document_title: Rent (musical)

question_text: who played mimi in the original broadway cast of rent

question_tokens: who played mimi in the original broadway cast of rent

text: Rent (musical)

text: Concept and genesis[edit]

text: 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."[6] 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". 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. He also came up with the show's ultimate title (a decision that Aronson was unhappy with, at least until Larson pointed out that "rent" also means torn apart). In 1991, he asked Aronson if he could use Aronson's original concept and make Rent his own. Larson had ambitious expectations for Rent; his ultimate dream was to write a rock opera "to bring musical theater to the MTV generation."[7] Aronson and Larson made an agreement that if the show went to Broadway, Aronson would share in the proceeds and be given credit for "original concept & additional lyrics".[7]

text: Jonathan Larson focused on composing Rent in the early 1990s, waiting tables at the Moondance Diner to support himself. Over the course of years, Larson wrote hundreds of songs and made many drastic changes to the show, which in its final incarnation contained 42 songs. In the fall of 1992, Larson approached James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop, with a tape and copy of Rent's script. When Rent had its first staged reading at New York Theatre Workshop in March 1993, it became evident that, despite its very promising material and moving musical numbers, many structural problems needed to be addressed, including its cumbersome length and overly complex plot.[7]

text: As of 1994, the New York Theatre Workshop version of Rent featured songs that never made it to the final version, such as:

text:
"You're a Fool"
"Do a Little Business", the predecessor of "You'll See", featuring Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins and Angel
"Female to Female A & B", featuring Maureen and Joanne
"He's a Fool"
"He Says"
"Right Brain", later rewritten as "One Song Glory", featuring Roger
"You'll Get Over It", the predecessor of "Tango: Maureen", featuring Mark and Maureen
"Real Estate", a number wherein Benny tries to convince Mark to become a real estate agent and drop his filmmaking
"Open Road", the predecessor of "What You Own", with a backing track similar to this in "Your Eyes"

text: This workshop version of Rent starred Anthony Rapp as Mark and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Mimi. Larson continued to work on Rent, gradually reworking its flaws and staging more workshop productions.[8]

text: On January 24, 1996, after the musical's final dress rehearsal before its off-Broadway opening, Larson had his first (and only) newspaper interview with music critic Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times, attracted by the coincidence that the show was debuting exactly 100 years after Puccini's opera. Larson would not live to see Rent's success; he died from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm (believed to have resulted from Marfan syndrome) in the early morning of January 25, 1996. Friends and family gathered at the New York Theatre Workshop, and the first preview of Rent became a sing-through of the musical in Larson's memory.[7][9]

text: The show premiered as planned and quickly gained popularity fueled by enthusiastic reviews and the recent death of its composer. It proved extremely successful during its off-Broadway run, selling out all its shows at the 150-seat New York Theater Workshop.[2] Due to such overwhelming popularity and a need for a larger theater, Rent moved to Broadway's recently remodeled Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street on April 29, 1996.[2]

text: Sources and inspiration[edit]

text: Larson's inspiration for Rent's content came from several different sources. Many of the characters and plot elements are drawn directly from Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème, the world premiere of which was in 1896, a century before Rent's premiere.[10] La Bohème was also about the lives of poor young artists. Tuberculosis, the plague of Puccini's opera, is replaced by HIV/AIDS in Rent; 1800s Paris is replaced by New York's East Village in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The names and identities of Rent's characters also heavily reflect Puccini's original characters, though they are not all direct adaptations. For example, Joanne in Rent represents the character of Alcindoro in Bohème, but is also partially based on Marcello. Also, Joanne is the only Rent character whose predecessor in La Bohème is the opposite sex.

text:
La Bohème
Rent

Mimì, a seamstress with tuberculosis
Mimi Márquez, an erotic dancer with HIV and Roger's girlfriend

Rodolfo, a poet
Roger Davis, a songwriter-musician who is HIV positive and Mimi's boyfriend

Marcello, a painter
Mark Cohen, an independent Jewish-American filmmaker and Roger's roommate

Musetta, a singer
Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist and Joanne's girlfriend

Schaunard, a musician
Angel Dumott Schunard, a drag queen percussionist with AIDS, who is Collins' partner.

Colline, a philosopher
Tom Collins, a gay, part-time philosophy professor at New York University and anarchist with AIDS and Angel's partner

Alcindoro, a state counselor
Joanne Jefferson, a lesbian lawyer, who is Maureen's girlfriend (Also partially based on Marcello)

Benoît, their landlord
Benjamin 'Benny' Coffin III, the local landlord and a former roommate of Roger, Mark, Collins, and Maureen

text: Other examples of parallels between Larson's and Puccini's work include Larson's song "Light My Candle", which draws melodic content directly from "Che gelida manina";[11] "Quando me'n vo'" ("Musetta's Waltz"), a melody taken directly from Puccini's opera; and "Goodbye Love", a long, painful piece that reflects a confrontation and parting between characters in both Puccini's and Larson's work.[12] "Quando me'n vo'" is paralleled in the first verse of "Take Me or Leave Me," when Maureen describes the way people stare when she walks in the street. It is also directly referred to in the scene where the characters are celebrating their bohemian life. Mark says, "Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song..." Roger plays a quick piece, and Mark adds, "...that doesn't remind us of 'Musetta's Waltz'." This part of "Musetta's Waltz" is also later used in "Your Eyes", a song Roger writes.

text: Rent is also a somewhat autobiographical work, as Larson incorporated many elements of his life into his show. Larson lived in New York for many years as a starving artist with an uncertain future. He sacrificed a life of stability for his art, and shared many of the same hopes and fears as his characters. Like his characters he endured poor living conditions, and some of these conditions (e.g. illegal wood-burning stove, bathtub in the middle of his kitchen, broken buzzer [his guests had to call from the pay phone across the street and he would throw down the keys, as in "Rent"]) made their way into the play.[13] Part of the motivation behind the storyline in which Maureen leaves Mark for a woman (Joanne) is based on the fact that Larson's own girlfriend left him for a woman. The Mark Cohen character is based on Larson's friends, cinematographer and producer Jonathan Burkhart and documentary filmmaker Eddie Rosenstein.

text: Playwright Sarah Schulman alleged that Rent bore striking similarities to her novel People in Trouble.[14]

text: The line, "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be... and more of a woman than you'll ever get!", attributed to Angel Dumott Schunard at her funeral, was previously used by the character Hollywood Montrose, who appeared in the films Mannequin (1987) and Mannequin Two: On the Move (1991). Like Angel, Hollywood performs a song and dance number and sometimes wears women's clothing. This line was originally in the film Car Wash (1976), delivered by Antonio Fargas as a flamboyant homosexual cross dresser.

text: The earliest concepts of the characters differ largely from the finished products. Everyone except Mark had AIDS, including Maureen and Joanne; Maureen was a serious, angry character who played off Oedipus in her performance piece instead of Hey Diddle Diddle; Mark was, at one point, a painter instead of a filmmaker; Roger was named Ralph and wrote musical plays; Angel was a jazz philosopher, while Collins was a street performer; Angel and Collins were both originally described as Caucasian; and Benny had a somewhat enlarged role in the story, taking part in songs like "Real Estate", which was later cut.[15]

text: Many actual locations and events are included in, or are the inspiration for, elements of the musical. Life Café, where the "La Vie Bohème" numbers are set, was an actual restaurant (closed 2013) on 10th Street and Avenue B in the East Village of New York City.[16][17] The riot at the end of the first act is based on the East Village riot in 1988 that arose as a result of the city-imposed curfew in Tompkins Square Park.[17]

text: "Will I?", a song which takes place during a Life Support meeting and expresses the pain and fear of living a life with AIDS, was inspired by a real event. Larson attended a meeting of Friends in Deed, an organization that helps people deal with illness and grief, much like Life Support. After that first time, Larson attended the meetings regularly. During one meeting, a man stood up and said that he was not afraid of dying. He did say, however, that there was one thing of which he was afraid: Would he lose his dignity? From this question stemmed the first line of this song. The people present at the Life Support meeting in the show, such as Gordon, Ali and Pam, carry the names of Larson's friends who died. In the Broadway show, the names of the characters in that particular scene (they introduce themselves) were changed nightly to honor the friends of the cast members who were living with or have died from AIDS.[18]

text: The scene and song "Life Support" were also based on Friends in Deed, as well as on Gordon, Pam, and Ali. Originally, the members of Life Support had a solid block of the "forget regret" refrain, and they talked about remembering love. When Jonathan's HIV positive friends heard this scene, they told him that having AIDS was not so easy to accept: it made you angry and resentful too, and the song did not match that. Jonathan then added a part where Gordon says that he has a problem with this "credo...my T-cells are low, I regret that news, okay?" Paul, the leader of the meeting, replies, "Okay...but, Gordon, how do you feel today?" Gordon admits that he is feeling the best that he has felt all year. Paul asks, "Then why choose fear?" Gordon says, "I'm a New Yorker. Fear's my life."

