The Libretto

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Act I
Tune Up #1
Voice Mail #1
Tune Up #2
Rent
You Okay Honey?
Tune Up #3
One Song Glory
Light My Candle
Voice Mail #2
Today 4 U
You'll See
Tango: Maureen
Life Support
Out Tonight
Another Day
Will I?
X-Mo Bells #2/Bummer
Santa Fe
I'll Cover You
We're Okay
Christmas Bells
Over the Moon
La Vie Bohéme
I Should Tell You
La Vie Bohéme B
 		Act II
Seasons of Love
Happy New Year
Voice Mail #3
Happy New Year B
Take Me or Leave Me
Seasons of Love B
Without You
Voice Mail #4
Contact
I'll Cover You: Reprise
Halloween
Goodbye Love
What You Own
Voice Mail #5
Finale A
Your Eyes
Finale B

Italic type indicates spoken lines.
The Libretto is published as performed on
Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre, April 29, 1996.
Variations may occur during a performance.

Act I
(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.)

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
MARK December 24th, nine p.m. / 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
MARK So we hear / He's just coming back / From half a year of withdrawal
ROGER Are you talking to me?
MARK Not at all / Are you ready? Hold that focus - steady / Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger...
ROGER I'm writing one great song -
MARK The phone rings.
ROGER Saved!
MARK (to audience) 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 ANSWERING MACHINE Speak / (Beeep!)
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
MARK Tell the folks at home what you're doing, Roger...
ROGER I'm writing one great song -
MARK (to audience) The phone rings.
ROGER Yesss!
MARK (to audience) We screen.
ROGER & MARK'S ANSWERING MACHINE Speak / (Beeep!)

(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!
COLLINS I'm downstairs
MARK Hey!
COLLINS Roger picked up the phone?
MARK No, it's me
COLLINS 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.)

MARK A wild night is now preordained

(Two THUGS appear from above, with clubs. They are obviously close to attacking COLLINS, who says back into the phone...)

COLLINS I may be detained

(THUGS mime beating and kicking COLLINS, who falls to the ground as lights on him fade)

MARK 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!)
BENNY Dudes, I'm on my way
MARK & ROGER Great! (Fuck!)
BENNY I need the rent
MARK What rent?
BENNY This past year's rent which I let slide
MARK Let slide? You said we were "golden"
ROGER When you bought the building
MARK When we were roommates
ROGER Remember - you lived here!?
BENNY How could I forget? / You, me, Collins and Maureen / How is the drama queen?
MARK She's performing tonight
BENNY I know / Still her production manager?
MARK Two days ago I was bumped
BENNY You still dating her?
MARK Last month I was dumped
ROGER She's in love
BENNY She's got a new man?
MARK Well - no
BENNY What's his name?
MARK & ROGER Joanne
BENNY 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.)

MARK (to audience) The power blows....

Rent
(The COMPANY bursts into a flurry of movement. Then everyone except MARK and ROGER freezes in a group upstage.)

MARK How do you document real life / When real life is getting more / Like fiction each day / Headlines - breadlines / Blow my mind / And now this deadline / "Eviction - or pay" / Rent
ROGER 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
MARK And we're hungry and frozen
ROGER Some life that we've chosen
MARK & ROGER How we gonna pay / How we gonna pay / How we gonna pay / Last year's rent
MARK (to audience) We light candles
ROGER How do you start a fire / When there's nothing to burn / And it feels like something's stuck in your flue
MARK How can you generate heat / When you can't feel your feet
MARK & ROGER And they're turning blue!
MARK You light up a mean blaze

(ROGER grabs one of his own posters)

ROGER With posters-

(MARK grabs old manuscripts)

MARK And screenplays
MARK & ROGER How we gonna pay / How we gonna pay / How we gonna pay / Last year's rent

(Lights go down on the loft and go up on JOANNE JEFFERSON, who's at the pay phone.)

