all its shows at the 150-seat New York Theatre Workshop. Due to such overwhelming popularity and a need for a larger theater, Rent moved to Broadway's then-under-renovation Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street and opened on April 29, 1996. Sources and inspiration Larson's inspiration for Rents content came from several different sources. Many of the characters and plot elements had been heavily inspired by Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème, the world premiere of which was in 1896, a century before Rents premiere. La Bohème was also about the lives of young struggling artists. Tuberculosis was rife Puccini's opera, replaced by HIV/AIDS in Rent, its modern-day counterpart; 1800s Paris is replaced by New York's East Village in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The names and identities of Rents characters had also been inspired by the names and stories of Puccini's original characters. However, they are not all perfect adaptations of their predecessors. For example, Joanne in Rent represents the character of Alcindoro in Bohème, but is also partially based on Marcello. Joanne was the only character whose predecessor in La Bohème was a different sex. Other examples of parallels between Larson's and Puccini's work include Larson's song "Light My Candle", which draws melodic content directly from "Che gelida manina"; "Quando me'n vo'" ("Musetta's Waltz"), a melody taken directly from Puccini's opera; and "Goodbye Love", a long, painful piece that reflects a confrontation and parting between characters in both Puccini's and Larson's work. "Quando me'n vo'" is paralleled in the first verse of "Take Me or Leave Me", when Maureen describes the way people stare when she walks in the street. It is also directly referred to in the scene where the characters are celebrating their bohemian life. Mark says, "Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song..." Roger plays a quick piece, and Mark adds, "...that doesn't remind us of 'Musetta's Waltz'." This part of "Musetta's Waltz" is also later used in "Your Eyes", a song Roger writes. Rent is also a somewhat autobiographical work, as Larson incorporated many elements of his life into his show. Larson lived in New York for many years as a starving artist with an uncertain future. He sacrificed a life of stability for his art, and shared many of the same hopes and fears as his characters. Like his characters he endured poor living conditions, and some of these conditions (e.g. illegal wood-burning stove,