Larson suggested setting the play "amid poverty, homelessness, spunky gay life, drag queens and punk" in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, which happened to be down the street from his Greenwich Village apartment. In 1988, playwright Billy Aronson wanted to create "a musical based on Puccini's La Bohème, in which the luscious splendor of Puccini's world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern New York." In 1989, Jonathan Larson, a 29-year-old composer, began collaborating with Aronson on this project, and the two composed together "Santa Fe", "Splatter" (later re-worked into the song "Rent"), and "I Should Tell You". In 2005, it was adapted into a motion picture featuring six of the eight principal cast members from the 1996 stage premiere. The success of the show led to several national tours and numerous foreign productions. The production grossed over $280 million. The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008, after 12 years, making it one of the longest-running shows on Broadway. On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical moved to Broadway's larger Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996. The show's creator, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly of an aortic dissection, believed to have been caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, the night before the off-Broadway premiere. This same off-Broadway theatre was also the musical's initial home following its official Januopening. The musical was first seen in a workshop production at New York Theatre Workshop in 1993. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The musical is loosely based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, which in turn is based on the 1851 novel Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri Murger. Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical.Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.An expert mix of the personal and the political, it’s a bit Jonathan Coe’s Middle England, a bit Kingsley Amis’s The Old Devil’s for a later generation. ‘Roger Sander’s debut novel is a fascinating chronicle of those chaotic times just before the first lockdown. Joanne Owen, editorial expert and reviewer at LoveReading Namely, the friendship between the group of men who lie at the novel’s heart. Men of a certain age will undoubtedly relate to the themes and relationships explored in this honest character-driven novel that has page-turning pace and plenty of heart and humour.’ At the same time, Ted’s Café takes in change of a personal nature - retirement, and later-life lust and love - alongside things that never change. ‘Roger Sanders’ Ted’s Café might be summarised in two words – “All change!” It’s a politically charged debut that will chime with Britons who experienced the Brexit referendum, especially remainers who mourn the loss of EU membership. Jonathan Coe, Costa award-winning author of Middle England ‘I read Roger Sander’s book earlier this year. They talk about the past, are bewildered by the present and unsure of the future in unprecedented times of change and upheaval.Ĭan David find love again when he discovers his wife has been keeping a secret that could end their marriage? Will he learn to be happy in retirement and make sense of an uncertain post-Brexit future with coronavirus on the horizon? Reviews He reflects on the special relationship he has with his friends. Ted’s Cafe is the only place left open the men visited in their youth a cafe founded by a Greek Cypriot and his son, who fled post-referendum, and now run by Jasiek and Danka, a Polish couple not sure of their future in a polarised Britain.ĭavid’s story follows post-work life with more upheavals and surprises than he expected. Picked as LoveReading’s October 2022 Book Club Recommendation!ĭavid Tanner, ex-journalist born at the fag end of the baby boomer years, and mates, Alan, Eric and Charlie, dissect the news at Ted’s Cafe. ‘Post-Brexit-referendum Britain, male friendship, and later-life romance – this highly readable debut explores sweeping personal and political change.’ – Joanne Owen, editorial expert at LoveReading It’s warm, funny and well-observed.’ – Jonathan Coe, (Costa award-winning author of Middle England)
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