There are many ways to measure time: “in daylights, in sunsets,
in midnights, in cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter
and in strife.”

Jonathan Larson believed the best way to measure time was in
love. Larson’s Broadway smash Rent comes to the Fox Theatre
for four shows this weekend, opening Friday night at 8 and closing
with Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinee. The show made history in its first
year on Broadway in 1996 by sweeping the Tony Awards and winning
the Pulitzer Prize, a feat never accomplished before by a
musical.

Rent is a brilliant production that does not tell a
unique story. An unusual cast of characters tells a story everyone
knows–facing challenges but finding love, living for today but
hoping for the promise of tomorrow. Rent is the story of
young people living in New York City, struggling to get by. Mark is
a filmmaker who recently was dumped by his performance artist
girlfriend Maureen for a Harvard Law School graduate, Joanne.
Mark’s best friend Roger, a songwriter, hasn’t left his apartment
in six months after his girlfriend died of AIDS. Maureen is staging
a protest because Benny, a former friend of Mark and Roger, is
evicting homeless people from his apartment building. Benny offers
Mark free rent if he can stop the protest.

Along the way, Roger meets a nightclub dancer named Mimi, and
the two are instantly attracted to each other, but Roger refuses to
let himself be close to Mimi. Tom Collins and Angel, two men living
with HIV and AIDS, show Roger that the most important thing in life
is love.

Each character struggles throughout the year. Mark documents the
trials with his camera, ultimately learning lessons of life, love
and acceptance.

Tickets are available through MetroTix or by calling the Fox
Theatre box office. A limited number of orchestra seats are
available for $20 (cash only, limit two) two hours before the show
at the box office. Regular priced tickets are available for
$30-$60.