Synopsis

Act One

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 during Roger's First Tune Up. Their friend Collins, a gay anarchist professor, leaves a First Voicemail and plans to surprise them at their apartment, but is mugged before entering. At the same time, Roger and Mark'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 during Roger's Second Tune Up. However, Mark and Roger rebel and pledge "We're not gonna pay last year's Rent...". Meanwhile, a cross-dressing street drummer (currently out of drag) named Angel finds Collins wounded in an alley and tends to him, asking "You Okay, Honey?". The two are immediately attracted to each other, and learn that they are both HIV positive. Roger also has HIV, along with his last girlfriend, who committed suicide. Mark goes looking for Collins ("Tune Up #3"), while Roger dreams of writing "One Song Glory, one song before I go...". An exotic dancer and neighbor, Mimi, walks in to flirt with Roger, who is hesitant to start a new relationship. She enters asking to "Light My Candle...". Meanwhile, a Second Voicemail reveals that Joanne, a lawyer, is the new girlfriend of Maureen, a protest artist who recently dumped Mark.

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 attained it, boasting that it's "Today 4 U, tomorrow for me...". 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 they can officially remain rent-free tenants. However, the two rebuff Benny's offer and he leaves, telling them "You'll See...". Mark must leave to fix Maureen's sound equipment for the protest, but he meets Joanne at the stage. They overcome their awkwardness by connecting over their shared distrust of Maureen's promiscuous behaviors. They imagine how this might look like in the form of the "Tango: Maureen". Mark joins his friends to film their HIV "Life Support" meeting, while Mimi attempts to "...go Out Tonight" and seduce Roger alone in the apartment, though he coldly tells her to "Come back Another Day...". After Mimi leaves, Roger reflects on his fear of dying from AIDS, while the life-support group echoes his thoughts. Everyone ends up asking "Will I lose my dignity?".

"On the Street...", Collins, Mark, and Angel protect a homeless woman from police harassment, but she chastises them. Collins talks about his dream of escaping New York City to "Open up a restaurant in Santa Fe...", and, soon, Collins and Angel confess their love for each other, proclaiming "I'll Cover You...". Joanne hectically prepares for Maureen's show, telling everyone "We're Okay", and Roger apologizes to Mimi, inviting her to come to the protest and the dinner afterwards. Police, vendors, and homeless people prepare for the protest, saying that "Christmas Bells are ringing...", and Maureen begins her avant-garde, if not over the top, performance, "Over the Moon", based on "Hey Diddle Diddle". At Life Caf" after the show, Benny criticizes the protest and the group's bohemian lifestyle. In response, Mark and all the caf"'s bohemian patrons defiantly rise up to celebrate their "La Vie Boh"me" lifestyle. Mimi and Roger each discover that the other is HIV-positive and decide to move forward with their relationship, struggling to say "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. Everyone proclaims to live "Viva La Vie Boh?me".

Act Two

The cast lines up to sing "Seasons of Love", before the plot resumes with Mark and Roger gathering to break back into their locked apartment with their friends, believing "It's gonna be a Happy New Year...". A "Third Voicemail" reveals that Mark's footage of the riot has earned him a job offering at a tabloid news company. The others continue their Happy New Year..." and finally break through the door just as Benny arrives, saying he wants to call a truce, 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 Mimi goes to her drug dealer for a fix.

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 cites Joanne's controlling behavior and Joanne cites Maureen's promiscuous mannerisms, and they break up dramatically coming up with the ultimatum "Take Me or Leave Me". Time speeds on to spring ("Seasons of Love B"), but Roger and Mimi's relationship is strained by her 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 "Without You" as they watch Collins nurse Angel, whose health is declining from AIDS. Mark continues to receive calls offering a corporate job at a tabloid television show, as revealed by a "Fourth Voicemail". The couples have devolved into on-and-off relationships. 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 "). On "Halloween" 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. 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. 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. The group shares a sad moment, knowing that between deaths and leaving, their close-knit friendships will be breaking up. Everyone tells each other "Goodbye Love".

