Those of us who lived through the AIDS crisis remember it all too well. I was living in Boston’s South End during the late eightes and nineties—a heavily gay area— and worked in the fashion industry. AIDS hit hard and close to home. Our friends and neighbors used makeup to cover the telltale bluish marks of Kaposi’s, and every time I went to the NYC shows, we’d hear of another shattering loss. Perry Ellis, Willi Smith, Franco Moschino and so many, many others succumbed to the disease. These days, thanks to powerful anti-retroviral drugs, HIV/AIDS is considered a chronic illness, not a death sentence. And today’s 20 and 30-somethings have no idea what that era was like, when everyone lived in fear and a positive test result meant certain death. The musical, Rent, was the document of that time and I was happy to hear it was coming to the Ivoryton Playhouse, so I could laugh, cry, sing along. And mainly remember a lost generation. See my review below.

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