Playbill from the 1997 concert at the Nederlander, the Broadway home of RENT. The concert—a benefit for New York Theatre Workshop—featured Jonathan Larson's unsung songs.
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This is a non-canon article.
This article covers subjects that are not part of the main RENT canon, but are still relevant to the show and it's development. |
The first New York Theatre Workshop production was a developmental workshop presentation of RENT that was staged at the not-for-profit theatre company in the East Village of New York City. Jonathan and his friends visited the theatre while it was being renovated and knew it was the perfect home for the musical, so they dropped off the script which the artistic staff of the theatre reviewed and agreed to produce. The 1994 workshop was an early version of the musical which would continue development at New York Theatre Workshop for two years before the world premiere Off-Broadway production in 1996 which transferred directly to Broadway.
In 1994, RENT featured songs that never made it to the final version, such as "You're A Fool", "Voice Mail #4", "He's A Fool", "Open Road", the predecessor of "What You Own"; "He Says", "On The Street #1-3", "You'll Get Over It", the predecessor of "Tango: Maureen," featuring Mark and Maureen; "Right Brain", later rewritten as "One Song Glory", featuring Roger; "Do A Little Business", the predecessor of "You'll See," featuring Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins, and Angel; "Female to Female A & B," featuring Maureen and Joanne; and "Real Estate", a number wherein Benny tries to convince Mark to become a real estate agent and drop his filmmaking.
This developmental workshop of RENT starred Anthony Rapp as Mark and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Mimi, both of whom would later be part of the Off-Broadway and Original Broadway Cast. Larson continued to work on RENT, rewriting songs and lyrics and revising characters over the course of more developmental workshops at New York Theatre Workshop.
Cast[]
| Developmental Workshop Cast at New York Theatre Workshop | |
|---|---|
| Character | Actor |
| Mark Cohen | Anthony Rapp |
| Roger Davis | Tony Hoylen |
| Mimi Marquez | Daphne Rubin-Vega |
| Tom Collins | Pat Briggs |
| Angel Dumott Schunard | Mark Setlock |
| Maureen Johnson | Sarah Knowlton |
| Joanne Jefferson | Shelley Dickenson |
| Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III | Michael Potts |
Songs[]
| Act I | |
|---|---|
| Song | Sung by |
| Voice Mail #1 | Mark, Roger, Dave, Mark's Mom, Benny |
| Rent | Mark and Roger |
| You Okay Honey? | Angel, Collins, Maureen, Joanne |
| Rent #2 | Roger, Mark |
| You're A Fool | Mark, Roger, Collins, Angel |
| Do a Little Business | Benny, Mark, Collins, Angel |
| Female to Female | Maureen, Joanne |
| Come to the Meeting | Mark, Angel, Collins, Roger |
| Right Brain | Roger |
| Light My Candle | Roger and Mimi |
| On The Street | Homeless |
| Voice Mail #2 | Maureen, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson, Joanne |
| Female to Female B | Maureen, Joanne |
| Another Day | Roger and Mimi |
| On the Street #2 | Company |
| Santa Fe | Angel, Collins, Mark |
| I'll Cover You | Mark, Collins and Angel |
| You'll Get Over It | Maureen and Mark |
| Christmas Bells | Company |
| Over the Moon | Maureen |
| La Vie Boheme | Company |
| AZT Break | Collins, Angel, Maureen, Joanne, Roger, Mimi |
| I Should Tell You | Roger and Mimi |
| Act II | |
| Song | Sung by |
| Voice Mail #3 | Benny and Secretary |
| Seasons of Love | Company |
| Out Tonight | Mimi, Maureen, Angel, Joanne |
| Seasons of Love B | Company |
| Voice Mail #4 | Maureen |
| Without You | Maureen and Joanne |
| Voice Mail #5 | Collins, Angel |
| Contact | Company |
| I'll Cover You B | Collins and Company |
| Goodbye Love | Mimi, Roger, Benny, Maureen, Joanne, Mark |
| Real Estate | Mark, Benny, Alison |
| Open Road | Roger |
| Voice Mail #6 | Roger's Mom, Mimi's Mom, Joanne's Dad, Mark's Mom |
| On the Street #3 | Homeless |
| Rent #3 | Roger and Mark |
| Finale | Company |
Trivia[]
- In this version Maureen was HIV+.
- Many of the songs featured were either cut or rewritten for the Off-Broadway production and subsequent Broadway transfer of RENT.