For the last two weeks I have been completely engrossed in the Rent soundtrack, almost as if I were hearing it for the first time. I was so enthused by it that I bought tickets online to see it for what will now be my third time. Unfortunately, I discovered that it currently stars Drew Lachey, of the boy- band 98 Degrees. I cried.

Rent is arguably the most significant Broadway show of the past 15 years. In its first year, the show and its creator, Jonathan Larson, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Obie Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Rent renewed public interest in Broadway and is credited as bringing new life to musical theater. To have Lachey starring as Mark Cohen is the cinematic equivalent of Britney Spears playing Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Rent, in the past few years, has had three (potentially four, depending on your definition) pop stars in leading roles. Joey Fatone of N'SYNC joined the cast in August 2002 and dramatically lowered the bar. Fatone was not equipped to handle the complexities and layers Mark's character embodies. To make matters worse, he was starring opposite Manley Pope who, in addition to being more talented, had been playing Roger for the past four years and was now undeservingly overshadowed by Fatone's celebrity.

The pattern of putting pop stars into the most prominent of musicals continued for the next two years, with the additions of Melanie B (Scary Spice), Frenchie Davis (the woman who was kicked off American Idol for posing nude on a web site) and now Lachey.

Clearly, somebody needs to just start smacking Rent directors Jeff Seller and Kevin McCollom in the face. They need to get Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp back because pop stars clearly cannot meet the bar.

Sadly, this concept has spread beyond Rent. Christina Applegate will soon be playing the title role in Sweet Charity, a role originally played by Gwen Verdun, the woman who defined the characters of both Charity and Chicago's Roxy Hart when her husband directed and choreographed the shows' respective debuts.

While I won't say that Applegate is not talented enough for the role-I haven't seen her in the show yet-I will say with certainly that she is not as talented as Verdun.

I'm also not declaring that all pop stars shouldn't be on Broadway. I would love to see Lauryn Hill in Caroline or Change, and I still think of Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillian as the only person who can play Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. The problem comes when you water down the quality of your show and leave other talented actors waiting tables at Ruby Tuesdays just so that you can charge a few extra bucks per ticket.