The Dark Crystal: Age of

Resistance
&
Rent
 Intro
● CTA - Review and share
● Before we start, if you like what you’re hearing, please give us a review on
Apple podcasts and share with friends!
● Tease Part 2 (Rent)
 The Dark Crystal
● Dark fantasy series by Netflix/Jim Henson Company; prequel to the 1982 film.
○ Co-directed by Jim Henson & Frank Oz. Story and world of Thra
developed by Henson and illustrator/designer Brian Froud, who
collaborated on other projects including Labyrinth, and returned to design
for the Netflix series.
○ Considered groundbreaking for its use of animatronics, in combination
with costuming and traditional puppetry
○ Competed in theaters with E.T. and Tootsie, but still got #16 for the year
and remains #4 grossing puppet film all time, while gaining cult status
○ Plans for a sequel eventually resulted in the 2017 comic The Power of the
Dark Crystal. A writing contest by the company resulted in a series of
prequel novels by JM Lee. These established the setting and some of the
characters for the Netflix series, for which Lee is a writer/creative
consultant
 Age of Resistance
● 10 episode series that uses the same techniques as the film, along with CGI
● Directed by French director Louis Leterrier (Transporter 1&2, The Incredible
Hulk, Clash of the Titans, Now You See Me.
● Huge ensemble cast, notably Taron Egerton, Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei),
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Simon Pegg, Jason Isaacs, Benedict Wong, Mark Hamill,
Helena Bonham Carter, Keegan Michael Key, Lena Headey, Andy Samberg,
Bill Hader, Awkwafina, Harvey Fierstein, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Eddie
Izzard, and Sigourney Weaver.
● The series is a fantasy epic set in the world of Thra, where all life originates
from the Crystal of Truth. The Crystal is corrupted and drained by the evil race
of Skeksis, and it’s up to the Gelflings to stop them and restore order.
 Age of Resistance
● Who is this for? Does it fill a niche?
● How does it build on what the movie created?
● How well are CGI elements worked in with practical effects? How does
it differ from the likes of The Hobbit?
● The story doesn’t hold back in the complexity of its worldbuilding. Is it
too much?
● The ensemble is enormous. Who stands out?
● There have been hints of a second season. Should there be? What’s
left?
 Rent - background/OG production
● Beloved rock musical by Jonathan Larson, based on La Boheme, the opera by
Puccini. Semi-autobiographical, Larson’s interactions with art, poverty, LGBT, NYC
● For the original show, Larson wrote the book, music, and lyrics, but died the day
after their final dress rehearsal and never lived to see its success. He was 35.
● Workshopped through the early 90s, opened off-broadway in January 1996, shortly
after Larson’s death, and within months had to move to a larger Broadway theater
to accommodate the crowds. Rare for sung-through (like Phantom)
● Received universal acclaim, won best musical, book, and score at Tony’s, and won
the Pulitzer Prize for Drama - all posthumously for Larson
● Became a cultural phenomenon (kind of like Hamilton) - crazed fans and all
○ Even non-theater folk knew about it
○ Launched careers - Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs
○ Huge leap for representation - trans, queer people of color, HIV-positive, and
people living in poverty were the focus, made theater more accessible
● 9 years later, made into a movie (which is what we watched)
 Rent - 2005 movie adaptation
● 2005 adaptation directed by Chris Columbus, almost the entire original cast
reprising roles (Mimi replaced by Rosario Dawson, Joanne by Tracie Thoms)
● Biggest difference - it wasn’t sung through (so a lot of music cut)
● Mixed reviews, fans were iffy on it too - criticism focused on seeming too
cleaned-up, having removed the grit that made the show so great
○ Subplot about Mark selling out/cleaning up, happened to the show itself
● Ben saw this when it came out and many times since, and has since seen it on
stage a few times. Ben loves it. This was Cody’s first time
● Cody - Did you know the music before?
○ Now that you’ve seen it, thoughts? What did you like/not like?
● What could they have done better?
● Legacy of the movie - arguably helped make the case for Rent LIVE! Which
was not very well-received either, so there’s that
● Movie musicals - are they ever as good as the stage version? Can they be?
 Next queek
● Anything?