text: Lynn Thomson law suit[edit]

text: Lynn Thomson was a dramaturg who was hired by New York Theatre Workshop to help rework Rent. She claimed that between early May and the end of October 1995, she and Larson co-wrote a "new version" of the musical. She sued the Larson estate for $40 million USD and sought 16% of the show's royalties, claiming she had written a significant portion of the lyrics and the libretto of the "new version" of Rent.

text: During the trial, Thomson could not recall the lyrics to the songs that she allegedly wrote, nor the structures of the libretto she claimed to have created. The judge ruled against her and gave the Jonathan Larson Estate full credit and right to Rent. A federal appellate court upheld the original ruling on appeal. In August 1998, the case was settled out of court. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[19]

text: Synopsis[edit]

text: Act I[edit]

text: On Christmas Eve in Manhattan's East Village, two roommates—Mark, a filmmaker, and Roger, a rock musician—struggle to stay warm and produce their art ("Tune Up #1"). Mark's mother leaves him a voicemail wishing him a merry Christmas and trying to comfort him since his ex-girlfriend Maureen dumped him ("Voice Mail #1"). Their friend Collins, a gay anarchist Ivy League tutor, calls and plans to surprise them at their apartment, but is mugged before entering. At the same time, Mark and Roger's former roommate Benny, who has since become their harsh new landlord, has reneged on an earlier agreement and now demands last year's rent, before shutting down their electrical power ("Tune Up #2"). However, Mark and Roger rebel and pledge to not pay the rent they were promised wouldn't be a problem ("Rent"). Meanwhile, a cross-dressing street drummer (currently out of drag) named Angel finds Collins wounded in an alley and tends to him ("You Okay Honey?"). The two are immediately attracted to each other, and learn that they are both HIV positive. Roger also has HIV which he contracted from his last girlfriend, who committed suicide, causing Roger to fall into a deep depression. Mark goes looking for Collins ("Tune Up #3"), while Roger wishes to write one last song to be remembered by before he dies ("One Song Glory"). An exotic dancer, junkie, and neighbor, Mimi, shows up to flirt with Roger, but he is clearly hesitant to start a new relationship ("Light My Candle"). Meanwhile, Joanne, a lawyer and Maureen's girlfriend, receives a voicemail from her parents ("Voice Mail #2").

text: At last, the missing Collins enters the apartment, presenting Angel, who is now in full drag and shares the money she made and the amusing story of how she killed a dog to earn it ("Today 4 U"). Benny arrives, speaking of Maureen's upcoming protest against his plans to evict the homeless from a lot where he is hoping to build a cyber arts studio. Benny offers that, if they convince Maureen to cancel the protest, then Mark and Roger can officially remain rent-free tenants. However, the two rebuff Benny's offer and he leaves ("You'll See"). Mark must leave to fix Maureen's sound equipment for the protest, but he unexpectedly meets Joanne at the stage. They overcome their awkwardness by connecting over their shared distrust of Maureen's promiscuous behaviors ("Tango: Maureen"). Mark joins Collins and Angel to film their HIV support group meeting ("Life Support"), while Mimi attempts to seduce Roger alone in his apartment ("Out Tonight"). Roger is clearly upset by Mimi's intrusion and he demands she leave him alone ("Another Day"). After Mimi leaves, Roger reflects on his fear of dying from AIDS, while the Life Support group echoes his thoughts ("Will I?").

text: Collins, Mark, and Angel protect a homeless woman from police harassment, but she chastises them ("On the Street"). To lighten the mood, Collins talks about his dream of escaping New York City to open a restaurant in Santa Fe ("Santa Fe"). Soon, Mark leaves to check up on Roger and while alone, Collins and Angel confess their love for each other ("I'll Cover You"). Joanne hectically prepares for Maureen's show, trying to balance all of the people calling her at once ("We're Okay"). Before the performance, Roger apologizes to Mimi, inviting her to come to the protest and the dinner party his friends are having afterwards. At the same time, police, vendors, and homeless people prepare for the protest ("Christmas Bells"). Maureen begins her avant-garde, if not over the top, performance based on "Hey Diddle Diddle" ("Over the Moon"). At Life Café after the show, Benny criticizes the protest and the group's bohemian lifestyle. In response, Mark and all the café's bohemian patrons defiantly rise up to celebrate their way of living ("La Vie Boheme"). Mimi and Roger each discover that the other is HIV-positive and hesitantly decide to move forward with their relationship ("I Should Tell You"). Joanne explains that Mark and Roger's building has been padlocked and a riot has broken out, just before Roger and Mimi share their first kiss. The celebration then continues ("La Vie Boheme B").

text: Act II[edit]

text: The cast lines up to sing together before the plot of the second act begins ("Seasons of Love"). Afterwards, Mark and Roger gather to break back into their locked apartment with their friends ("Happy New Year"). A new voicemail reveals that Mark's footage of the riot has earned him a job offering at a tabloid news company called Buzzline ("Voice Mail #3"). The others finally break through the door just as Benny arrives, saying he wants to call a truce and revealing that Mimi, a former girlfriend of his, convinced him to change his mind. Mimi denies rekindling her relationship with Benny, but Roger is upset, and although they apologize to each other, Mimi goes to her drug dealer for a fix ("Happy New Year B").

text: Around Valentine's Day, Mark tells the audience that Roger and Mimi have been living together, but they are tentative with each other. It is also told that Maureen and Joanne are preparing another protest, and during rehearsal, Maureen criticizes Joanne's controlling behavior and Joanne criticizes Maureen's promiscuous mannerisms. They break up dramatically coming up with an ultimatum ("Take Me or Leave Me"). Time speeds on to spring ("Seasons of Love B"), but Roger and Mimi's relationship is strained by Mimi's escalating heroin usage and Roger's lasting jealousy and suspicion of Benny. Each alone, Roger and Mimi sing of love and loneliness, telling each other how they feel, as they watch Collins nurse Angel, whose health is declining due to AIDS ("Without You"). By the end of the summer, Mark continues to receive calls offering a corporate job at Buzzline ("Voice Mail #4"). A dance is performed representing all the couples' sex lives ("Contact"). At the climax of the number, the two former couples break up, and Angel suddenly dies. At the funeral, the friends briefly come together to share their memories with Collins being the last to reminisce ("I'll Cover You [Reprise]"). Mark expresses his fear of being the only one left surviving when the rest of his friends die of AIDS, and he finally accepts the corporate job offer ("Halloween"). Roger reveals that he is leaving for Santa Fe, which sparks an argument about commitment between him and Mimi, and between Maureen and Joanne. Collins arrives and admonishes the entire group for fighting on the day of Angel's funeral, causing Maureen and Joanne to reconcile, but not Mimi and Roger. The group shares a sad moment, knowing that between deaths and leaving, their close-knit friendships will be breaking up. Everyone leaves except Mark and Roger, and so Mark tries to convince Roger to stay in New York. Roger, unable to handle Mimi's declining health, becomes angry with Mark and leaves. Mimi returns to say goodbye, overhears everything Roger says, and, terrified, agrees to go to rehab ("Goodbye Love"). Collins is forcibly removed from the church for being unable to pay for Angel's funeral. Benny shows compassion by paying, causing him and Collins to recuperate their old friendship.

