 RENT
A musical in 2 acts: Book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Based
on Puccini's La Bohème
Originally produced New York Theatre Workshop 29 October, 1995; Off-Broadway
13 February, 1996 (51 perfs); Nederlander Theatre, Broadway - Opened
January 25, 1996
SYNOPSIS
ACT I
The Time: Christmas Eve. The place: New York City-an East Village industrial
loft. Mark, a young filmmaker, sets up his camera. His roommate Roger,
a songwriter and ex junkie, struggles to pick out a song on his electric
guitar. Mark trains the camera on Roger, taunting him a bout his songwriter's
block.
The phone rings: On the answering machine, Mark's mother leaves her son
a consoling, motherly message. Mark, who has just lost his girlfriend,
Maureen, to another woman, screens the call. The phone rings again: Collins,
an old friend, is at a pay phone downstairs. Mark picks up, but the call
is cut short - Collins is being mugged. The phone rings once more. Again
Mark and Roger pick up, hoping it is Collins, only to find Benny, their
wealthy former roommate turned landlord, on the line instead, demanding
the rent. As if things couldn't get any worse, the electrical power blows.
Loudly, Mark and Roger rage. They burn their past to keep warm using
Roger's rock and roll posters and Mark's screenplays for fuel. The past
is not so easily wiped out, though; the phone rings yet again and this
time it's Maureen calling, begging Mark for technical help with her performance
piece scheduled for later that night in the vacant lot next door. Haplessly,
he agrees.
Outside, a badly beaten Collins is discovered by Angel, a street musician,
who offers bandages, comfort, and an invitation for a night on the town.
Their instant attraction becomes a bond with the realisation that both
are HIV-Positive.
In the loft, Mark also urges Roger to come out for the evening, but Roger
refuses. Left alone, he stoically takes his AZT and dreams of writing
one last song to redeem his empty life. He is interrupted by a beautiful
stranger from downstairs, Mimi. Mimi needs a match, her electricity is
down too. She and Roger are instantly drawn to each other, but Roger resists.
Mimi, he recognises, is a junkie.
Elsewhere, Maureen and Joanne's answering machine receives a message
from Joanne's parents, but she is not home to hear it.
At last, Mark returns with Collins, who brings provisions and, better
yet, funds in the person of Angel, now decked out in glorious drag. Angel
explains how he has earned a fast $1,000 which he is eager to share. Benny
barges in with a deal: If Mark and Roger will stop Maureen's performance
tonight protesting the clearing of a tent city from Benny 's adjacent
vacant lot, Benny will forgive Mark and Roger's back rent. Once Benny
is gone, Mark, Angel and Collins head out for the evening, leaving Roger
alone again.
In the lot, Mark gathers his courage to meet the formidable Joanne, Maureen's
new lover, who has also usurped Mark's stage manager duties. When Joanne
reluctantly accepts Mark's technical assistance, the two quickly find
common ground in their shared experiences of the self-centred, unfaithful
albeit irresistible Maureen.
Angel and Collins attend an AIDS Support meeting; Mark arrives to
document it on film. The group affirms its determination to live without
fear;
"no day but today". Meanwhile, in her apartment, Mimi is dressing to kill.
Turning up again on Roper's doorstep, she implores him to take her out.
Roger is tempted, but his fear ultimately compels him to push Mimi away.
Simultaneously, a young support group member quietly asks, "Will I lose
my dignity... Will someone care?" His questions are echoed by each
member of the community, including Roger, who decides finally to leave
his loft room in search of answers.
In the lot, Mark, Angel and Collins rescue a homeless woman from police
harassment. The woman, however, is hardly grateful. Mark, Angel and Collins
fantasise about leaving New York behind to live the good life, far away.
Mark goes to check on Roger, leaving Angel and Collins alone to declare
their new-found love.
Joanne dials Maureen from a payphone, simultaneously juggling two other
calls on her mobile phone. In St. Mark's Place, the homeless, sidewalk
vendors, junkies, drug dealers, and cops comprise a human mosaic. Angel
buys Collins an overcoat, Mark meets up with Roger, and Mimi hunts for
a fix. Roger spots her, apologises for his behaviour in the loft, and
invites her to dinner. She accepts.
Maureen arrives and presents her performance piece, a satirical protest
that calls for a communal "leap of faith" against Benny's commercial
development.
Afterward, everyone meets at the Life Café, where they hear
a gloating Benny declare that Bohemia is dead. Mark and his fellow
bohemians joyously reject Benny's pronouncement. Benny exits in anger,
stopping only long enough to hound Mimi, who is, it would seem, a former
lover. As her beeper sounds, Mimi pauses to take her AZT. Roger discovers
that his secret and his illness are Mimi's also. Exhilarated and frightened,
they resolve to assume the risk of romantic involvement as well.
