The Muny’s 2023 production of Rent was a passionate and powerful celebration of life, love, and community. Check out the details in my parents guide musical review.
The Muny’s Rent has come to St. Louis, playing at The Muny from August 4 through August 10. This production of Rent was a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. It was a show that will stay with me for a long time. Whether you’ve seen the show before or it’s your first time, this production of Rent will leave you wanting more. Check out all the details in my parents guide musical review.
If you enjoyed The Muny’s Rent Parents Guide Musical Review, check out these other articles: The Muny’s Little Shop of Horrors parents guide review, The Muny’s West Side Story parents guide review, Chess musical parents guide review.
The Muny’s RENT Parents Guide
In The Muny’s RENT: Strength, revolution, survival. 1980s East Village NYC was a place of struggle and angst for impoverished artists living through the AIDS epidemic. They persevered through love and acceptance. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical taught us to measure our life in love. The Jonathan Larson rock musical that defined a generation features the iconic “Seasons of Love,” along with “Light My Candle,” “One Song Glory” and “La Vie Bohème.”
The Muny’s Rent run time: 2 hours and 45 minutes including a short intermission.
The Muny’s RENT Age Rating Parents Guide
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know in this parent’s guide and the age rating of the musical before letting their younger children watch The Muny’s Rent musical.
Language: The Muny’s Rent contains some strong language, with some profanity used. Lookout words include sh*t, a**, piss, b*tch, p*&&y, nipples, and phrases such as “g-d d*mn” and “go to hell.”
Mature Content: The musical contains adult themes surrounding homelessness, drug addiction, poverty, AIDS, and the LGBTQ+ community. The musical is set in a homeless camp (a tent city) and discusses homeless issues, even showing a character attacked on stage. Songs and dialogues discuss AIDS, death, drugs, drug addiction, drug use, the use of needles and smack, masterbation, marajuana, and more. There are scenes where a character buys drugs from another and implies sex as payment for the drugs. There are other implied sex scenes as a character straddles another. Characters discuss AIDS, the deaths of characters due to AIDS, and suicide, and there is even an AIDS support group scene in the musical. There is an entire sequence about the death of a character that can be triggering for some viewers. Characters are also shown consuming alcohol and talking about drinking beer.
Age Rating of The Muny’s Rent: The musical Rent is suggested to have a PG-13 rating by MTI (Musical Theatre International) for language, sexual references, and adult situations. It is appropriate material for ages 13 and older. The suggestion of parental guidance or an adult guardian is highly recommended for kids under 13 years old. This rating is based on the opinion of the author.
Overall Thoughts
The Muny’s 2023 production of Rent was a passionate and powerful celebration of life, love, and community. The cast was phenomenal, with each actor bringing their own unique energy and charisma to the role. Lincoln Clauss was a standout as Mark Cohen, the struggling playwright. Ashley De La Rosa was also great as Mimi Marquez, the HIV-positive dancer. And the entire ensemble was pitch-perfect, with everyone giving 110%.
The music was incredible. The songs from Rent are some of my favorites, and they were all performed beautifully in this production. The band was also great, and they really brought energy to the show. As far as choreography goes, it was simply stunning. Breon Arzell did an amazing job of creating choreography that was both energetic and emotional. The dancing was some of the best I’ve ever seen at the Muny.
The Muny’s Rent set design was simple but effective. The show was set in the East Village of New York City, and the set perfectly captured the grittiness and excitement of the neighborhood. The set and costumes were spot-on and perfectly reflected the time period and the characters’ personalities.
Rent is a show that is still relevant today. It tells the story of a group of young artists struggling to make it in New York City in the 1980s. They are all facing their own challenges, from poverty and AIDS to addiction and homelessness. But through it all, they find strength in each other and in their art. Rent is a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. It’s a show that will stay with me for a long time.