text: A short time later, both Mark and Roger are simultaneously reaching an artistic epiphany, as Roger finds his song in Mimi and Mark finds his film in Angel's memory. Roger returns to New York just in time for Christmas, and Mark quits his job to work on his own film once more ("What You Own"). The characters' parents leave several worried messages on their phones ("Voice Mail #5"), and on Christmas Eve, exactly one year having passed, Mark prepares to screen his now-completed film to his friends. Roger has written his song, but no one can find Mimi for him to play it to. Benny's wife, discovering Benny's relationship with Mimi, has pulled Benny out of the East Village. The power suddenly blows and Collins enters with handfuls of cash, revealing that he reprogrammed an ATM at a grocery store to provide money to anybody with the code (A-N-G-E-L). Maureen and Joanne abruptly enter carrying Mimi, who has been homeless and is now weak and close to death. She begins to fade, but not before telling Roger that she loves him ("Finale"). Roger tells her to hold on as he plays her the song he wrote for her, which reveals the depths of his feelings for her ("Your Eyes"). Mimi appears to die, but abruptly awakens, claiming to have been heading into a white light, except that a vision of Angel told her to go back. The remaining friends gather together in a final moment of shared happiness and resolve to enjoy whatever time they have left with each other, affirming that there is "no day but today" ("Finale B").[20]

text: Musical numbers[edit]

text:
Act 1

"Tune Up #1" — Mark and Roger
"Voice Mail #1" — Mark's Mother
"Tune Up #2" — Mark, Roger, Collins, and Benny
"Rent" — Mark, Roger, Benny, Collins, Joanne, and Company
"You Okay Honey?" — Homeless Man, Angel, and Collins
"Tune Up #3" — Mark and Roger
"One Song Glory" — Roger
"Light My Candle" — Mimi and Roger
"Voice Mail #2" — Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson
"Today 4 U" — Collins, Roger, Mark, and Angel
"You'll See" — Benny, Mark, Roger, Collins, and Angel
"Tango: Maureen" — Joanne and Mark
"Life Support" — Gordon, Paul, Mark, and Company
"Out Tonight" — Mimi
"Another Day" — Mimi, Roger, and Company
"Will I?" — Steve and Company
"On the Street" — Three Homeless People, Squeegee Man, Mark, Collins, Angel, and Homeless Woman
"Santa Fe" – Collins, Angel, Mark, and Company
"I'll Cover You" — Angel and Collins
"We're Okay" — Joanne
"Christmas Bells" — Company
"Over the Moon" — Maureen
"La Vie Bohème A" — Mark, Waiter, Roger, Benny, Mimi, Collins, Angel, Maureen, Joanne, Mr. Grey, and Company
"I Should Tell You" — Mimi and Roger
"La Vie Bohème B" — Maureen, Collins, Joanne, Mark, Angel, and Company

Act 2

"Seasons of Love A" — Company
"Happy New Year A" — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Angel, Maureen, and Joanne
"Voice Mail #3" — Mark's Mother and Alexi Darling
"Happy New Year B" — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Angel, Maureen, Joanne, and Benny
"Take Me or Leave Me" — Maureen and Joanne
"Seasons of Love B" — Company
"Without You" — Roger and Mimi
"Voice Mail #4" — Alexi Darling
"Contact" — Angel and Company
"I'll Cover You (Reprise)" — Collins and Company
"Halloween" — Mark
"Goodbye Love" — Mark, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Maureen, Joanne, and Benny
"What You Own" — Mark and Roger
"Voice Mail #5" — Roger's Mother, Mimi's Mother, Mr. Jefferson, and Mark's Mother
"Finale A" — Homeless People, Mark, Roger, Collins, Maureen, Joanne, and Mimi
"Your Eyes" — Roger
"Finale B" — Company

text: Roles[edit]

text: Main characters[edit]

text:
Mark Cohen (Lead): A struggling Jewish-American documentary filmmaker and the narrator of the show. He is Roger's roommate; at the start of the show, he was recently dumped by Maureen.
Roger Davis (Lead): A once-successful-but-now-struggling musician and ex-lead singer and rock guitarist who is HIV-positive and an ex-junkie. He hopes to write one last meaningful song before he dies. He is having a hard time coping with the fact that he, along with many others around him, knows that he is going to die. His girlfriend, April, killed herself after finding out that she was HIV-positive. He is roommates with Mark.
Mimi Márquez (Lead): A Hispanic-American club dancer and drug addict. She lives downstairs from Mark and Roger, is Roger's love interest, and, like him, has HIV. She is also Benny's ex-lover.
Tom Collins (Support): An anarchist professor with AIDS. He is described by Mark as a "computer genius, teacher, and vagabond anarchist who ran naked through the Parthenon." Collins dreams of opening a restaurant in Santa Fe, where the problems in New York will not affect him and his friends. He was formerly a roommate of Roger, Mark, Benny, and Maureen, then just Roger and Mark, until he moves out.
Angel Dumott Schunard (Support): A young drag queen who uses both she/her pronouns when in drag and he/him pronouns when out of drag. Angel is a street percussionist with a generous disposition, who has AIDS; Collins' love interest.[21]
Maureen Johnson (Support): A performance artist who is Mark's ex-girlfriend and Joanne's current girlfriend. She is very flirtatious and cheated on Mark (presumably with Joanne). Larson considered Maureen a lesbian, despite her relationships with men, and he specifically identified her as "lesbian" in the script itself. However, an old lesbian friend of Larson told him it was wrong to call Maureen a lesbian because of her attraction to men, and that is where the idea of her being bisexual started.[22]
Joanne Jefferson (Support): An Ivy League-educated public interest lawyer and a lesbian. Joanne is the woman for whom Maureen left Mark. Joanne has very politically powerful parents (one is undergoing confirmation to be a judge, the other is a government official).
Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III (Support): Landlord of Mark, Roger, and Mimi's apartment building and ex-roommate of Mark, Collins, Roger, and Maureen. Now married to Alison Grey of the Westport Greys, a very wealthy family involved in real estate, and he is considered yuppie scum and a sell-out by his ex-roommates. He at one time had a relationship with Mimi.

text: Minor characters[edit]

text:
Mrs. Cohen: Mark's stereotypical Jewish mother. Her voicemail messages are the basis for the songs Voicemail #1, Voicemail #3, and Voicemail #5.
Alexi Darling: The producer of Buzzline, a sleazy tabloid company that tries to employ Mark after his footage of the riot makes primetime. Sings Voicemail #3 and Voicemail #4.
Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson: The wealthy parents of Joanne Jefferson, they leave her Voicemail #2. Mr. Jefferson is also one of the a cappella singers in Voicemail #5. Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson usually sing the solos in Seasons of Love.
Mrs. Davis: Roger's confused mother who calls in Voicemail #5, asking continuously, "Roger, where are you?"
Mrs. Marquez: Mimi's Spanish-speaking mother who sings in Voicemail #5, wondering, in Spanish, where she is.
Mr. Grey: Benny's father-in-law who wants to buy out the lot.
The Man: The local drug dealer whom Mimi buys from and Roger used to buy from. Based on the character Parpignol from La Bohème.[23]
Paul: The man in charge of the Life Support group.
Gordon: One of the Life Support members.
Steve: One of the Life Support members.
Ali: One of the Life Support members
Pam: One of the Life Support members
Sue: One of the Life Support members.
As notated in the script by Larson, the roles of all of the Life Support members are encouraged to take on the name that someone in the cast (or production) knows or has known to have succumbed to AIDS. In the final Broadway performance, Sue is renamed Lisa.
Squeegee Man: A homeless person who chants "Honest living!" over and over during "Christmas Bells".
The Waiter: A waiter at Life Cafe.
The Woman With Bags or Homeless Woman: A woman who attacks Mark for trying to help her during "On The Street".
The Preacher or The Pastor: The Preacher kicks Collins out of the church because he can't pay for Angel's funeral.

text: There are also many other non-named roles such as Cops, Bohemians, Vendors, Homeless People.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Rent received several awards including a Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards.[24]

text: Critical reception of Rent was positive not only for its acting and musical components, but for its representation of HIV positive individuals. Many critics praised the portrayal of characters such as Angel and Collins as being happy, with positive outlooks on life, rather than being resigned to death.[25] While critics and theatre patrons had largely positive reviews of the show, criticism was given to the show for the stereotypically negative portrayal of lesbian characters and the "glamourization" of the East Village in the late 1980s.[26]

text: Billy Aronson said, "For the record, although I was ambivalent about Jonathan’s ideas for Rent when we were working together on it, I have come to love the show. And as tragic as it is that he didn’t live to see his work become a huge success, I believe he knew it would be. In our last conversation I asked how the show was going and he said, with complete assurance, that it was incredible."[6]

text: Cultural impact and legacy[edit]

text: The song "Seasons of Love" became a successful pop song and often is performed on its own. Because of its connection to New Years and looking back at times past, it is sometimes performed at graduations or school holiday programs.

text: RENT-heads[edit]

text: Rent gathered a following of fans who refer to themselves as "RENT-heads." The name originally referred to people who would camp out at the Nederlander Theater for hours in advance for the discounted $20 rush tickets to each show, though it generally refers to anyone who is obsessed with the show.[27] These discounted tickets were for seats in the first two rows of the theater reserved for sale by lottery two hours prior to each show.[27][28] Other Broadway shows have followed Rent's example and now also offer cheaper tickets in efforts to make Broadway theater accessible to people who would otherwise be unable to afford the ticket prices.

