Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Good musicals
Likes: Rent, modern Broadway
Dislikes: How many people are unable to even see history's best Broadway casts
Hates: The cost of a Broadway show

The Movie
If my experience with Rent was an internet meme, most fans of the show would say it's "You're Doing It Wrong." After listening to the CDs, I then watched Chris Columbus' film and never saw it live on Broadway. Of course, my experience is similar to that of the vast majority of the people, a result of an art form that can only be experienced in one city in America (Touring companies don't count. Sorry.) I never saw Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in The Producers, nor did I experience Hairspray on stage. Sure, on my part it's a lack of interest in taking the hour or so train ride to New York City and paying the prices of Broadway, but for many people, there's simply no access to Broadway.

When I was a kid, the local library had a selection of Broadway shows available on VHS, and I watched most of them, but it never became a big market it seems, even after GoodTimes managed to work out deals to produce shows on DVD, like Jekyll & Hyde, with David Hasselhoff. You can get a handful of performances on disc, like Cats, Sweeney Todd and other less notable shows, but the truly desirable shows with their most memorable casts live on only in the memories of those who saw them live. (Even though I was there, what I wouldn't do for a DVD of the original cast of Avenue Q...) Thus, this DVD of Rent, capturing the final performance of the show on Broadway, is a step in the right direction of archiving great theater for those who can't see it in person.

For those who don't know the show, Rent follows a group of artistic friends eking out a bohemian existence in NY, squatting in an abandoned building and dealing with their individual personal issues, be it struggling with concerns about selling out, coping with AIDS or facing down doomed romance. It's a lot about being who you are, living according to your ideals and living for both love and today. What made it really stand out when it opened in 1996 (and still stand out today) was the music by Jonathan Larson, which married influences from rock and other contemporary music genres to the traditional style of Broadway song and dance, while peppering in the attitude and humor of youth culture. It worked before with Hair and did so even better telling the tale of Mark Cohen and his ragtag band of survivors, with incredibly catchy and powerful songs like "One Song Glory," "Light My Candle," "Out Tonight," "La Vie Boheme" and the show's signature hit, "Seasons of Love." That the show had the ready-made tragically mythic backstory of Larson dying the night before the show's premiere made it all the more poignant to fans.

After a healthy 12 year run, good for 7th longest in Broadway history, the show came to an end on September 7, 2008, and the cameras captured it in high-definition from every angle (supplementing the final show with material captured in an earlier, less emotionally-wrought performance.) Though it's hard to capture the scale of the stage when you aren't filming from the seats you would occupy in the theater, the DVD does a good job of presenting the play with a healthy dose of energy, not just sitting back and watching. I wonder what it was like in the audience when some of the shots were grabbed from over the shoulders of a character, but it definitely made for a better presentation, a more movie-like feel, than most of the Broadway on film I've seen, though the inclusion of a 10-minute intermission (where the camera just sat facing the stage) felt like a bit of documentary excess.

As good a job as the crew did in captureing the show, it doesn't feel like you're in a theater, no matte how much you crank your speakers, since you're being told where to look, instead of experiencing the show. In that regard, this limited live presentation can't stand up to the limited film adaptation, which could capture every angle and scene just so, as well as sporting the majority of the original Broadway cast, which, sorry, is just far better than the cast here. (The less said about anyone trying to fill Jesse L. Martin's incredibly talented shoes, the better.) Though actors like newcomer Adam Kantor as Mark, Will Chase as Roger and Justin Johnston as Angel (not to mention the fantastic Eden Espinosa as Maureen) all do a fine job of carrying the torch from Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Wilson Heredia and Idina Menzel, respectively, it's like watching a really good cover band. Why not watch the real thing instead?

The DVD
A one-disc release, this DVD is packed in a standard keepcase with a holofoil slipcover. The disc has a animated, anamorphic widescreen menu with options to watch the show, select scenes, adjust languages and check out the extras. The scene selection menu is a disappointment though, as it doesn't offer access to individual songs, nor does it give you song names at all, with just stills to pick from. There are no audio options, though subtitles are available in English and French, along with closed captioning.

The Quality
The anamorphic widescreen transfer looks fantastic, capturing the stage crisply, with excellent color and a high level of fine detail (check out when Maureen moons Benny and enjoy the view.) The only issue with the capture on HD video is the fact that it looks like video, which feels almost artificial in this setting, somewhat killing the effect of the show's unique lighting set-up in spots. There are no issues with noise or digital artifacts though, making for a quality look overall.

If there's one guaranteed sign of audio problems, it's if I need to adjust the volume multiple times during the DVD's run-time, which was what I needed to do with this disc. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track sets up the appropriate "You are there" sound field, putting you in the audience, so the side and rear speakers frequently are filled with applause, along with the bold wave of music during the many numbers, while the singing tended to stay up front, which is exactly the right choice to make in this setting. But despite everyone wearing headsets, there were several points where the audio seemed too low from one voice to the next, which took me out of the moment.

The Extras
There's a nice amount of bonus material on this DVD, starting with a 37-minute featurette "Rent: The Final Days on Broadway," which documents... the final days on Broadway, capturing the emotion of a long-running show coming to a close. The piece gets to look behind the scenes of the show, with interviews with the cast and crew, including two of the original performers, Rodney Hicks and Gwen Stewart, sharing some good info, including how the theater was set up for filming. You also get to see what goes on during the actual show, hearing from the cast in the moment.

The final curtain call gets its own eight-minute spotlight in "The Final Curtain Call," which looks at the return of the original cast to take the stage with the final cast for the last performance of "Seasons of Love." The camera hangs out with the performers as they wait for the end of the show, and sing along to "No Day But Today" from the side of the stage. It's a grand piece of nostalgia for long-time fans and a clear illustration of the bonds created by the show.

The final two featurettes are focused on the fans of the show, kicking off with the six-minute "The Wall," a look at the memorial at the theater, where fans, including celebrities like Gary Sinese and Molly Ringwald, left signatures and messages as a tribute to the show. It's followed by the nine-minute "The Final Lottery," which covers the last drawing for the $20 front-row seats for Rent. Again, this is really about the emotion created by the end of the musical's run, which you can see by the massive turn-out of fans in front of the theater.

Wrapping things up is a PSA on Marfan's Syndrome, the illness blamed for Larson's death, along with a collection of six trailers. Though Sony never includes the trailer for the movie you're watching, why they didn't include the great preview for the movie version of Rent makes no sense.

The Bottom Line
Rent features some great songs and a good story, but it really should be seen on a stage, unless you want to watch the movie, which is preferable to this presentation, an unfortunate reality of the art form. The DVD looks good, but has issues with sound, while the extras are a welcome supplement to the show, without repeating what's on the movie's special edition. Fans of the show will welcome a chance to revisit a now-gone favorite, even if there were certainly better casts. If you're a newcomer though, the movie adaptation does a better job of capturing the energy and emotion of the play.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.