JOANNE 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 / 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

(Lights go up on COLLINS who struggles and stands.)

COLLINS 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" / I should lie down / Everything's brown / And uh - oh / I feel sick
MARK (at the window) Where is he?
COLLINS Getting dizzy (HE collapses)
MARK & ROGER How we gonna pay / How we gonna pay / How we gonna pay / Last year's rent

(MARK & ROGER stoke the fire. Crosscut to BENNY's Range Rover.)

BENNY (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 & ROGER in their loft, and COLLINS on the ground. The following is sung simultaneously.)

BENNY Forces are gathering / Forces are gathering / Can't turn away / Forces are gathering
COLLINS Ughhhh - / Ughhhh - / Ughhhh - I can't think / Ughhhh - / Ughhhh - / Ughhhh - I need a drink
MARK (reading from a script page) "The music ignites the night with passionate fire"
JOANNE Maureen - I'm not a theatre person
ROGER "The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"
JOANNE Could never be a theatre person
MARK (to audience) Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground
JOANNE (realizing she's been cut off) Hello?
MARK & ROGER And feel the heat of the future's glow
JOANNE Hello?

(The phone rings in the loft. MARK picks it up.)

MARK 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 / It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out / 'Til you're torn apart / Rent
ROGER & OTHER HALF OF COMPANY How can you connect in an age / Where strangers, landlords, lovers / Your own blood cells betray
COMPANY What binds the fabric together / When the raging, shifting winds of change / Keep ripping away
BENNY Draw a line in the sand / And then make a stand
ROGER Use your camera to spar
MARK Use your guitar
COMPANY When they act tough - you call their bluff
MARK & ROGER We're not gonna pay
MARK, ROGER & HALF THE COMPANY We're not gonna pay
MARK, ROGER & OTHER HALF OF COMPANY We're not gonna pay
COMPANY Last year's rent / This year's rent / Next year's rent / Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent / We're not gonna pay rent
MARK & ROGER 'Cause everything is rent

You Okay Honey?
(The street in front of the pay phone. A HOMELESS MAN appears above on the right. Across the stage, ANGEL DUMOTT SCHUNARD is seated on the Christmas tree sculpture, with a plastic pickle tub balanced like a drum between his knees.)

HOMELESS MAN Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing / Somewhere else / Not here

(The HOMELESS MAN exits. ANGEL gets a good beat going on the tub, but is interrupted by a moan. HE starts to drum again and sees COLLINS limp to downstage-left proscenium.)

ANGEL You okay honey?
COLLINS I'm afraid so
ANGEL They get any money?
COLLINS No, Had none to get / But they purloined my coat / Well you missed a sleeve! - thanks
ANGEL Hell, it's Christmas Eve / I'm Angel
COLLINS Angel? Indeed / An angel of the first degree / Friends call me Collins - Tom Collins / Nice tree...
ANGEL Let's get a Band-Aid for your knee / I'll change, there's a "life support" meeting / at nine-thirty / Yes, this body provides a comfortable home / For the acquired immune deficiency syndrome
COLLINS As does mine
ANGEL We'll get along fine / Get you a coat, have a bite / Make a night - I'm flush
COLLINS My friends are waiting -
ANGEL You're cute when you blush / The more the merrier - Ho ho ho / And I do not take no

(ANGEL and COLLINS walk off stage right.)

Tune Up #3
(Lights come up on loft.)

ROGER Where are you going?
MARK Maureen calls.
ROGER You're such a sucker.
MARK I don't suppose you'd like to see her show in the lot tonight? (ROGER shrugs) Or come to dinner?
ROGER Zoom in on my empty wallet.
MARK Touche. Take your AZT. / (to audience) Close on Roger / His girlfriend April / Left a note saying, "We've got AIDS" / Before slitting her wrists in the bathroom / I'll check up on you later. Change your mind. You have to get out of the house.

(HE exits)

One Song Glory
ROGER I'm writing one great song before I...