text: The term originated in Rent's first months on Broadway. The show's producers offered 34 seats in the front two rows of the orchestra for $20 each, two hours before the performance. Fans and others interested in tickets would camp out for hours in front of the Nederlander Theater – which is on 41st Street, just outside Times Square – to buy these tickets.[29]

text: Popular culture references[edit]

text: The television series The Simpsons,[30] Family Guy,[31] Friends,[32] Will and Grace,[33] Scrubs,[34] Glee, The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls, Felicity,[35] Saturday Night Live, The Office, Franklin & Bash, 2 Broke Girls, Girls, Seinfeld, The Neighbors, Modern Family, Smash, Supernatural, Superstore, and Bob's Burgers have included references to the show.

text: The film Team America: World Police includes a character who plays a lead role in Lease, a Broadway musical parody of Rent; the finale song is "Everyone has AIDS!".[36] Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch wears a Rent T-shirt and speaks of his aspiration to play the role of Angel.[37]

text: The off-Broadway musical revue Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back includes parodies of Rent songs such as "Rant" ("Rent"), "Ouch! They're Tight" ("Out Tonight"), "Season of Hype" ("Seasons of Love"), "Too Gay 4 U (Too Het'ro 4 Me)" ("Today 4 U"), "Pretty Voices Singing" ("Christmas Bells") and "This Ain't Boheme" ("La Vie Bohème").[38]

text: In the film Deadpool, Wade Wilson is seen wearing a Rent T-shirt.

text: Lin-Manuel Miranda, the composer and writer of the Broadway show Hamilton, has cited Rent as a main source of inspiration.[39] He also referenced the show in a verse of the song "Wrote My Way Out" on The Hamilton Mixtape in the line "Running out of time like I'm Jonathan Larson's rent check".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Role
1994 New York Theatre Workshop
Original Broadway Cast[40]
2005 film[41]
2008 Final Performance
Film[42]
2011 Off-Broadway
Revival[43]
2016 20th Anniversary
National Tour[44]

Mark Cohen
Anthony Rapp
Adam Kantor
Adam Chanler-Berat
Danny Kornfeld

Roger Davis
Tony Hoylen
Adam Pascal
Will Chase
Matt Shingledecker
Kaleb Wells

Mimi Márquez
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Rosario Dawson
Renée Elise Goldsberry
Arianda Fernandez
Skyler Volpe

Tom Collins
Pat Briggs
Jesse L. Martin
Michael McElroy
Nicholas Christopher
Aaron Harrington

Angel Dumott Schunard
Mark Setlock
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Justin Johnston
MJ Rodriguez
David Merino

Maureen Johnson
Sarah Knowlton
Idina Menzel
Eden Espinosa
Annaleigh Ashford
Katie LeMark

Joanne Jefferson
Shelley Dickenson
Fredi Walker
Tracie Thoms
Corbin Reid
Jasmine Easler

Benjamin Coffin III
Michael Potts
Taye Diggs
Rodney Hicks
Ephraim Sykes
Christian Thompson

text: Productions[edit]

text: New York workshops and off-Broadway production[edit]

text: Rent had its first staged reading at New York Theatre Workshop in March 1993.[7] A further two-week New York Theatre Workshop version was performed in 1994 starring Anthony Rapp as Mark and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Mimi, and more workshops followed. The show opened on 1996, again at New York Theatre Workshop, and quickly gained popularity off-Broadway, receiving enthusiastic reviews. The New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley called it an "exhilarating, landmark rock opera" with a "glittering, inventive score" that "shimmers with hope for the future of the American musical."[45] Another reviewer wrote, "Rent speaks to Generation X the way that the musical Hair spoke to the baby boomers or those who grew up in the 1960s," while the New York Times similarly called it "a rock opera for our time, a Hair for the 90s."[46] The show proved extremely successful off-Broadway, selling out all of its performances at the 150-seat theatre.[2]

text: Original Broadway production[edit]

text: Due to its overwhelming popularity and the need for a larger theater, Rent moved to Broadway's previously derelict Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street on April 29, 1996.[2] On Broadway, the show achieved critical acclaim and word-of-mouth popularity. The production's ethnically diverse principal cast originally included Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker.

text: The production's controversial topics and innovative pricing, including same day-of-performance $20 tickets, helped to increase the popularity of musical theater amongst the younger generation.[47] The production was nominated for ten Tony Awards in 1996 and won four: Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Heredia)[48]

text: On April 24, 2006, the original Broadway cast reunited for a one-night performance of the musical at the Nederlander Theatre. This performance raised over $2,000,000 for the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, Friends In Deed and New York Theatre Workshop. Former cast members were invited, and many from prior tours and former Broadway casts appeared, performing an alternate version of "Seasons of Love" as the finale of the performance.[49]

text: Rent closed on September 7, 2008, after a 12-year run and 5,123 performances,[50] making it the eleventh-longest-running Broadway show.[51] The production grossed over $280 million.[5]

text: Original cast ensemble members Rodney Hicks and Gwen Stewart returned to the cast at the time of the Broadway closing. Hicks played Benny and Stewart played the role she created, the soloist in the song "Seasons of Love". In addition, actress Tracie Thoms joined the cast at the end of the run playing Joanne, the role she portrayed in the 2005 film version.[50] The last Broadway performance was filmed and screened in movie theaters as Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway in September 2008. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray formats on February 3, 2009.

text: North American touring productions[edit]

text: Successful United States national tours, the "Angel Tour" and the "Benny Tour", launched in the 1990s. Later, the non-Equity tour started its run. There was also a Canadian tour (often referred to as the "Collins Tour").

text: The Angel tour began in November 1996 in Boston. Anthony Rapp joined the cast for the Chicago run, and Daphne Rubin-Vega joined for the Los Angeles run. The tour finished in San Francisco in September 1999. Other members of the Angel Cast included Carrie Hamilton, Amy Spanger, Luther Creek, Kristoffer Cusick, Tony Vincent.

text: The Benny Tour began in July 1997 in San Diego, CA at the LaJolla Playhouse. Michael Grief, the original director of the Broadway show was also the artistic director of the LaJolla Playhouse and was instrumental in arranging for the Benny tour to begin in the smaller city of San Diego rather than Los Angeles, CA. It originally featured Neil Patrick Harris in the role of Mark Cohen. The Benny tour generally played shorter stops and often-smaller markets than the Angel Tour did. Other cast members included Wilson Cruz and d'Monroe.

text: Tours ran each season from 2005 to 2008. Cast members throughout the run included Aaron Tveit, Ava Gaudet, Declan Bennett, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Heinz Winckler, Anwar Robinson and Karen Olivo.[citation needed] In 2009, a national tour starring Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, reprising their original Broadway roles, launched in Cleveland, OH. Original Broadway Cast member Gwen Steward also appeared, alongside Michael McElroy as Collins, The tour ended on February 7, 2010, in Sacramento, CA.[52] A 20th Anniversary touring production of Rent began in Dallas on September 20, 2016.[53] In the 20th Anniversary Tour, Danny Kornfeld has been known to dab during La Vie Bohème. That moment is often referred to as "the best part of the show".

text: UK productions[edit]

text: The show made its UK premiere on April 21, 1998 at the West End's Shaftesbury Theatre and officially opened on May 12, 1998. The original cast included Krysten Cummings as Mimi Marquez, Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Angel Schunard, Bonny Lockhart as Benjamin Coffin III, Jesse L. Martin as Tom Collins, Adam Pascal as Roger Davis, Anthony Rapp as Mark Cohen, and Jessica Tezier as Maureen Johnson. The show closed on October 30, 1999 after one-and-a-half years. Limited revivals took place at the Prince of Wales Theatre from December 4, 2001 to January 6, 2002; December 6, 2002 to March 1, 2003 (featuring Adam Rickett as Mark and Caprice as Maureen). There was also a successful production for a limited run in Manchester in 2006 with an additional 'goodbye' performance in 2008 from the Manchester cast.

text: On October 16, 2007, the heavily revised production titled Rent Remixed opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End. Directed by William Baker, it was set in the present day. The cast included Oliver Thornton (Mark), Luke Evans (Roger), Craig Stein (Benny), Leon Lopez (Collins), Francesca Jackson (Joanne), Jay Webb (Angel), Siobhán Donaghy (Mimi), and Denise Van Outen (Maureen). From December 24, 2007, the role of Maureen was played by Jessie Wallace.[54] The production received generally unfavorable reviews. The Guardian gave it only one out of five stars, writing, "They call this 'Rent Remixed'. I'd dub it 'Rent Reduced', in that the late Jonathan Larson's reworking of La Bohème, while never a great musical, has been turned into a grisly, synthetic, pseudo pop concert with no particular roots or identity."[55] The production closed on February 2, 2008.[56]

text: The production radically altered elements of the musical including defining the characters of Mimi, Angel and Mark as British. Songs were reordered (including Maureen's first appearance as the Act I finale). The rehaul of the score was masterminded by Steve Anderson and featured radically rearranged versions of Out Tonight, Today 4 U, Over the Moon and Happy New Year.

