Measure your life in love…

I saw RENT last night at the Keller Auditorium, and was lucky enough to see two of the original cast members, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, reprise their roles in the current tour. Suffice it to say that every element of the production was fantastic. RENT follows a group of friends living in the East Village during the late 1980s as they struggle with AIDS, poverty, love and – as the title suggests - paying their rent. Throughout the show they champion the plight of the homeless, make up and break up, all while fearing the death sentence that an AIDS diagnosis guaranteed at that time. It would figure then that the show is completely life-affirming, as characters plead with the audience that all anyone really has is today, this moment, and the only way to measure your life is in love. It is beyond poetic irony that the creator of RENT died unexpectedly of an aneurysm shortly before his opus became a worldwide phenomenon, only confirming that you can never count on a tomorrow, so you might as well seize every moment you have. The music is heartbreaking, rousing, poetic and powerful, and each cast member impressed me with outstanding vocal range and provocative, emotional delivery. RENT only plays through Sunday, but I can’t stress enough how much you should see it for yourself. After all, who really knows what tomorrow holds?