Is "Rent" Past Due? How Broadway Is Rebooting "No Day But Today"
"Kimberly Akimbo" and "The Outsiders" bring the '90s anthem into the 2020s
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Shalom, Broadway lovers!
In today’s MARQUEE: The Broadway Maven’s Weekly Blast: A) an essay about the ways the ethos of Rent is being transformed in 21st century shows; B) a Broadway Blast about Annie; C) a Broadway Maven video in which Mateo (at his piano) connects Wicked with a musical feature of a Sondheim show; and D) a Last Blast about Mamma Mia!.
ESSAY: When Rent opened in 1996, it felt like a cultural earthquake. It brought AIDS, poverty, queerness, and chosen family to the center of Broadway and set it to a rock score that promised immediacy and truth. Its mantra—“No day but today”—was more than a lyric. It was a worldview.
For many, the original cast album became a generational anthem, pulsing with urgency and defiance. But now that “today” refers to the 2020s, the phrase can feel more like a time capsule than a rallying cry. Rent, once revolutionary, now feels frozen in its era. And for Generation Z, the gap is even wider. Their parents may have adored Rent, but Gen Z has grown up under a different set of pressures: economic instability, political disillusionment, climate anxiety, and the lingering trauma of a pandemic. They don’t need to be told life is short—they live that reality. What they’re looking for is clarity on how to live meaningfully in the face of it.
That’s where the two most recent Tony-winning musicals—Kimberly Akimbo (2023) and The Outsiders (2024)—step in. These shows don’t just repeat Rent’s message. They refine it. They strip away the bohemian haze and inject the idea of seizing the day with more urgency, more action, and less romanticism.
In Kimberly Akimbo, the protagonist is a teenage girl with a rare disease that causes her to age rapidly. Time is literally running out. And yet Kimberly isn’t portrayed as a tragic figure—she’s sharp, funny, and increasingly determined not to let her life pass unclaimed. In the song “Better,” her scheming Aunt Debra shouts what might as well be a new Broadway motto: “Grab life by the balls.” It’s crass, it’s blunt, and it’s exactly the point. This is Rent’s “No day but today,” reframed with 2020s boldness. Where Rent sometimes flirts with inertia, Kimberly Akimbo demands movement.
The Outsiders, meanwhile, takes a quieter but equally potent approach. Adapted from the classic S.E. Hinton novel, the show follows Ponyboy Curtis and his gang as they navigate grief, class division, and the loss of innocence. Its emotional heart beats through the song “Stay Gold,” a gentle but powerful anthem urging Ponyboy to hold on to fleeting beauty before it disappears. The message isn’t just poetic—it’s personal. Ponyboy doesn’t dream of tomorrow; he holds tight to what’s in front of him. The show’s urgency isn’t loud—it’s elegiac. But it lands just as hard.
Which brings us back to Rent, and to Angel—the most beloved character in the show, and also the one who quietly subverts its message. In “Today 4 U,” Angel sings, “Today for you, tomorrow for me.” It’s cheerful. It’s generous. And it contradicts Rent’s core philosophy. Angel gives everything in the present—money, music, love—on the assumption that tomorrow will be a moment for personal joy. But tomorrow never comes. The character who gives the most never takes anything for themself.
And in that contrast, Rent’s ethos begins to unravel. It’s not that Rent is no longer meaningful—it is. But it’s rooted in a very specific vision of rebellion, one that often ends in artistic or emotional stasis. Kimberly Akimbo and The Outsiders show us what it looks like when characters don’t just survive the moment—they act within it. They push. They adapt. They refuse to wait for life to happen.
In a way, these two newer musicals reflect something closer to our, well, better angels—not just morally, but existentially. They don’t preach about today; they live in it, flawed and uncertain, but fully awake. For Gen Z, that’s the message that sticks.
“No day but today” still matters. But in 2025, it’s being delivered by characters who don’t just believe in now—they’re fighting to make now count.
