via CGG

For those of you CGG readers who miss Rent, the Broadway, rock opera sensation, don't fret! Though Rent left the Broadway stage on September 7th of last year, the final performance is available on DVD today!

Last night, CGG sat down with the final cast of Rentat the Life Café in NYC, where they gathered to promote the release of Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway. That's right Rent-heads, you can now watch the actual final performance in your living room. La vie boheme!

Rent has been on Broadway for 12 years and has won just about every award possible. It is a blast to dance to AND it highlights important issues like hate crimes, gay rights, racial discrimination, AIDS, and the pressures of being young and in poverty.

"How we gonna pay last years RENT?!" We find young people asking this same question today. This show continues to speak to young people, especially now that we are in the middle of an economic crisis. The show's most famous song "Season's of Love" tells us we have 525,600 minutes in a year—that number also represents about the number of jobs lost in December 2008 alone. The rate of unemployment for young people is approximately 20% percent, the highest since September 1992 when Rent was being created.

CGG got to sit down with Adam Kantor who plays Mark in the final cast. Adam is a young and ambitious artist living in New York City like the characters of Rent. He made his Broadway debut playing the quirky filmmaker Mark Cohen in the last cast of Rent. Adam also started his own charity work during the recession. "It was sort of scary," Adam admits, but is glad that he took the risk.

Rent has been associated with causes like the HIV/AIDS crisis and drug addiction since the beginning. These are issues that were prevalent to its creator Jonathan Larson who wanted to write about contemporary issues pertaining to the young people like himself. The continued success of the show and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids keep his message alive.

Today, Adam is taking Broadway's fight against HIV/AIDS into his own hands and across the globe. This young star just got back from South Africa where he has been working with his new charity, "Broadway in South Africa." "We take Broadway performers to South Africa to work with children who have no opportunity for an arts education." They also do benefit performances to raise money for the children. Broadway in South Africa has worked in association with other charities as well like Alicia Keys' Keep a Child Alive.

While sad to be done with the show, many of the members of the cast expressed how excited they are to see where the show goes. Because it is off Broadway, it can now go into schools. Young people can present it in their own vision and can teach each other about what is happening with Aids and the economy etc. You can raise awareness about these issues AND rock out on stage! What could be better?

There is some controversy with this new film. Some people are not so keen about a Broadway show being made into a film. What do you think about filming a musical? Comment below!