rent is a rock musical. the music and lyrics were written by jonathan larson. the musical is based on the italian opera, "la bohème". the musical opened on broadway at the nederlander theatre on 29 april 1996. it closed on 7 september 2008 after a run of 5,123 performances. it opened on the west end in 2008. in 2005, it was adapted to a movie. "rent" won the tony award for best musical and the pulitzer prize for drama.