(HE throws guitar pick to the floor in frustration.)

One song / Glory / One song / Before I go / Glory / One song to leave behind / Find one song / One last refrain / Glory / From the pretty boy front man / Who wasted opportunity / One song / He had the world at his feet / Glory / In the eyes of a young girl / A young girl / Find glory / Beyond the cheap colored lights / One song / Before the sun sets / Glory - on another empty life / Time flies - time dies / Glory - One blaze of glory / One blaze of glory - glory / Find / Glory / In a song that / rings true / Truth like a blazing fire / An eternal flame / Find / One song / A song about love / Glory / From the soul of a / young man / A young man Find / The one song / Before the virus takes hold / Glory / Like a sunset / One song / To redeem this empty life / Time flies / And then - no need to endure anymore / Time dies

(ROGER is interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. It is MIMI MARQUEZ, a beautiful stranger from downstairs.)

ROGER The door.

(ROGER crosses to the door.)

Light My Candle
ROGER What'd you forget?

(MIMI enters, holding a candle and looking for a match; her electricity is down, too)

MIMI Got a light?
ROGER I know you - you're - / You're shivering
MIMI It's nothing / They turned off my heat / And I'm just a little / Weak on my feet / Would you light my candle? / What are you staring at?
ROGER Nothing / Your hair in the moonlight / You look familiar

(He lights her candle. MIMI starts to leave, but stumbles.)

ROGER Can you make it?
MIMI Just haven't eaten much today / At least the room stopped spinning. Anyway. What?
ROGER Nothing / Your smile reminded me of
MIMI I always remind people of - who is she?
ROGER She died. Her name was April

(MIMI discreetly blows out the candle)

MIMI It's out again / Sorry about your friend / Would you light my candle?

(ROGER lights the candle. They linger, awkwardly.)

ROGER Well -
MIMI Yeah. Ow!
ROGER Oh. The wax - it's -
MIMI Dripping! I like it - between my -
ROGER Fingers. I figured... / Oh, well. Goodnight

(MIMI exits. ROGER heads back toward his guitar on the table. There is another knock, which he answers.)

ROGER It blew out again?
MIMI No - I think that I dropped my stash
ROGER I know I've seen you out and about / When I used to go out / Your candle's out
MIMI I'm illin' - I had it when I walked in the door / It was pure - is it on the floor?
ROGER The floor?

(MIMI gets down on all fours and starts searching the floor for her stash. She looks back at ROGER, who is staring at her again.)

MIMI They say I have the best ass below 14th street / Is it true?
ROGER What?
MIMI You're staring again
ROGER Oh no / I mean you do - have a nice - / I mean - you look familiar
MIMI Like your dead girlfriend?
ROGER Only when you smile / But I'm sure I've seen you somewhere else -
MIMI Do you go to the Cat Scratch Club / That's where I work - I dance - help me look
ROGER Yes! / They used to tie you up -
MIMI It's a living

(MIMI douses the flame again.)

ROGER I didn't recognize you / Without the handcuffs
MIMI We could light the candle / Oh won't you light the candle?

(ROGER lights it again.)

ROGER Why don't you forget that stuff / You look like you're sixteen
MIMI I'm nineteen - but I'm old for my age / I'm just born to be bad
ROGER I once was born to be bad / I used to shiver like that
MIMI I have no heat - I told you
ROGER I used to sweat
MIMI I got a cold
ROGER Uh-huh / I used to be a junkie
MIMI But now and then I like to -
ROGER Uh-huh
MIMI Feel good
ROGER Here it - um -

(ROGER stoops and picks up a small object: MIMI's stash.)

MIMI What's that?
ROGER Candy-bar wrapper

(ROGER puts it behind his back and into his pocket.)

MIMI We could light the candle

(ROGER discreetly blows out the candle.)

