A History and Assessment of Jonathan Larson's Rent

Abstract

This project, a graduate research thesis, intends to provide information and analysis of Jonathan Larson’s 1996 musical Rent. It covers the life and works of Jonathan Larson, the production history of Rent, Rent’s 1896 operatic predecessor La Bohème, and the environmental context in which Rent was created. Additionally it analyzes the artistic merits of Larson’s Rent through the use of Aristotle’s Poetics. The purpose of this thesis is to provide contextual information for future productions of Rent, as well as an argument for Rent’s continued production and significance to theatrical history.