Rent

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.