Joanne has several times been ordered back to the lot by Maureen. Fed
up, she finally rebels, announcing that their relationship is over. She
also informs everyone that a riot has broken out on Avenue A. Benny has
padlocked Mark and Roger's building and called the police. The bohemians
continue to celebrate. The riot continues to rage. Roger and Mimi share
a small, lovely kiss.
ACT II
In the wake of the riot, the community pauses to ask, "How do you measure
the life of a woman or a man?" The unqualified answer- "measure in love".
New Year's Eve. Mark films a "breaking back into the building party".
Mimi and Roger are there and in love. Maureen humbles herself to earn
back Joanne's favour. The celebration is complete when Collins and
Angel arrive with a blowtorch.
Once inside, Mark discovers a phone machine message left for him with
a job offer from a tabloid television show hostess named Alexi Darling.
Benny gate-crashes the party to apologise ostentatiously, offering
the boys new keys to their old loft. Suspecting Benny's motives, Roger
balks. Furious, Benny implies that Mimi helped change his mind by sleeping
with him. Mimi angrily denies this, but the damage is done; Roger is
bitterly jealous. Mimi is cornered outside by her dealer with a little
something to assure her "happy new year."
Valentine's Day. Roger is living with Mimi, but remains terribly jealous,
often threatening to leave. Angel and Collins survive together wherever
they can. Mark still lives behind his camera. At their apartment, a warring
Joanne and Maureen issue each other an ultimatum. Neither backs down-they
split up once again.
Spring. Everyone feels the coming changes. The community asks: "How do
you measure a last year on earth?". Roger walks out on Mimi, accusing
her of being unfaithful with Benny. Alone, Mimi mourns the impending
loss of love, while Collins nurses the increasingly ill Angel. The
end of Spring brings reconciliation for Roger and Mimi, as well as
Maureen and Joanne, but all is tentative at best.
Summer's end, and Alexi is still calling, enticing Mark with big money.
Much love-making is witnessed, framed by attendant frustrations in the
age of safe sex. By the autumn, Roger, Mimi, Joanne and Maureen are all
on the outs again. Collins and Angel's separation, however, is profound
and final. Angel has died.
At Angel's memorial each friend offers a loving tribute. Clutching the
overcoat Angel gave him at Christmas, Collins reaffirms his undying love.
Outside the church, Mark phones Alexi and accepts her job offer, despondent
at how drastically life has changed since that Christmas night just one
year before. As the mourners exit the church, Mimi learns that Roger is
leaving town for good. A nasty scene ensues, with arguments erupting between
all the estranged lovers. Collins, in sorrow, begs them all to stop. Maureen
and Joanne are moved to try once again to reconcile. Mimi and Benny leave
together.
Mark tries to convince Roger to stay in New York and confront his
pain, but Roger lashes out, accusing Mark of also remaining detached,
hiding behind his camera. Mark wonders whether Roger is simply afraid
to watch Mimi die. Mimi appears and lets Roger off the hook, insisting
that she has just come to say goodbye. Roger leaves for Santa Fé and
Mimi begs Mark for help. Benny turns up and offers to pay for Mimi's
drug rehabilitation but she refuses and instead runs away. When Benny
covers the cost of Angel's funeral, he and Collins warm to each other
and head off to get drunk as Mark prepares for his meeting with Alexi.
Mark questions the choice he is about to make and the world in which
he lives. His thoughts are echoed by Roger on his way to Santa Fé.
They both remember the beauty of last Christmas Eve, when they felt
connected, and their friends were a family. Roger begins to discover
his song. Mark turns down the TV tabloid job to finish his film.
Roger, Mark, Mimi and Joanne's parents all wonder where their children
are as the holidays approach.
Another Christmas Eve. Mark has pieced together a rough cut of his film,
which he hopes to screen tonight. Roger has moved back into the loft and
has finished his song. No-one has been able to find Mimi. The power blows
again but the night is brightened by the arrival of Collins. Then Maureen
and Joanne appear on the sidewalk below carrying a desperately ill Mimi.
Laid out in the loft, Mimi finally manages to tell Roger that she
loves him. Begging her not to leave him, Roger sings his "one song" for her.
"I have always loved you," Roger whispers, then cries out her
name as Mimi slips away.
Moments later, however, she returns, with stories of a warm white
light and Angel steering her back to life. Celebrating the wonder of
life's terrible uncertainty, the community re-affirms love as the strongest
force we know, acknowledging there is always, "No day but today."
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