MIMI What'd you do with my candle?
ROGER That was my last match
MIMI Our eyes'll adjust. Thank God for the moon
ROGER Maybe it's not the moon at all / I hear Spike Lee's shooting down the street
MIMI Bah humbug... bah humbug

(MIMI places her hand under his, pretending to do it by mistake.)

ROGER Cold hands
MIMI Yours too / Big. Like my father's / You wanna dance?
ROGER With you?
MIMI No - with my father
ROGER I'm Roger
MIMI They call me / They call me Mimi

(They come extremely close to a kiss. MIMI reaches into his pocket, nabs the stash, waves it in front of his face, and makes a sexy exit.)

Voice Mail #2
(JOANNE's loft. In blackout another phone rings. We see MAUREEN in silhouette.)

MAUREEN Hi. You've reached Maureen and Joanne. Leave a message and don't forget Over the Moon - my performance, protesting the eviction of the homeless (and artists) from the 11th Street lot. Tonight at midnight in the lot between A and B. Party at Life Cafe to follow. / (Beeep!)
MR. JEFFERSON Well, Joanne - we're off / I tried you at the office / And they said you're stage-managing or something
MRS. JEFFERSON Remind her that those unwed mothers in Harlem / Need her legal help, too
MR. JEFFERSON Call Daisy for our itinerary or Alfred at Pound Ridge / Or Eileen at the State Department in a pinch / We'll be at the spa for New Year's / Unless the Senator changes his mind
MRS. JEFFERSON The hearings
MR. JEFFERSON Oh yes - kitten / Mummy's confirmation hearing begins on the tenth / We'll need you - alone - by the sixth
MRS. JEFFERSON Harold!
MR. JEFFERSON You hear that? / It's three weeks away / And she's already nervous
MRS. JEFFERSON I am not!
MR. JEFFERSON For Mummy's sake, kitten / No Doc Martens this time, and wear a dress... / Oh, and kitten - have a merry
MRS. JEFFERSON And a bra!

Today 4 U
(MARK & ROGER's loft.)

MARK Enter Tom Collins, computer genius, teacher, vagabond anarchist, who ran naked through the Parthenon.

(COLLINS carries ANGEL's pickle tub, now filled with provisions.)

MARK & COLLINS Bustelo - Marlboro / Banana by the bunch / A box of Captain Crunch will taste so good
COLLINS And firewood
MARK Look - it's Santa Claus
COLLINS Hold your applause
ROGER Oh hi
COLLINS "Oh hi" after seven months?
ROGER Sorry
COLLINS This boy could use some Stoli
COLLINS, MARK & ROGER Oh holy night
ROGER You struck gold at MIT?
COLLINS They expelled me for my theory of actual reality / Which I'll soon impart / To the couch potatoes at New York University / Still haven't left the house?
ROGER I was waiting for you don't you know?
COLLINS Well, tonight's the night / Come to the Life Cafe after Maureen's show
ROGER No flow
COLLINS Gentlemen, our benefactor on this Christmas Eve / Whose charity is only matched by talent, I believe / A new member of the Alphabet City avant-garde / Angel Dumott Schunard!

(ANGEL sashays in. HE's gorgeously done up in Santa drag, with a fan of twenty-dollar bills in each hand.)

ANGEL Today for you - tomorrow for me / Today for you - tomorrow for me
COLLINS And you should hear her beat!
MARK You earned this on the street?
ANGEL It was my lucky day today on Avenue A / When a lady in a limousine drove my way / She said, "Dahling - be a dear - haven't slept in a year / I need your help to make my neighbor's yappy dog disappear / This Akita - Evita - just won't shut up / I believe if you play nonstop that pup / Will breathe its very last high-strung breath / I'm certain that cur will bark itself to death" / Today for you - tomorrow for me / Today for you - tomorrow for me / We agreed on a fee - a thousand-dollar guarantee / Tax-free - and a bonus if I trim her tree / Now who could foretell that it would go so well / But sure as I am here that dog is now in doggy hell / After an hour - Evita - in all her glory / On the window ledge of that 23rd story / Like Thelma & Louise did when they got the blues / Swan-dove into the courtyard of the Gracie Mews / Today for you - tomorrow for me / Today for you - tomorrow for me

(ANGEL does a fabulous drum and dance solo.)