text: A one off Rent - The 20th Anniversary Concert was held at the Blackpool Opera house Monday November 11, 2013 A 20th anniversary tour opened at Theatr Clwyd in October 2016 before playing a two-month run at the St James Theatre, London. The cast included Layton Williams as Angel and Lucie Jones as Maureen.[57] The production then continued to tour the UK.[58]

text: Off-Broadway revival[edit]

text: The show was revived Off-Broadway at Stage 1 of New World Stages with previews starting July 14, 2011 and a scheduled opening of August 11, 2011. This was the first New York Revival of the show since the original production closed less than three years earlier. The production was directed by Rent's original director Michael Greif. Almost the entire show was different from the original yet the reinvention did not please the critics, who complained that the new actors did not have a feel for the characters they were playing and it made the show feel contrived.[59] The Off-Broadway production of RENT closed on September 9, 2012.[60]

text: Additional Productions[edit]

text: In 1999, an Australian production featured Justin Smith as Mark, Rodger Corser as Roger and Christine Anu as Mimi. The tour began in Sydney and finished in Melbourne. A production in Perth, Western Australia was mounted in 2007 and featured Anthony Callea as Mark, Tim Campbell as Roger, Courtney Act as Angel and Nikki Webster as Maureen.

text: The Dublin production had an extended run at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin in 2000. It starred Sean Pol McGreevy as Mark, Rachel Tucker as Maureen and Allyson Brown as Mimi under the direction of Phil Willmot. The Swedish production premiered on May 15, 2002 at The Göteborg Opera in Gothenburg, Sweden, playing until June 8, 2003. Sarah Dawn Finer played Joanne.[61]

text: Rent veteran Neil Patrick Harris directed a production at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. The production played a three night engagement, August 6–8, 2010. The cast included Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi, Aaron Tveit as Roger, Skylar Astin as Mark, Wayne Brady as Collins, Telly Leung as Angel, Tracie Thoms as Joanne, Nicole Scherzinger as Maureen, Collins Pennie as Benny, and Gwen Stewart as Seasons of Love soloist (and additional roles).[62]

text: In 2017, the first tour for the German speaking countries was mounted by Berlin theatrical producer Boris Hilbert. The production travelled Germany, Austria and Switzerland and was directed by the British opera director Walter Sutcliffe.[63]

text: Rent: School Edition[edit]

text: In 2007, an abridged edition of Rent was made available to five non-professional acting groups in the United States for production. Billed as Rent: School Edition, this version omits the song "Contact" and eliminates some of the coarse language and tones down some public displays of affection of the original.[64] Shorewood High School in Shorewood, WI became the first high school to perform an early version of the adaptation in May 2006. The high school was selected to present a workshop performance as part of Music Theatre International's work to adapt the musical for younger actors and potentially more conservative audiences.[65] As of 2008, Music Theatre International began licensing "Rent School Edition" for performances by schools and non-professional amateur theaters in the United States and around the world.

text: International productions[edit]

text: Rent has been performed in countries around the world, including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Greece, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, Guam, New Zealand, Israel, Puerto Rico, Austria, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Czech Republic.

text: The musical has been performed in twenty-five languages: Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Greek, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, Czech, and Catalan.

text: Recordings and adaptations[edit]

text: Audio recordings[edit]

text: The original Broadway cast recording features the musical material in the show on a double-disc "complete recording" collection with a remixed version of the song "Seasons of Love" featuring Stevie Wonder.[66] The label later issued a single-disc "best of" highlights.[67]

text: The film version also yielded a double-disc soundtrack recording of the complete score,[68] and single CD of highlights.[69]

text: There are also many foreign cast recordings.[70]

text: 2005 film[edit]

text: Rent was adapted into a movie directed by Chris Columbus with a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky. With the exception of Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker, the original Broadway cast members reprised the principal roles. Rosario Dawson played Mimi and Tracie Thoms was cast as Joanne, as Rubin-Vega (Mimi) was pregnant at the time of filming and Walker (Joanne) felt she was too old for the part. Released on November 23, 2005, the film remained in the box office top ten for three weeks. Several plot elements were changed slightly, and some of the songs were changed to spoken dialogue in the film. The soundtrack was produced by Rob Cavallo, engineered by Doug McKean and features renowned session musicians Jamie Muhoberac, Tim Pierce and Dorian Crozier. The film received mixed reviews.

text: 2008 live filming[edit]

text: On September 7, 2008, the final performance of the Broadway production of Rent was filmed live and (also using footage shot at a live performance in August 2008) released as Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway in cinemas with high definition digital projection systems in the U.S. and Canada between September 24 and 28, 2008. Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway was released on February 3, 2009 on DVD & Blu-ray formats.[71][unreliable source?]

text: Upcoming documentary[edit]

text: Filmmaker and Rent alum Andy Señor, Jr. is currently producing a documentary, following his journey producing the musical in Cuba in late 2014. This production of Rent was the first Broadway musical to premiere in Cuba since diplomatic relations between the two countries became strained during the Cold War.

text: Rent Live![edit]

text: In May 2017, Fox announced plans to air a live television production of Rent in late 2018. However, on September 25, 2017, Fox announced the official air date for Rent Live! would be Sunday, January 27, 2019. Marc Platt is set to serve as executive producer along with the estate of Jonathan Larson.

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text: Original Broadway production[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominee
Outcome

1996
Tony Award
Best Musical
Won

Best Book of a Musical
Jonathan Larson
Won

Best Original Score
Won

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Adam Pascal
Nominated

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Nominated

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Won

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Idina Menzel
Nominated

Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Greif
Nominated

Best Choreography
Marlies Yearby
Nominated

Best Lighting Design
Blake Burba
Nominated

Drama Desk Award
Outstanding Musical
Won

Outstanding Book of a Musical
Jonathan Larson
Won

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Adam Pascal
Nominated

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Nominated

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Won

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Michael Greif
Nominated

Outstanding Orchestrations
Steve Skinner
Won

Outstanding Lyrics
Jonathan Larson
Won

Outstanding Music
Won

Outstanding Costume Design
Angela Wendt
Nominated

Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Won

Theatre World Award
Adam Pascal
Won

Daphne Rubin-Vega
Won

1997
Grammy Award
Best Musical Show Album
Nominated

text: Original West End production[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Nominee
Result

1999
Laurence Olivier Award
Best New Musical
Nominated

Best Actress in a Musical
Krysten Cummings
Nominated

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Nominated

text: 20th-Anniversary UK Tour[edit]

text:
Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

2017
WhatsOnStage Awards
Best Regional Production
Nominated


document_title: List of border towns in the United States with portmanteau names

question_text: towns on the border of illinois and indiana

root

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: Each of the following towns in the United States is near a border of two or more states or other jurisdictions, and is named with a portmanteau of those entities' names.

tag: p

text: Portmanteaus Cities or Towns[edit]

text:
Arkoma, Oklahoma (Arkansas and Oklahoma)
Calexico, California (California and Mexico); see also Mexicali
Calneva, California (California and Nevada)
Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada (California, Nevada, and Arizona)
Dalhart, Texas (Dallam and Hartley Counties)
Dalworthington Gardens, Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington)
Delmar, Delaware and Delmar, Maryland (Delaware and Maryland)
Deltona, Florida, (DeLand and Daytona)
Ellport, Pennsylvania (Ellwood City and Portersville)
Flomot, Texas (Floyd and Motley Counties)
Florala, Alabama (Florida and Alabama)
Idavada, Idaho (Idaho and Nevada)
Illiana, Illinois (Illinois and Indiana); see also Illiana
Inyokern, California (Kern and Inyo Counties)
Kanorado, Kansas (Kansas and Colorado)
Kenova, West Virginia (Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia)
Mardela Springs, Maryland (Maryland and Delaware)
Marydel, Delaware and Marydel, Maryland (Delaware and Maryland)
Michiana, Michigan (Michigan and Indiana); see also Michiana, the surrounding region whose main urban center is South Bend, Indiana
Milmay, New Jersey (Millville and Mays Landing)
Monida, Montana (Montana and Idaho)
Norlina, North Carolina (North Carolina and Virginia)
Pen Mar, Maryland (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
Penndel, Pennsylvania (named after the Pennsylvania/Delaware Highway)
Tennga, Georgia (Tennessee and Georgia)
Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas (Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana)
Texhoma, Oklahoma and Texhoma, Texas (Texas and Oklahoma)
Texico, New Mexico (Texas and New Mexico)
Ucolo, Utah (Utah and Colorado)
Vanport City, Oregon (Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington), a town on the Portland side of the Columbia river, no longer in existence.
Vershire, Vermont (Vermont and New Hampshire)
Virgilina, Virginia (Virginia and North Carolina)
Wamac, Illinois (Washington, Marion, and Clinton Counties)