Months 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. They both come to the conclusion "You are What You Own...". The characters' parents leave several messages on their phones ("Voicemail #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 A"). Roger tells her to hold on as he plays her the song he wrote for her, "Your Eyes" which reveals the depths of his feelings for her. 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").

((Here we are, another season, a few fresh faces! Here's the place - enjoy and respect the setting, folks!))

He had never seen or heared a performance of Rent prior to this. It wasn't deliberate, just somehow he'd missed it. When one's lives have been spent traversing space, time, and the myriad realms of the multiverse, sometimes thing slip by.

So Eregor approached the role of Benny completely from scratch. He found it intriguing....the best kind of antagonist, one that had a rich history with the leads, and a man who believed in the right of what he was doing. That was no clearer than in "You'll See" when he sang of the studio he envisioned, a place that would make the dreams he and Mark and Roger once shared into reality. He was ruthless—bribing them with free rent?—but rediscovered his compassion and friendships in the end. It was a good arc.

Hex wouldn't miss Saila's performance for anything, having told Garrison a good week in advance, he'd managed to receive the day off. The last thing he wanted was to show up looking nice and reek of engine grease the entire time. Besides, he'd had a few plans ahead of time before his woman's performance that he needed to prepare for.

He even managed to look a tad less like a biker gang Greaser, though not by much. Exchanging the oil-smeared jeans for a pair of freshly bought pale blue ones, a pristine muscle shirt covered by a sleek, midnight blue button-up shirt. Everything else remained the same, right down to the slicked back hair, aviators and biker boots.

Knowing of the movie and play, he hadn't actually set aside the time to see it before hand. Something told him that it wouldn't be the same anyhow, and considering the events that transpired....he'd go ahead and assume he was correct.

Sitting in the theater seat, beaming at the sight of the woman on stage that was awe-inspiring and he even questioned for a moment if she'd maybe found her true calling. She turned the role of Maureen into a masterpiece, leaving him impressed on a multitude of levels.

Though there was a hilarious moment where the big guy had to forcibly keep his jaw from dropping at the unexpected girl-on-girl bestowed on the stage.

Maybe I should've watched the movie before hand...

Though by the end of the performance, those large hands clapping not only for his woman but the performances of each of the actors. They'd all done a grand job, and though musicals weren't exactly the big guy's scene...He had to admit to liking it at the end.

When the show was over, the curtains drawn, he made his way to greet the actress he'd shown up for. Giving her a kiss and a violet rose collected from his elderly neighbor's elaborate and unique rose garden -with permission of course-.

When she seemed to be needed elsewhere, he'd shown his support in a different way, advising her to go with Amare. "Friends and family are important. You go do your thing, we'll celebrate later." A kiss, a farewell and that was the end of it....for now.

"Joanne" I got the part of Joanne?" Sabine stared at the script in her hand as she kept replaying the moment she was given her first role and the casting sheet.

"But?" There were a million reasons going through her head as to why she shouldn't have been cast as Joanne. Most of those thoughts were in bitter reaction to having wanted the part of Mimi. She felt a connection to that character that she had not felt regarding Joanne. She stared at Belle's name typed beside the role of Mimi and her lips pressed into a thin line. It wasn't that Belle wasn't perfect for the part or less qualified. She was beautiful, a type of beautiful that Sabine could never picture herself as being. She was talented, and her audition had been perfectly nailed. But, it was Belle's name there on the line and not Sabine's which was enough to have Sabine looking across the room at Belle with a vacant stare and a forced smile when eye contact was made.

Pushing her hair back off of her face, she turned and headed to the green room only to bump into Saila who looked both excited and nervous. She seemed to know something that Sabine did not.

"So, I guess we're lovers now."

"Excuse me?"

"Joanne and Maureen. I'm Maureen."

