. Rent, musical play: La Vie Boheme
24. Rent, musical play: I Should Tell You
25. Rent, musical play: La Vie Boheme B

DISC 2:

1. Rent, musical play: Seasons Of Love
2. Rent, musical play: Happy New Year
3. Rent, musical play: Voice Mail #3
4. Rent, musical play: Happy New Year B
5. Rent, musical play: Take Me Or Leave Me
6. Rent, musical play: Seasons Of Love B
7. Rent, musical play: Without You
8. Rent, musical play: Voice Mail #4
9. Rent, musical play: Contact
10. Rent, musical play: I`ll Cover You-Reprise
11. Rent, musical play: Halloween
12. Rent, musical play: Goodbye Love
13. Rent, musical play: What You Own
14. Rent, musical play: Voice Mail #5
15. Rent, musical play: Finale
16. Rent, musical play: Your Eyes
17. Rent, musical play: Finale B
18. Rent, musical play: Seasons Of Love

Album Information

Release Date:

08/27/1996

Type:

Performer

Genre:

Pop Vocal

Subgenre:

Show Vocals

Label:

Dreamworks

Catalog Number:

50003

Original Release Year:

1996

# of Discs:

2

Studio/Live:

Studio

Runtime:

126 : 16

Guest Artist:

Stevie Wonder

Portions copyright 2005 Muze Inc. All rights reserved.

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