I Should Tell You: A Rent Rant
Still, I had plenty of reasons to like this Columbus guy (who admittedly knows his way around warm and fuzzy flicks like Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom and the Harry Potter series) in the past month or so. After all, he didn't shun the notion of using the original Broadway company, ultimately hiring six of them to recreate their roles for the big screen. And I'd also heard that he was a Rent-head himself, having seen the show several times and really wanting to keep its integrity in check for the film.
But then Columbus had to ruin my impressions of him by opening his big mouth! In a recent chat with Fred Topel, the "Action-Adventure Movies" expert on About.com (Does Rent qualify as such a project?), the director made not one, not two, but a handful of alarming statments about the project.
Some alarming facts:
1. He's Adding to the Plot: Columbus revealed in the interview that he's adding a subplot to the story involving gay marriage. I don't see how a viable gay marriage plot can be inserted in a mid-90s story, which brings up the more troubling question of whether or not he's going to try to set Rent in the present day. I assume he's going to marry off Angel and Tom Collins, [IMG:L]but then again, Maureen and Joanne are the longer-running gay couple in the show so that's an option as well. Of course, I believe that these couples deserve to marry, but I don't believe that any such plot belongs in Rent. Why? Well, Jonathan Larson's musical isn't political at all, and the sexuality of its characters is never discussed or debated. They simply are what they are—living lives where they can be “an us for once instead of a them,” to quote the Act One rouser “La Vie Boheme.” To have them debate why they can or can't get married will take away from the real issues of their lives—issues like AIDS, homelessness and loss.
3. He's Trying to Prove He's “Down” With It: Columbus also shared that he understands the bohemian existence of the Rent characters because he once “lived in a loft with mice” where he had to throw the key down to let people in the front door a la Roger and Mark in the show. “I knew those guys,” he said. “I lived in that kind of world, so I'm just going to bring that to the movie.” No mention, of course, about living with drug addicts, AIDS patients and drag queens. Hey—I'm not saying that he even has to be from that world. But why is he trying to say he is?
[PAGEBREAK]4. He Thinks It's About "Being Different": I felt like Columbus may have mixed up Rent with a more recent Idina Menzel vehicle when I read the following passage about his teenage daughter's feelings on the material: “She said, ‘This movie could speak to everyone about not fitting in. You're in high school and you feel like you're on the outside of the group a little bit and you're not really this Abercrombie and Fitch kind of person. It speaks to all of my friends.'" "That's why it's important," Columbus commented. "The way the country is leaning these days in terms of gay marriages and not having tolerance for people that are different.” Am I wrong in saying that [IMG:R]there's nothing in Rent about not fitting in? Don't all of the characters fit beautifully into the non-traditional family that they've created together? There aren't even any “normal” antagonists in Rent to counteract them--even former friend Benny is still a bohemian at heart and very much understanding of the characters' differences. If Columbus wants to make a movie musical about fitting in, I think Wicked (with all of its Harry Potter trappings) would be an ideal project for him (retaining Menzel, of course!).
5. He's Only Kept Some of the Original Cast: In response to an Entertainment Weekly piece deeming the original cast members that he hired too old for the characters, Columbus hemmed and hawed a bit. He started by saying that they all still look like they're in their 20s. Then he immediately added that Tom Collins can be older so Jesse L. Martin is ideal even if he doesn't ooze “twentysomething.” He admitted that he hadn't met with Martin and Taye Diggs, but knew their television work on Law & Order and Kevin Hill, respectively. He mentioned meeting with both Menzel (Maureen) and Adam Pascal (Roger), but said nothing about Anthony Rapp, who is playing Mark—perhaps his memories of working with a teenage Rapp on his first film, 1987's Adventures in Babysitting, burned bright enough for him to just offer him the role. I'm puzzled as to his quote about “not going with Frenchie” for the role of Joanne; does he think that Frenchie Davis created the part or is he simply mixing up “Frenchie” with “Fredi” (Walker)? Columbus stated that he wanted to bring back (most of) the originals because of the experience they all had originally with Larson's death and the show's enormous success, saying that he “wanted to capture that emotion on film.” Bravo [IMG:L]to that but where the heck is Daphne Rubin-Vega? Columbus incorrectly stated that Rubin-Vega is currently seven months pregnant (instead, she's due any day—and would surely be in fighting shape by the time filming starts in March), as if that were reason enough to not use her. Look, I don't know where Rubin-Vega stands in all of this—for all I know, she didn't want to slip back into the Mimi stilettos—but Rent without Rubin-Vega is a sad thing. This talented mom-to-be was the heart and soul of Rent and, as the only female original workshop cast members to make it to Broadway, would surely be Larson's first choice for celluloid immortality.
Look, don't get me wrong--I'm thrilled for the Broadway stars who are getting the chance to bring Rent to life again. And I know I'll be first in line to see the finished product when it hits theaters next year. And maybe we'll all be surprised by Columbus' work on the film. If he can only keep his mouth shut!
Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night! Talk to you next time. Please e-mail me any of your questions, comments or critiques!
Paul Wontorek
After tomorrow's feast, you may want to sit down in front of the TV and turn on PBS, where Charlene Gilbert's documentary Children Will Listen is premiering. This hourlong film is an entertaining and ultimately touching look at a large group of inner city elementary school kids who put on a production of Into the Woods Jr. as part of 2002's Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Narrated by Bernadette Peters, the original Witch in the Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, Gilbert follows the production from early classroom discussions about costumes and sets through auditions and rehearsals, ending with the actual production and a post-show meeting with Sondheim ("I guess the cow," he said when the students asked which was his favorite character). Along the way, Gilbert steps into the homes of the kids, meeting lovable would-be stars like the two girls alternating in the role of the Witch, sweet little Meghan Washington and the more outspoken Jamir Foster, who are both shocked to learn they have to share the part. In the end, they're both terrific, just like this very special film. Children Will Listen airs locally in New York City on Channel 13 on Thursday at 8pm and Sunday at noon. Check it out.
Editor-in-Chief
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