"Oh." Sabine looked down to the casting sheet and saw Saila's name printed there.

"Uhm, aren't you like twelve though?" She squinted at the teenager despite the fact that she herself was often times mistaken for younger. That had largely been the reason she wanted to play Mimi. The lyrics from Light My Candle had been one of those things that Sabine connected with. "You look like you're sixteen. I'm nineteen, but I'm old for my age."

Sabine realized her folly and her eyes went wide as she scrambled for something to say that wasn't offensive and didn't reek of her bitterness.

"What I meant is, you have such a youthful face. Maureen is such a mature role. Just was a little surprised but you, you're uhm, you have that sort of bad girl vibe. I'm sure you'll do amazing. Congratulations." Sabine clapped her on the shoulder and skittered off before she said something else she shouldn't.

______________

"What part did you get?"

"Joanne," sighed at Josiah.

"You're not happy about that?"

"I don't connect with her. How am I supposed to play the part of a character I don't connect with in a convincing manner. She's buttoned up and stuffy and has bad hair!"

Josiah chuckled and guided her towards the couch. "You do have beautiful hair, Love." The mangled fingers slipped through the ends of a lock of her hair.

"Right"!" She flopped down and crossed her arms in a pout. "And I have to make out with Saila. That'll be awkward."

Sitting on the coffee table opposite of her, Josiah rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip and nodded. "Awkward," he repeated. He sounded curious, but instead of asking, he just said, "You get to tango though. You love to dance."

"Well that's true," mumbled at him. "but?" She didn't have a good follow up other than crying about not getting what she wanted, which she knew sounded spoiled.

"Sabine," said gently as he nudged her knee, "from what I've heard, running a theater isn't too different from running a ship. A captain knows his crew, even the new ones, and where they are best suited. These directors — they saw something in you, something that was perfect for the role of Joanne. It's not a lead role but she is a major supporting character. What do you even know about the role of Joanne?"

"Not- not much, other than the bad hair and bad clothes and being stuffy thing."

"What about how smart she is" She's a lawyer. She loves making lists. A bit of a control freak but lovable and attentive." There was another nudge to Sabine's knee. "You have the chance to bring Joanne to life.."

"Maybe." Her nose wrinkled up as she tried to ward off a smile. "I do like lists." Okay maybe there were some similarities between she and Joanne. "I'll try."

"I'll be there front and center to cheer you on."

____________________________

Determined to take her role seriously and give it an honest chance, she returned to the theatre the next day well rehearsed and ready to do the first read through.

The rehearsals passed quickly and each day Sabine found herself settling into her role a little more comfortably. Outside of rehearsals, Sabine and Saila practiced their lines together and worked to get past the awkwardness of playing opposite one another. It wasn't that kissing a girl was odd for Sabine, she had done that plenty of times, but this was Saila.

Opening night came and went in a whirlwind. After the show she found a rose carved from wood left in her dressing room. Although the box was unmarked, she knew who had left it and it gave her some comfort to know that Sal and Cane had been there on one of the most important nights of her life. Josiah was there to greet her soon after with a bouquet of wildflowers and to offer his praise. He was given a tour of the backstage area and introduced to some of the cast members that she now felt comfortable calling friends. A final look was given to the stage for the night on their way out.

"I guess the directors do know what they're doing." Quipped to Josiah. Who offered up a knowing smile in response.

"I am in love with theatre. It feels right, like this is where I am meant to be.?

The two week run of Rent flew by and Sabine found herself falling more and more in love with the role of Joanne every night. By the final performance on Saturday she felt rather emotional at it being over so quickly. With Josiah's encouragement, she decided to talk to Mataya about taking on a more permanent position within the theatre to explore this new calling she felt. She finally felt a connection with something, like this was what she was meant to do. There had been moments of hesitation because teaching was all she had ever wanted, but was it her passion' The answer to that was no longer yes.