Everything Is Rent

Matt Bennett (Victorious, The Big Bang Theory) joins our hosts to brush the sauce onto the meat and explain the choice every Long Island child must make: sports or musical theater. Other topics include the cool girl who got Matt into Rent in middle school, Matt's cool dad who's too cool for Rent, Anthony Rapp's "La Vie Boheme" parody at LeakyCon, and a reimagining of American Idiot starring Tony Shalhoub. #brushthesauceontothemeat

Carrie Poppy (Oh No Ross and Carrie, Hidden Mickeys) traces music all the way back to the first instrument (rocks) and the first musical (wind). She talks to fellow millennials, Sarah and Beth, about seeing Rent on Broadway with the mistaken expectation that "Doogie Howser" was in it, a sexy karaoke performance of "Take Me or Leave Me," and a rude college boyfriend who told Carrie she wasn't good enough to be in Rent.

Philip Labes (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., K.C. Undercover, MORE GUNS!) talks to Beth and Sarah about Rent as well as pretty much every other musical ever. Philip describes working with Anthony Rapp on a movie before ever having seen Rent and prepares for his upcoming nostalgia podcast, Everything is Beyblades. Beth blows minds with the reveal that the song “One Night in Bangkok” is from a musical and Sarah reminisces about her years being “heavy in choir.”

Oscar Montoya (Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, Inside the Disney Vault) is scarf. In addition to being scarf, he tells Sarah and Beth about an all-girls, elementary school production of Rent he saw, his childhood dream of being in Stomp, and he boldly describes “Another Day” as a gender-reversed “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Sarah claims Rent is for “cool kids” and Beth proclaims herself the “Weird Al of Rent.”

Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, an old Harry Potter Musical) joins Sarah and Beth to record many episodes of a new podcast, "Late-2000s Improv Talk." They also talk about Rent, including Rachel's show-stopping Klingon rendition of "Seasons of Love" and the best argument yet for why the characters in Rent should have jobs. And don't forget to join us in our campaign to have Rachel play Maureen in Fox's live version of Rent using #pleasepushthedateback!

Lindsey Kraft (Grace and Frankie, dELiA*s catalog) and Jamie Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos), who grew up together on Long Island, stop by to talk about the simple, catchy harmonies in “Life Support.” Lindsey was never in a musical as a kid, but watched Jamie perform in a ton of them and, one time, she got to sit on the edge of the stage with her legs dangling off and do a solo in a show choir Rent-medley. Jamie gives us the scoop on her audition and multiple callbacks to play Maureen at the Hollywood Bowl.

Demi Adejuyigbe and Kevin T. Porter (Gilmore Guys, Punch Up the Jam, Good Christian Fun) help Beth and Sarah settle an age-old, Laurel-and-Yanni-esque Rent lyric debate. They also improve upon several of the rhymes in Rent, imagine an alternate universe in which “You’ll See” was the breakout hit instead of “Seasons of Love,” and discuss how they’d adapt the movie Chappie into a hot new Broadway musical.

Allegra Ringo and Renee Colvert (Can I Pet Your Dog) join Beth and Sarah to unpack one of the catchiest, but also most problematic Rent songs. Renee, who spent high school with a blown-up picture of Adam Pascal above her bed, explains the questionable logic she used to reconcile being a dog lover AND a Rent lover. In contrast Allegra’s experience with Rent begins and ends with fast-forwarding through the movie in preparation for coming on the podcast.

Well, Joanne, we’re off! You’ll most definitely get “‘90s chills” listening to Kate Spencer (Forever35, The Dead Moms Club) talk about seeing Rent multiple times with ex-boyfriends, performing in the equally groundbreaking Vagina Monologues, and the very mean, Rent-themed antics she got up to in college.