Is this the quote from her NYTimes piece on Larson that you believe reveals her bias against older musicals?
“Before Larson, I never listened to show tunes; in the past few weeks, I’ve not only listened to the new movie’s soundtrack but also the scores of “Company” and “Six.” Before Larson, I enjoyed musical theater but underestimated its depth; I now attend musicals with an open mind and, as hopelessly saccharine as it may seem, with an open heart.”
If so, I didn’t interpret it that way. My take is because “Rent” was her entry point into musical theater, it holds a special place in her heart as first loves often do. But I believe she’s very much aware that “Rent” (both the stage and film incarnations) is flawed. In another NYTimes piece called “Why ‘Rent,’ the Movie, Was My Gateway Musical,” she writes that “the fact remained, as many have noted, that he glamorized a community of people facing a virus that was far from romantic,” linking to a opinion piece offering such a critique. |