tag: ul

text: Other portmanteaus[edit]

text:
Ark-La-Tex, a U.S. socio-economic region where Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma intersect.
Arrowbear Lake, California, a small community halfway between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino mountains.
BosWash or BosNYWash, terms occasionally used for the chain of interlocking coastal metropolitan areas (stretching from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C. in the south) that make up the Northeast megalopolis.
Chariho, a school district in southwestern Rhode Island consisting of the towns of Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton, Rhode Island.
Chulajuana, California (Chula Vista, California; Tijuana, Mexico) There is no such town. This is derogatory name for Chula Vista because of its proximity to Mexico and its large Hispanic population.
Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia.
Georgialina, a term for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of Augusta, GA and its surrounding areas in Georgia and South Carolina.
Indiahoma, Oklahoma (Indiana and Oklahoma), a small town in central Oklahoma which has no borders with Indiana. A portmanteau which most likely honors the area’s Native-American roots.
Kentuckiana, a popular local name for the Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on Louisville, Kentucky and spreading across the Ohio River into Indiana
Lake Keomah, a man-made lake 4 miles east of Oskaloosa, Iowa named for the two counties that financed it, Keokuk and Mahaska.
Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir named for the river it dams (Kootenay River) and the countries whose border it straddles (Canada and United States).
Lake Talquin, from Tallahassee and Quincy, Florida
Lake Texoma, a man-made lake on the Red River that divides Texas and Oklahoma
Lake Wissota, a large reservoir in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, combines Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Lamorinda, California, a region of Contra Costa County comprising Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda
Pennsyltucky, from Pennsylvania and Kentucky
SeaTac, Washington, between Seattle and Tacoma


document_title: Dice

question_text: what do opposite sides of a dice add up to

text: Dice

text: History[edit]

text: Dice have been used since before recorded history, and it is uncertain where they originated. The oldest known dice were excavated as part of a backgammon-like game set at the Burnt City, an archeological site in south-eastern Iran, estimated to be from between 2800–2500 BCE.[3] Other excavations from ancient tombs in the Indus Valley civilization indicate a South Asian origin.[4]

text: The Egyptian game of Senet was played with dice. Senet was played before 3000 BC and up to the 2nd century AD. It was likely a racing game, but there is no scholarly consensus on the rules of Senet.[5] Dicing is mentioned as an Indian game in the Rigveda, Atharvaveda and the early Buddhist games list.[6] There are several biblical references to "casting lots", as in Psalm 22, indicating that dicing (or a related activity) was commonplace when the psalm was composed. It is theorized that dice developed from the practice of fortunetelling with the talus of hoofed animals, colloquially known as "knucklebones", but knucklebones is not the oldest divination technique that incorporates randomness.[7] Knucklebones was a game of skill played by women and children; a derivative form had the four sides of the bone receive different values and count as modern dice.[8]

text: Although gambling was illegal, many Romans were passionate gamblers who enjoyed dicing, which was known as aleam ludere ("to play at dice"). Dicing was even a popular pastime of emperors. Letters by Augustus to Tacitus and his daughter recount his hobby of dicing. There were two sizes of Roman dice. Tali were large dice inscribed with one, three, four, and six on four sides. Tesserae were smaller dice with sides numbered from one to six.[9] Twenty-sided dice date back to the 2nd century AD [10] and from Ptolemaic Egypt as early as the 2nd century BC.[11]

text: Dominoes and playing cards originated in China as developments from dice. The transition from dice to playing cards occurred in China around the Tang dynasty, and coincides with the technological transition from rolls of manuscripts to block printed books.[12] In Japan, dice were used to play a popular game called sugoroku. There are two types of sugoroku. Ban-sugoroku is similar to backgammon and dates to the Heian period, while e-sugoroku is a racing game.[13]

text: Usage[edit]

text: Dice are thrown onto a flat surface either from the hand or from a container designed for this (such as a dice cup). The face of the die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides the value of the throw. One typical dice game today is craps, where two dice are thrown simultaneously and wagers are made on the total value of the two dice. Dice are frequently used to randomize moves in board games, usually by deciding the distance through which a piece will move along the board; examples of this are backgammon and Monopoly.

text: The result of a die roll is determined by the way it is thrown, according to the laws of classical mechanics. A die roll is made random by uncertainty in minor factors such as tiny movements in the thrower's hand; They are thus a crude form of hardware random number generator. Perhaps to mitigate against concerns that the pips on the faces of certain styles of dice cause a small bias,[citation needed] casinos use precision dice with flush markings.

text: Construction[edit]

text: Arrangement[edit]

text: Common dice are small cubes most commonly 1.6 cm (0.63 in) across,[citation needed] whose faces are numbered from one to six, usually by patterns of round dots called pips. (While the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals is occasionally seen, such dice are less common.)

text: Opposite sides of a modern die traditionally add up to seven, implying that the 1, 2 and 3 faces share a vertex.[14] The faces of a die may be placed clockwise or counterclockwise about this vertex. If the 1, 2 and 3 faces run counterclockwise, the die is called "right-handed", and if those faces run clockwise, the die is called "left-handed". Western dice are normally right-handed, and Chinese dice are normally left-handed.[15]

text: The pips on dice are arranged in specific patterns as shown. Asian style dice bear similar patterns to Western ones, but the pips are closer to the center of the face; in addition, the pips are differently sized on Asian style dice, and the pips are colored red on the 1 and 4 sides. One possible explanation is that red fours are of Indian origin.[15][16] In some older sets, the "one" pip is a colorless depression.

text: Manufacturing[edit]

text: Non-precision dice are manufactured via the plastic injection molding process. The pips or numbers on the die are a part of the mold. The coloring for numbering is achieved by submerging the die entirely in paint, which is allowed to dry. The die is then polished via a tumble finishing process similar to rock polishing. The abrasive agent scrapes off all of the paint except for the indents of the numbering. A finer abrasive is then used to polish the die. This process also creates the smoother, rounded edges on the dice.[17]

text: Precision casino dice may have a polished or sand finish, making them transparent or translucent respectively. Casino dice have their pips drilled, then filled flush with a paint of the same density as the material used for the dice, such that the center of gravity of the dice is as close to the geometric center as possible. All such dice are stamped with a serial number to prevent potential cheaters from substituting a die. Precision backgammon dice are made the same way; they tend to be slightly smaller and have rounded corners and edges, to allow better movement inside the dice cup and stop forceful rolls from damaging the playing surface.

text: Terms[edit]

text: While the terms ace, deuce, trey, cater, cinque and sice are generally obsolete, with the names of the numbers preferred, they are still used by some professional gamblers to designate different sides of the dice. Ace is from the Latin as, meaning "a unit";[18] the others are 2 to 6 in old French.[19]

text: Unicode representation[edit]

text: Using Unicode characters, the faces ⚀ ⚁ ⚂ ⚃ ⚄ ⚅, can be shown in text using the range U+2680 to U+2685 or using decimal ⚀ to ⚅.[20]

text: Loaded dice[edit]

text: A loaded, weighted, or crooked die is one that has been tampered with so that it will land with a specific side facing upwards more or less often than a fair die would. There are several methods for creating loaded dice, including rounded faces, off-square faces and weights. Transparent acetate dice are used by casinos as they are harder to tamper with than other dice.

text: Variants[edit]

text: Polyhedral dice[edit]

text: Around the end of the 1960s, non-cubical dice became popular among players of wargames,[21] and since have been employed extensively in role-playing games and trading card games. The numerals 6 and 9, which are reciprocally symmetric through rotation, are distinguished with a dot or underline.

text: Standard variations[edit]

text: Dice are often sold in sets, matching in color, of six different shapes. Five of the dice are shaped like the Platonic solids, whose faces are regular polygons. Aside from the cube, the other four Platonic solids have 4, 8, 12, and 20 faces, allowing for those number ranges to be generated. The only other common non-cubical die is the 10-sided die, a pentagonal trapezohedron die, whose faces are ten kites, each with two different edge lengths, three different angles, and two different kinds of vertices. Such sets frequently include a second 10-sided die either of contrasting color or numbered by tens, allowing for a pair of 10-sided dice to generate numbers between 1 and 100.

text: Using these dice in various ways, games can closely approximate the real probability distributions of the events they simulate. For instance, 10-sided dice can be rolled in pairs to produce a uniform distribution of random percentages, and summing the values of multiple dice will produce approximations to normal distributions.[22]

text: Unlike other common dice, a four-sided die does not have a side that faces upward when it is at rest on a surface, so it has to be read in a different way. Many such dice have the numbers printed around the points, so that when it settles, the numbers at the vertex pointing up are the same and are read. Alternatively, the numbers on a tetrahedral die can be placed at the middles of the edges, in which case the numbers around the base are read.

text: Normally, the faces on a die will be placed so opposite faces will add up to one more than the number of faces (this is not possible with 4-sided dice and dice with an odd-number of faces). Some dice, such as those with 10 sides, are usually numbered sequentially beginning with 0, in which case the opposite faces will add to one less than the number of faces.

text:
Faces/
Sides
Shape
Notes

4
Tetrahedron

Each face has three numbers, arranged such that the upright number, placed either near the vertex or near the opposite edge, is the same on all three visible faces. The upright numbers represent the value of the roll. This die does not roll well and thus it is usually thrown into the air instead.