BROADWAY BLAST: In Annie, “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” is an odd song—a seeming combination of comedy (scrappy kids shouting their complaints to a catchy beat) and tragedy (“’Steada kisses we get kicked,” “empty belly life”). The key to understanding the number, though, is the quiet lyric “No tomorrow life!”, which lays the emotional groundwork for the show’s most famous song, “Tomorrow.” That line doesn’t just express the orphans’ frustration—it defines the worldview they’ve had no choice but to, well, adopt: a total lack of faith in the future. And that’s what makes Annie’s anthem “Tomorrow” hit so hard. It’s not just a hopeful tune—it’s a response. Annie doesn’t sing it because she’s naive or lucky; she sings it because she’s different. The show’s first three songs set up its central tension with clarity: “Maybe” dreams, “Hard-Knock Life” deflects, but “Tomorrow” insists. Annie places them side by side so we can hear just how rare—and how brave—Annie’s optimism really is.
BROADWAY MAVEN YouTube GEM: Did Stephen Schwartz tip his hat to Stephen Sondheim in his score for Wicked? There's a moment in which an Elphaba-related chord echoes the iconic "Witch's Rap" chord from Into the Woods. In this short video, Broadway Maven co-host music educator Mateo Chavez Lewis takes a close look to explore which witch is which.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Applications are now open for the Spring 2025 Broadway Maven Scholars program for full-time students ages 16-26. The curriculum involves an in-depth look at Broadway history and structure, with intense exploration of both the musical and the lyrical side of song construction. Students will participate in discussions, presentations, and a final project, making a video that will appear in MARQUEE. Those who complete the program (for which there's no application fee) get $500, four invitations to Broadway shows, and a certificate of achievement. Perfect for the theater kids and budding scholars in your life. Apply at the button below.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm based in the U.S. through the end of 2025 and available for in-person talks across North America—perfect for congregations, schools, and community groups looking to bring Broadway to life. My most popular sessions include:
"Savoring Broadway,"
"Introduction to Stephen Sondheim," and
"Beyond Fiddler: Five Other Landmark Jewish Broadway Shows."
If you're planning an event and want to add something thoughtful, fun, and full of show tunes, reach out at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.
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• Monday, March 31 9 am ET (note early start time) Juilliard Prof. Edward Barnes on Rodgers & Hammerstein (Members only)
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• Monday, April 7 Noon and 7 pm ET Dear Evan Hansen with Mateo Chavez Lewis (FREE, Register here)
• April 8-19 PASSOVER VACATION
• Sunday, April 20 Noon and 7 pm ET Trivia Parties (Members only)
• Monday, April 21 Noon ET Time capsule: September 1925 with David Armstrong (Members only)
• Tuesday, April 22 Noon ET Assassins with Gail Leondar-Wright
• Monday, April 28 Noon and 7 pm ET The Wizard of Oz (Members only)
LAST BLAST: In Mamma Mia!, Donna isn't just another character who decides to start over—instead she takes something old and makes it new again. She revisits lost love, rediscovers her own passions, and realizes that age doesn’t close the door on romance. But that’s exactly what the show itself does with ABBA’s music. These songs, once tied to youthful heartbreak and disco anthems, are repurposed into something deeper—"The Winner Takes It All" isn’t just about a breakup, it’s about decades of regret; "Dancing Queen" isn’t just about fun, it’s about reclaiming joy at any age. Donna doesn’t get a new life—she gets a new way to see the one she already has. And neither does Mamma Mia!—it just proves that some things only get richer with time.
The Broadway Maven is a vibrant educational community that helps its members think more deeply about musical theater. Every month, members may attend 5-15 expert-led classes and innovative Broadway experiences, all for just $18. We also foster enthusiasm for Broadway through the FREE weekly Substack newsletter MARQUEE and host an expansive YouTube channel. It's your home for Broadway appreciation. Contact The Broadway Maven at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.
This is a great review, and an exciting way to make Rent hit hard again, in an age when other dangers and heartbreaks than AIDS have arisen. Thanks for this.