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Rent
Music: Jonathan Larson
Lyrics: Jonathan Larson
Book: Jonathan Larson
Premiere: Monday, April 29, 1996
1.Intro
2.Tune Up 1
3.Voice Mail 1
4.Tune Up 2
5.Rent
6.You Okay Honey
7.Tune Up 3
8.One Song Glory
9.Light My Candle
10.Voice Mail 2
11.Today 4 U
12.You'll See
13.Tango: Maureen
14.Life Support
15.Out Tonight
16.Another Day
17.Will I
18.On The Street
19.Santa Fe
20.I'll Cover You
21.We're Okay
22.Christmas Bells
23.Over The Moon
24.La Vie Boheme
25.I Should Tell You
26.La Vie Boheme B
27.Seasons Of Love
28.Happy New Year
29.Voice Mail 3
30.Happy New Year B
31.Take Me Or Leave Me
32.Seasons Of Love B
33.Without You
34.Voice Mail 4
35.Contact
36.I'll Cover You-Reprise
37.Halloween
38.Goodbye Love
39.What You Own
40.Voice Mail 5
41.Finale
42.Your Eyes
43.Finale B
(The audience enters in the theatre to discover a stage bare of curtains.
At stage left looms a metal sculpture intended to represent: [a] a totem
pole/Christmas tree that stands in an abandoned lot, [b] a wood burning
stove with a snaky chimney that is at the center of MARK and ROGER's
loft apartment, and [c] in Act II, a church steeple. On stage the
five-musician band performs under a wooden platform surrounded by
railing. The wooden platform has a staircase on the upstage side.
Downstage left is a black, waist-high rail fence. Once the audience is in
the theatre, CREW and BAND MEMBERS move about informally
onstage in preparation for Act I).
ROGER DAVIS, carrying an electric guitar, enters upstage left and
crosses to a guitar amp sitting on a chair at center stage. He casually
plugs his guitar into the amp and adjusts levels, then crosses downstage
and sits on the table.
After a few chords, the COMPANY, led by MARK COHEN, enters from
all directions and fills the stage. MARK sets up a small tripod and a
16mm movie camera downstage center, aimed upstage. He addresses the
audience.)
INTRO
MARK
We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mark, and my roommate, Roger. We
live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th street and Avenue B, the top
floor of what was once a music publishing factory. Old rock 'n' roll posters
hang on the walls. They have Roger's picture advertising gigs at CBGB's and
the Pyramid Club. We have an illegal wood burning stove; its exhaust pipe
crawls up to a skylight. All of our electrical appliances are plugged into one
thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent
city has sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside, we are freezing
because we have no heat.
(He turns the camera to ROGER)
Smile!
TUNE UP #1
December 24th, Nine PM
Eastern Standard Time
From here on in
I shoot without a script
See if anything comes of it
Instead of my old shit
First shot -- Roger
Tuning the Fender guitar
He hasn't played in a year
ROGER
This won't tune
So we hear
He's just coming back
From half a year of withdrawal
Are you talking to me?
Not at all
Are you ready? Hold that focus -- steady
Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger ...
I'm writing one great song --
The phone rings.
Saved!
We screen
Zoom in on the answering machine!
(An actor places a telephone on a chair and we see MARK'S MOM in a
special light.)
VOICE MAIL #1
ROGER & MARK'S OUTGOING MESSAGE
"Speak" ... ("Beeeep!")
MOM
That was a very loud beep
I don't even know if this is working
Mark -- Mark -- are you there
Are you screening your calls --
It's mom
We wanted to call and say we love you
And we'll miss you tomorrow
Cindy and the kids are here -- send their love
Oh, I hope you like the hot plate
Just don't leave it on, dear
When you leave the house
Oh, and Mark
We're sorry to hear that Maureen dumped you
I say c'est la vie
So let her be a lesbian...
There are other fishies in the sea
... Love Mom!
(Lights fade on MOM and answering machine.)
TUNE UP #2
Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger
I'm writing one great song
The phone rings
Yesss!
ROGER & MARK'S ANSWERING MACHINE
(Lights fade up on the street: the front-door area of MARK and ROGER's
building. Nearby is a battered public pay phone. TOM COLLINS stands
at the phone.)