6
Cube

A common die. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is seven.

8
Octahedron

Each face is triangular and the die resembles two square pyramids attached base-to-base. Usually, the sum of the opposite faces is 9.

10
Pentagonal trapezohedron

Each face is a kite. The die has two sharp corners, where five kites meet, and ten blunter corners, where three kites meet. The ten faces usually bear numbers from zero to nine, rather than one to ten (zero being read as "ten" in many applications). Often all odd numbered faces converge at one sharp corner, and the even ones at the other. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is usually 9 (if numbered 0–9) or 11 (if numbered 1–10).

12
Dodecahedron

Each face is a regular pentagon. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is usually 13.

20
Icosahedron

Faces are equilateral triangles. Icosahedrons have been found dating to Roman/Ptolemaic times, but it is not known if they were used as gaming dice. Modern dice with 20 sides are sometimes numbered 0–9 twice as an alternative to 10-sided dice. The sum of the numbers on opposite faces is 21 if numbered 1–20.

text: Rarer variations[edit]

text: "Uniform fair dice" are dice where all faces have equal probability of outcome, which follows from the symmetry of the die (as it is face-transitive), and include:

text:
Platonic solids, the five regular polyhedra: 4, 6, 8, 12, 20 sides
Catalan solids, the duals of the 13 Archimedean solids: 12, 24, 30, 48, 60, 120 sides
Bipyramids, the duals of the infinite set of prisms, with triangle faces: any even number above 4, and usually divisible by 4 so that a face will face up
Trapezohedrons, the duals of the infinite set of antiprisms, with kite faces: any even number above 4
Disphenoids, an infinite set of tetrahedra made from congruent non-regular triangles: 4 sides

text: A variation on the standard die is known as the "average" die.[23][24] These are six-sided dice with sides numbered 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, which have the same aritmetic mean as a standard die (3.5 for a single die, 7 for a pair of dice), but have a narrower range of possible values (2 through 5 for one, 4 through 10 for a pair). They are used in some table-top wargames, where a narrower range of numbers is required.[24]

text: Dice with an odd number of flat faces can be made as "long dice".[25] They are based on an infinite set of prisms. All the (rectangular) faces they may actually land on are congruent, so they are equally fair. (The other 2 sides of the prism are rounded or capped with a pyramid, designed so that the die never actually rests on those faces.)

text:
Faces/
sides
Shape
Image
Notes

1
Möbius Strip or Sphere

Most commonly a joke die, this is either a sphere with a 1 marked on it or shaped like a Möbius strip.

2
Cylinder

A coin flip. Some coins with 1 marked on one side and 2 on the other are available, but most simply use a common coin.

3
Rounded-off
triangular prism

This is a rounded-off triangular prism, intended to be rolled like a rolling-pin style die. The die is rounded-off at the edges to make it impossible for it to somehow land on the triangular sides, which makes it look a bit like a jewel. When the die is rolled, one edge (rather than a side) appears facing upwards. On either side of each edge the same number is printed (from 1 to 3). The numbers on either side of the up-facing edge are read as the result of the die roll. Another possible shape is the "American football" or "rugby ball" shape, where the ends are pointed (with rounded points) rather than just rounded. A third variety features faces that resemble warped squares.

5
Triangular prism

This is a prism that is thin enough to land either on its "edge" or "face". When landing on an edge, the result is displayed by digits (2–4) close to the prism's top edge. The triangular faces are labeled with the digits 1 and 5.

7
Pentagonal prism

Similar in constitution to the 5-sided die. Seven-sided dice are used in a seven-player variant of backgammon. Seven-sided dice are described in the 13th century Libro de los juegos as having been invented by Alfonso X in order to speed up play in chess variants.[26][27]

12
Rhombic dodecahedron

Each face is a rhombus.

14
Heptagonal trapezohedron

Each face is a kite.

16
Octagonal bipyramid

Each face is an isosceles triangle.

18
Rounded rhombicuboctahedron

18 faces are squares; the 8 triangular faces are rounded and cannot be landed on.

24
Triakis octahedron

Each face is an isosceles triangle.

Tetrakis hexahedron

Each face is an isosceles triangle.

Deltoidal icositetrahedron

Each face is a kite.

Pentagonal icositetrahedron

Each face is an irregular pentagon.

30
Rhombic triacontahedron

Each face is a rhombus. Although not included in most dice sets, it can be found in most hobby and game stores.

34
Heptadecagonal trapezohedron

Each face is a kite.

48
Disdyakis dodecahedron

Each face is a scalene triangle.

50
Icosakaipentagonal trapezohedron

The faces of the 50-sided die are kites, although very narrow, but numbered 0-49 (0 read as 50 in many applications).

60
Deltoidal hexecontahedron

Each face is a kite.

Pentakis dodecahedron

Each face is an isosceles triangle.

Pentagonal hexecontahedron

Each face is an irregular pentagon.

Triakis icosahedron

Each face is an isosceles triangle.

100
Zocchihedron

100-sided dice can be found in hobby and game stores. They are made by flattening 100 facets on a sphere, but are not truly "uniform fair dice".

120
Disdyakis triacontahedron

Each face is a scalene triangle.

text: Non-numeric[edit]

text: The faces of most dice are labelled using sequences of whole numbers, usually starting at one, expressed with either pips or digits. However, there are some applications that require results other than numbers. Examples include letters for Boggle, directions for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Fudge dice, playing card symbols for poker dice, and instructions for sexual acts using sex dice.

text: Spherical dice[edit]

text: A die can be constructed in the shape of a sphere, with the addition of an internal cavity in the shape of the dual polyhedron of the desired die shape and an internal weight. The weight will settle in one of the points of the internal cavity, causing it to settle with one of the numbers uppermost. For instance, a sphere with an octahedral cavity and a small internal weight will settle with one of the 6 points of the cavity held downwards by the weight.

text: Applications[edit]

text: Polyhedral dice are commonly used in role-playing games. The fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is largely credited with popularizing dice in such games. Some games use only one type, like Exalted which uses only ten-sided dice. Others use numerous types for different game purposes, such as D&D, which makes use of all common polyhedral dice. Dice are usually used to determine the outcome of events. Games typically determine results either as a total on one or more dice above or below a fixed number, or a certain number of rolls above a certain number on one or more dice. Due to circumstances or character skill, the initial roll may have a number added to or subtracted from the final result, or have the player roll extra or fewer dice. To keep track of rolls easily, dice notation is frequently used.

text: Many board games use dice to randomize how far pieces move or to settle conflicts. Typically, this has meant that rolling higher numbers is better. Some games, such as Axis & Allies, have inverted this system by making the lower values more potent. In the modern age, a few games and game designers have approached dice in a different way by making each side of the die similarly valuable. In Castles of Burgundy, players spend their dice to take actions based on the die's value. In this game, a six is not better than a one, or vice versa. In Quarriors (and its descendent, Dicemasters), different sides of the dice can offer completely different abilities. Several sides often give resources while others grant the player useful actions.[28]

text: Dice can be used for divination and using dice for such a purpose is called cleromancy. A pair of common dice is usual, though other forms of polyhedra can be used. Tibetan Buddhists sometimes use this method of divination. It is highly likely that the Pythagoreans used the Platonic solids as dice. They referred to such dice as "the dice of the gods" and they sought to understand the universe through an understanding of geometry in polyhedra.[29]

text: Astrological dice are a specialized set of three 12-sided dice for divination; the first die represents planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the nodes of the Moon, the second die represents the 12 zodiac signs, and the third represents the 12 houses. A specialized icosahedron die provides the answers of the Magic 8-Ball, conventionally used to provide answers to yes-or-no questions.

