QuaranTune #26: "Finale B" from Rent

A show tune a day keeps the quarantine blues at bay...

The current pandemic undoubtedly bares tragic similarities with the AIDS epidemic that ravaged the States from the mid-80s to the mid-90s, in terms of its sheer scale and the overwhelming images coming from our hospitals. One of the most defining musicals born of that crisis is, of couse, Jonathan Larson's much loved Rent.

Winner of four 1996 Tony Awards (including 'Best Musical'), Rent created an extremely loyal fan base and enjoyed a lengthy run of over 5,000 performances at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre from April 1996 through September 2008.

Today's #QuaranTune is a tribute to our fearless frontline workers featuring former Rent cast members from around the world. The virtual gathering includes original Broadway cast members Daphne Rubin-Vega, Fredi Walker-Browne and Tony Award winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia, as well as "Pose" star Mj Rodriguez, who played Angel in the 2011 Off-Broadway revival at New World Stages, and a whole host of talented Rent alumni.

Here's "Finale B" for all the carers and all the Rentheads out there in quarantine...

And here's the final Broadway cast from 2008 performing the number at the Nederlander Theatre...

There's only us. There's only this. Forget regret or life is yours to miss.
(Mimi & Roger, Rent)

^{(Photo by Joan Marcus)}