Jacket worn by Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Angel in Rent

Wilson Jermaine Heredia wore this jacket as Angel in the original Broadway production of the musical Rent. The jacket is made from a clear plastic drawer liner encapsulating photographs cut from magazines, and was worn during the second act number "Happy New Year" when Angel and Collins arrive at the New Year’s party announcing themselves as James Bond and Pussy Galore. The costume was designed by Angela Wendt.

Rent is a critically-acclaimed and popular rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson that became one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history in its original run from 1996-2008. A modern adaptation of Puccini’s La Boheme, the show follows the story of a group of struggling artists and intellectuals living in Manhattan’s Alphabet City neighborhood as they wrestle with work, drugs, sexuality, identity, the HIV/AIDS crisis, the cost of living, and the meaning of life. The show premiered on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre April 29, 1996 where it ran for 5,123 performances after a successful off-Broadway run at the New York Theatre Workshop beginning in 1993. The musical won 4 1996 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and Larson, who died suddenly just before the off-Broadway premiere, posthumously won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Rent’s breakout success provoked conversations about LGBTQ identity and people living with HIV and AIDS.

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