text: Notation[edit]

text: In many gaming contexts, especially tabletop role-playing games, shorthand notations representing different dice rolls are used. A "d" or "D" is used to indicate a die with a specific number of sides; for example, d4 denotes a four-sided die. If several dice of the same type are to be rolled, this is indicated by a leading number specifying the number of dice. Hence, 6d8 means the player should roll six eight-sided dice and add the results. Modifiers to a die roll can also be indicated as desired. For example, 3d6+4 instructs the player to roll three six-sided dice, calculate the total, and add four to it.


document_title: Baseball uniform

question_text: first baseball team to put names on jerseys

text: Baseball uniform

text: History[edit]

text: Early developments[edit]

text: The New York Knickerbockers were the first baseball team to wear uniforms, taking the field on April 4, 1849, in pants made of blue wool, white flannel shirts and straw hats.[1][2] The practice of wearing a uniform soon spread, and by 1900, all Major League Baseball teams had adopted them.[3] By 1882 most uniforms included stockings, which covered the leg from foot to knee, and were used to differentiate one club from another. The uniforms themselves had different colors and patterns that reflected the different baseball positions.[4]  In the late 1880s, the Detroit Wolverines and Washington Nationals of the National League and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the American Association were the first to wear striped uniforms.[5]

text: Home and road uniforms[edit]

text: By the end of the 19th century, teams began the practice of wearing one of two different uniforms, one when they played in their own baseball stadium and a different one when they played on the road. It became common to wear white at home and one of gray, solid dark blue, or black on the road.[3] An early example of this is the Brooklyn Superbas, who started to use a blue pattern for their road uniforms in 1907.[3]

text: In 1916, on the New York Giants' road uniforms, purple lines gave their uniforms a tartan-like effect, and another kind of road uniform was a solid dark blue or black material with white around this time. The Kansas City Athletics' home and road uniforms were changed by Charles O. Finley in 1963, to the colors of gold and green.[6] Some teams used light blue for their road uniforms from the 1970s to the early 1990s.[3] Early striped patterns developed into long stripes along the length of the uniforms, called pinstriping. This was first worn on some major league baseball team's uniforms in 1907, and the pinstripes were then widened in 1912, so that the crowd could see them more clearly.[3]

text: The Brooklyn Bridegrooms used checked uniforms in 1889, and brought them back in 1907 (as the Superbas) and 1916–1917 (as the Robins).[7][8] Satin uniforms were developed by several teams including the Brooklyn Dodgers for night games, as the sheen of the fabric was more reflective and thus easier to see.[7] Pinstripes were commonly worn on the uniforms of the New York Yankees. Legend had it that the stripes were adopted to make Babe Ruth look slimmer,[9] but since the Yankees had already been wearing pinstripes a few years before Ruth played for them in 1920, the legend was found to be a myth. The Yankees' pinstripes on their home uniforms soon became a team symbol.

text: In 1916, the Cleveland Indians became the first team to add numbers on their uniforms, positioned on the left sleeve of the home uniforms only. (Okkonen, p. 36, p. 120)[3] In 1929, numbers were first added on the backs of uniforms by the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians. By 1932, all major league baseball teams had numbers on their players' uniforms.[3] The Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1952, became the first baseball team to add numbers to the fronts of their uniforms.[3][7] In 1960, the Chicago White Sox were the first team to place players' names on the back of their jerseys, doing so on their road jerseys; within a few years, this practice became almost universal in MLB, though to this day the Yankees only wear names on their uniforms for Players Weekend, a yearly event where alternate uniforms with nicknames are used.[10]

text: In most parts of the world, numbers are no more than two digits long; however, Japanese players who are on their team's developmental roster have three-digit numbers. Major league teams typically assign the highest numbers (#50 and above) in spring training to the players who are not expected to make the regular-season roster; hence the lower numbers are considered more prestigious, although there are many veterans who wear high numbers anyway. Two Hall of Famers who wore high numbers are Don Drysdale, who wore #53 for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, and Carlton Fisk, who wore #72 for the Chicago White Sox (reverse of the #27 he wore with the Boston Red Sox; Fisk also was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1972).

text: Cap styles[edit]

text: Caps, or other types of headgear with eye-shades, have been a part of baseball uniforms from the beginning.[11][12]

text: From the 1840s to the 1870s, baseball players wore various types of hats, or even no cap at all, since there was no official rule regarding headgear.[13] Examples included full-brimmed straw hats such as boating caps, jockey caps, cycling caps, and flat-topped caps.[11]

text: The Brooklyn Excelsiors was the first team to wear what would later become the modern baseball cap, with its distinctive rounded top and peak, in the 1860s.[11][14] By the early years of the twentieth century, this style of cap had become common, but some teams occasionally revived the flat-topped cap, such as the New York Giants in 1916 and the Pittsburgh Pirates as recently as during the 1979 World Series.[3] Over time, the peak has enlarged slightly to further protect the player's eyes from the sun.[15] More recently, players have worn hats with fold-down ear flaps in cold weather.

text: Shoes[edit]

text: In the late 19th century, soft but durable leather shoes were the preferred choice of baseball players.

text: In the 1970s, as artificial turf became prominent on developed countries' baseball fields, modifications to footwear became necessary.[16] Detachable spikes became popular in the 20th century, as they helped players to avoid slipping, especially on turf, but they were banned in 1976.

text: In the 19th century and the first part of the 20th, baseball shoes were commonly black in color. In the 1960s, the Kansas City Athletics began wearing revolutionary white shoes, a tradition carried over when they moved to Oakland. Since then, some teams are wearing colored cleats corresponding to their team colors. For example, the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals now wear red cleats, the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers wear blue cleats, and some of the San Francisco Giants players wear orange cleats.

text: Stockings and pants[edit]

text: Inspired by the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the stocking colors of teams in the 1860s onward were a principal device in distinguishing one team from another (hence team names such as the Chicago White Stockings, St. Louis Brown Stockings (or Browns), etc.). Except for a few "candy-cane" varieties (particularly by the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Senators), striping was quite minimal during the 1920s and, in contrast, a revival of other sorts in the early 1930s.[18]

text: By the 1990s, new styles of close-trimmed pants legs made it possible for players to wear pants that ran clear to the shoetops, in lieu of the traditional knee-breeches style that had prevailed for generations. This led to a violation of the literal concept of a "uniform", in that different players on a given team might wear knee-length and full-length pants on the field at the same time. Players such as Manny Ramirez have taken this fashion trend to an extreme, wearing loose-fitting pants whose legs nearly lap under the heels of the shoes. Some, such as Gary Sheffield, have even developed straps that hook under the cleats. Meanwhile, players such as Alfonso Soriano continue to wear the traditional knee-breeches, though most of these players still lack the traditional stirrups.

text: By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, nearly all players wore either traditional knee-high socks or pants that covered the shoetops and contained no elastic in the bottom. Such loose-fitting pants are called "pro-flare", as they are worn by most major league players. However, a few older players, like Derek Jeter, wear pants that stop right at the shoes, like the style of the late 1990s/early 2000s.

text: In recent years teams that wear throwback uniforms usually outfit themselves with stirrups or knee-breeches, to simulate the look of a particular era. In addition, some teams began to wear stockings with stripes. Examples include the Tampa Bay Rays sporting Columbia blue and white striping on their navy stockings, the St. Louis Cardinals with navy and white stripes on their red stockings, and the San Francisco Giants in black stockings with orange stripes.

text: Graphics and logos[edit]

text: From the beginning, graphic designs were used to identify teams. Often an Old English letter was worn on the chest. This style survives with the Detroit Tigers and their gothic style "D" on their home jerseys and caps and the Oakland Athletics, who currently have an Old English "A" on their caps and their alternative jerseys.

text: As official nicknames gained prominence in the early 1900s (in contrast to media-generated and unofficial nicknames of prior generations), pictorial logos began emerging as part of the team's marketing. Some early examples include a small red tiger on the black cap of the 1901 Detroit Tigers, as they were officially the Tigers from the beginning; and a bear cub logo on the Chicago Cubs shirts by 1907, as that unofficial nickname was then adopted officially by the club.

text: In another famous example, the Boston Americans (an unofficial designation that merely distinguished them from their across-the-tracks rivals) adopted the Nationals' abandoned red stockings in 1908, and have been the Boston Red Sox officially ever since then.[19]

text: By the 1930s, nearly every team had distinctive logos, letters or the team nickname on their home shirts, as part of the team's marketing. The trend of the city name on the road jerseys continued. In recent years, with team nicknames being so strongly associated with the clubs, logos that were once only used at home also turned up on road jerseys, in place of city names.