Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create in New York City's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won a Tony Award for Best Musical among other awards. The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008 after a 12-year run of 5,123 performances, the tenth longest-running Broadway show at the time. The production grossed over $280 million.