Rent is a rock musical 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 a life in New York City's East Village in the thriving days
of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. It opened in 1996 and
closed in 2008, with 5,123 performances over its 12 years. The show won a
Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award for Best Musical, and other awards. It contained a
record 42 songs.
Act I
On Christmas Eve
in Manhattan's East Village, two roommates—Mark, a filmmaker, and Roger, a rock
musician—struggle to stay warm and produce their art ("Tune Up #1").
Mark's mother leaves him a voicemail wishing him a merry Christmas and trying to
comfort him since his ex-girlfriend Maureen dumped him ("Voice Mail
#1"). Their friend Collins, a gay anarchist Ivy League tutor, calls and
plans to surprise them at their apartment, but is mugged before entering. At
the same time, Mark and Roger's former roommate Benny, who has since become
their harsh new landlord, has reneged on an earlier agreement and now demands
last year's rent, before shutting down their electrical power ("Tune Up
#2"). However, Mark and Roger rebel and pledge to not pay the rent they
were promised would not be a problem ("Rent"). Meanwhile, a cross-dressing street drummer (currently out of drag)
named Angel finds Collins wounded in an alley and tends to him ("You Okay
Honey?"). The two are immediately attracted to each other, and learn that
they are both HIV positive. Roger also
has HIV which he contracted from his last girlfriend, who committed suicide, causing Roger to fall into a deep
depression. Mark goes looking for Collins ("Tune Up #3"), while Roger
wishes to write one last song to be remembered by before he dies ("One
Song Glory"). An exotic dancer, junkie, and neighbor, Mimi, shows up to
flirt with Roger, but he is clearly hesitant to start a new relationship
("Light My Candle"). Meanwhile, Joanne, a lawyer and Maureen's girlfriend,
receives a voicemail from her parents ("Voice Mail #2").
At last, the
missing Collins enters the apartment, presenting Angel, who is now in full drag and shares the money she made and the
amusing story of how she killed a dog to earn it ("Today 4 U"). Benny
arrives, speaking of Maureen's upcoming protest against his plans to evict the homeless from a lot where he is hoping to build a
cyber arts studio. Benny offers that, if they convince Maureen to cancel the
protest, then Mark and Roger can officially remain rent-free tenants. However,
the two rebuff Benny's offer and he leaves ("You'll See"). Mark must
leave to fix Maureen's sound equipment for the protest, but he unexpectedly
meets Joanne at the stage. They overcome their awkwardness by connecting over
their shared distrust of Maureen's promiscuous behaviors ("Tango:
Maureen"). Mark joins Collins and Angel to film their HIV support group
meeting ("Life Support"), while Mimi attempts to seduce Roger alone
in his apartment ("Out Tonight"). Roger is clearly upset by Mimi's
intrusion and he demands she leave him alone ("Another Day"). After
Mimi leaves, Roger reflects on his fear of dying from AIDS, while the Life
Support group echoes his thoughts ("Will I?").
Collins, Mark,
and Angel protect a homeless woman from police harassment, but she chastises
them ("On the Street"). To lighten the mood, Collins talks about his
dream of escaping New York City to open a restaurant in Santa Fe ("Santa
Fe"). Soon, Mark leaves to check up on Roger and while alone, Collins and
Angel confess their love for each other ("I'll Cover You"). Joanne
hectically prepares for Maureen's show, trying to balance all of the people
calling her at once ("We're Okay"). Before the performance, Roger
apologizes to Mimi, inviting her to come to the protest and the dinner party
his friends are having afterwards. At the same time, police, vendors, and
homeless people prepare for the protest ("Christmas Bells"). Maureen
begins her avant-garde, if not over the top, performance based on "Hey Diddle Diddle" ("Over the Moon"). At
Life Café after the show, Benny criticizes the protest and the group's bohemian lifestyle. In response, Mark and all the
café's bohemian patrons defiantly rise up to celebrate their way of living
("La Vie Boheme"). Mimi and Roger each discover that the other is
HIV-positive and hesitantly decide to move forward with their relationship
("I Should Tell You"). Joanne explains that Mark and Roger's building
has been padlocked and a riot has broken out, just before Roger and Mimi share
their first kiss. The celebration then continues ("La Vie Boheme B").