COLLINS
"Chestnuts roasting -"
ROGER & MARK
(as MARK picks up the phone)
Collins!
I'm downstairs
Hey!
Roger picked up the phone?
No, it's me
Throw down the key
(MARK pulls out a small leather pouch and drops it off the apron
downstage center as if from a window; a weighted leather pouch plops
down from "upstairs." COLLINS catches it.)
A wild night is now pre-ordained
(Two THUGS appear from above, with clubs. They are obviously close to
attacking COLLINS, who says back into the phone...)
I may be detained
(THUGS mime beating and kicking COLLINS, who falls to the ground as
lights on him fade)
What does he mean...?
(Phone rings again)
What do you mean "detained"?
(Lights come up on BENNY, who's on a cellular phone.)
BENNY
Ho ho ho
MARK & ROGER
Benny! Shit
Dudes, I'm on my way
Great! Fuck
I need the rent
What rent?
This past year's rent which I let slide
Let slide? You said we were 'golden'
When you bought the building
When we were roommates
Remember - you lived here!?
How could I forget?
You, me, Collins and Maureen
How is the drama queen?
She's performing tonight
I know
Still her production manager?
Two days ago I was bumped
You still dating her?
Last month I was dumped
She's in love
She's got a new man?
Well -- no
What's his name?
BOTH
Joanne
Rent, my amigos, is due
Or I will have to evict you
Be there in a few
(ROGER defiantly picks out Musetta's theme from Puccini's La Boheme
on the electric guitar. The fuse blows on the amp)
The power blows
RENT
(The COMPANY bursts into a flurry of movemen. Then everyone except
MARK and ROGER freezes in a group upstage)
How do you document real life
When real life is getting more
Like fiction each day
Headlines -- bread-lines
Blow my mind
And now this deadline
"Eviction -- or pay"
Rent!
How do you write a song
When the chords sound wrong
Though they once sounded right and rare
When the notes are sour
Where is the power
You once had to ignite the air
And we're hungry and frozen
Some life that we've chosen
TOGETHER
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent
We light candles
How do you start a fire
When there's nothing to burn
And it feels like something's stuck in your flue
How can you generate heat
When you can't feel your feet
And they're turning blue!
You light up a mean blaze
(ROGER grabs one of his own posters)
With posters-
(MARK grabs old manuscripts)
And screenplays
(Lights go down on the loft and go up on JOANNE JEFFERSON, who's
at the pay phone)
JOANNE
(On phone)
Don't screen, Maureen
It's me -- Joanne
Your substitute production manager
Hey hey hey! (Did you eat?)
Don't change the subject Maureen
But darling -- you haven't eaten all day
You won't throw up
The digital delay ---
Didn't blow up (exactly)
There may have been one teeny tiny spark
You're not calling Mark
How do you stay on your feet
When on every street
It's 'trick or treat'
(And tonight it's 'trick')
'Welcome back to town'
Oh, I should lie down
Everything's brown
And uh -- oh
I feel sick
(At the window)
Where is he?
Getting dizzy
(He collapses.)
(MARK and ROGER stoke the fire. Crosscut to BENNY's Range Rover)
(On cellular phone)
Alison baby -- you sound sad
I don't believe those two after everything I've done
Ever since our wedding I'm dirt -- They'll see
I can help them all out in the long run
(Three locales: JOANNE at the pay phone, MARK and ROGER in their
loft, and COLLINS on the ground. The following is sung simultaneously)
Forces are gathering
Can't turn away
Ughhhhh--
Ughhhhh-- I can't think
Ughhhhh-- I need a drink
MARK (reading from a script page)
"The music ignites the night with passionate fire"
Maureen -- I'm not a theatre person
"The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"
Could never be a theatre person
Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground
JOANNE (realizing she's been cut off)
Hello?
And feel the heat of the future's glow
(The phone rings in the loft. MARK picks it up)
Hello? Maureen?
--Your equipment won't work?
Okay, all right, I'll go!
MARK & HALF THE COMPANY
How do you leave the past behind
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart
...
XcarolineeX