Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

It’s all I could think of when the lights started dimming. I’ve never seen RENT before, neither the play nor the movie. But that ridiculous preview for the movie played through my head.

I had heard things about the play. How great it was, or how it said something about our generation.

So, when going to see RENT last night, it was built up in my head that what I was about to see was something amazing, and I was excited for it.

I may be a traitor to my generation by saying this, but what was all the fuss about?

I just don’t get it. I definitely didn’t walk away with some sort of uplifting or life altering experience. I, in fact, counted the minutes left in the play after the intermission.

But I do have to give RENT some credit. The story line was good, maybe even great. It had at least one story in it that was familiar to anyone in the audience.

A group of friends, connected by failed relationships and some building ones, are trying to survive in New York City. In the midst of just living life and trying to follow their dreams, they find love, friendship and lots of pain.

Along with that, RENT hits at some fairly complicated issues –homelessness, homosexuality and the perceptions that follow, fighting poverty and drug use. These are issues that are important to most people. Real issues that America is facing now.

So, what was said by the play, needed to be said.

It was the music that took away from the play. Some of the lines were witty, while others sounded like children tried to make up words to go along with a melody. The music within the play, whether specific to this production of RENT or not, was mostly terrible.

As with everything, certain things go together — colors, foods and even sounds.

Either Composer Jonathan Larson didn’t know this little known fact, or I didn’t get what he was getting at with trying to make my ears bleed.

While “Seasons of Love” and “Take Me or Leave Me” might be the saving grace for Larson, the sound of the other songs completely take away from the messages within the play.

The only real praise I could give this version of RENT is the fact that the actors really got into the mind and life of their characters. The biggest saving grace being Jed Resnick, who played Mark, the starving artist and camera man. He was brilliant to watch.

While going to see RENT for the student price of $20 is something different, the safer better would be spending the $4 to rent it.

The only thing you’d be missing is mooing with Maureen, and watching her raise her glass and show her … well, you know what.