Act II
The cast lines up
to sing together before the plot of the second act begins ("Seasons of
Love"). Afterwards, Mark and Roger gather to break back into their locked
apartment with their friends ("Happy New Year"). A new voicemail
reveals that Mark's footage of the riot has earned him a job offering at a
tabloid news company called Buzzline ("Voice Mail #3"). The others
finally break through the door just as Benny arrives, saying he wants to call a
truce and revealing that Mimi, a former girlfriend of his, convinced him to
change his mind. Mimi denies rekindling her relationship with Benny, but Roger
is upset, and although they apologize to each other, Mimi goes to her drug dealer
for a fix ("Happy New Year B").
Around
Valentine's Day, Mark tells the audience that Roger and Mimi have been living
together, but they are tentative with each other. It is also told that Maureen
and Joanne are preparing another protest, and during rehearsal, Maureen
criticizes Joanne's controlling behavior and Joanne criticizes Maureen's
promiscuous mannerisms. They break up dramatically coming up with an ultimatum
("Take Me or Leave Me"). Time speeds on to spring ("Seasons of
Love B"), but Roger and Mimi's relationship is strained by Mimi's
escalating heroin usage and Roger's lasting jealousy and suspicion of Benny.
Each alone, Roger and Mimi sing of love and loneliness, telling each other how
they feel, as they watch Collins nurse Angel, whose health is declining due to
AIDS ("Without You"). By the end of the summer, Mark continues to
receive calls offering a corporate job at Buzzline ("Voice Mail #4").
A dance is performed representing all the couples' sex lives ("Contact").
At the climax of the number, the two former couples break up, and Angel
suddenly dies. At the funeral, the friends briefly come together to share their
memories with Collins being the last to reminisce ("I'll Cover You
[Reprise]"). Mark expresses his fear of being the only one left surviving
when the rest of his friends die of AIDS, and he finally accepts the corporate
job offer ("Halloween"). Roger reveals that he is leaving for Santa
Fe, which sparks an argument about commitment between him and Mimi, and between
Maureen and Joanne. Collins arrives and admonishes the entire group for
fighting on the day of Angel's funeral, causing Maureen and Joanne to
reconcile, but not Mimi and Roger. The group shares a sad moment, knowing that
between deaths and leaving, their close-knit friendships will be breaking up.
Everyone leaves except Mark and Roger, and so Mark tries to convince Roger to
stay in New York. Roger, unable to handle Mimi's declining health, becomes
angry with Mark and leaves. Mimi returns to say goodbye, overhears everything
Roger says, and, terrified, agrees to go to rehab ("Goodbye Love").
Collins is forcibly removed from the church for being unable to pay for Angel's
funeral. Benny shows compassion by paying, causing him and Collins to
recuperate their old friendship.
A short time
later, both Mark and Roger are simultaneously reaching an artistic epiphany, as
Roger finds his song in Mimi and Mark finds his film in Angel's memory. Roger
returns to New York just in time for Christmas, and Mark quits his job to work
on his own film once more ("What You Own"). The characters' parents
leave several worried messages on their phones ("Voice Mail #5"), and
on Christmas Eve, exactly one year having passed, Mark prepares to screen his
now-completed film to his friends. Roger has written his song, but no one can
find Mimi for him to play it to. Benny's wife, discovering Benny's relationship
with Mimi, has pulled Benny out of the East Village. The power suddenly blows
and Collins enters with handfuls of cash, revealing that he reprogrammed an ATM
at a grocery store to provide money to anybody with the code (A-N-G-E-L).
Maureen and Joanne abruptly enter carrying Mimi, who has been homeless and is
now weak and close to death. She begins to fade, but not before telling Roger
that she loves him ("Finale"). Roger tells her to hold on as he plays
her the song he wrote for her, which reveals the depths of his feelings for her
("Your Eyes"). Mimi appears to die, but abruptly awakens, claiming to
have been heading into a white light, except that a vision of Angel told her to
go back. The remaining friends gather together in a final moment of shared
happiness and resolve to enjoy whatever time they have left with each other,
affirming that there is "no day but today" ("Finale B”).