Then back to the street where I met my sweet / Where he was moaning and groaning on the cold concrete / The nurse took him home for some Mercurochrome / And I dressed his wounds and got him back on his feet / Sing it / Today for you - tomorrow for me / Today for you - tomorrow for me / Today for you - tomorrow for me / Today for you - tomorrow for me

You'll See
(BENNY enters.)

BENNY Joy to the world - hey, you bum - yeah, you, move over / Get your ass off that range rover
MARK That attitude toward the homeless is just what Maureen is protesting tonight. (to audience, holding camera up to BENNY) Close-up: Benjamin Coffin the third, our ex-roommate who married Alison Grey, of the Westport Greys, then bought the building and the lot next door from his father-in-law in hopes of starting a cyber-studio.
BENNY Maureen is protesting / Losing her performance space / Not my attitude
ROGER What happened to Benny / What happened to his heart / And the ideals he once pursued?
BENNY The owner of that lot next door / Has a right to do with it as he pleases
COLLINS Happy birthday, Jesus!
BENNY The rent
MARK You're wasting your time
ROGER We're broke
MARK And you broke your word - this is absurd
BENNY There is one way you won't have to pay
ROGER I knew it!
BENNY Next door, the home of Cyberarts, you see / And now that the block is re-zoned / Our dream can become a reality / You'll see boys / You'll see boys / A state-of-the-art, digital, virtual interactive studio / I'll forego your rent and on paper guarantee / That you can stay here for free / If you do me one small favor
MARK What?
BENNY Convince Maureen to cancel her protest
MARK Why not just get an injunction or call the cops?
BENNY I did, and they're on stand by / But my investors would rather / I handle this quietly
ROGER You can't quietly wipe out an entire tent city / Then watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV!
BENNY You want to produce films and write songs? / You need somewhere to do it / It's what we used to dream about / Think twice before you pooh-pooh it / You'll see boys / You'll see boys / You'll see - the beauty of a studio / That lets us do our work and get paid / With condos on the top / Whose rent keeps open our shop / Just stop the protest / And you'll have it made / You'll see - or you'll pack

(BENNY exits.)

ANGEL That boy could use some Prozac
ROGER Or heavy drugs
MARK Or group hugs
COLLINS Which reminds me - / We have a detour to make tonight / Anyone who wants to can come along
ANGEL Life support's a group for people coping with life / We don't have to stay too long
MARK First I've got a protest to save
ANGEL Roger?
ROGER I'm not much company, you'll find
MARK Behave!
ANGEL He'll catch up later - He's just go other things on his mind / You'll see boys
MARK & COLLINS We'll see boys
ROGER Let it be boys
COLLINS I like boys
ANGEL Boys like me
ALL We'll see

Tango: Maureen
(The lot. JOANNE is reexamining the cable connections for the umpteenth time.)

MARK And so - into the abyss / The lot. Where a small stage is partially set up
JOANNE "Line in"... / I went to Harvard for this...
MARK Close on Mark's nose dive
JOANNE "Line out..."
MARK Will he get out of here alive...?

(JOANNE notices MARK approaching.)

JOANNE Mark?
MARK Hi
JOANNE I told her not to call you
MARK That's Maureen / But can I help since I'm here
JOANNE I hired an engineer...
MARK Great! / So, nice to have met you
JOANNE Wait! / She's three hours late / The samples won't delay / But the cable -
MARK There's another way / Say something - anything
JOANNE (into the mike) Test - one, two, three...
MARK Anything but that
JOANNE This is weird
MARK It's weird
JOANNE Very weird
MARK Fuckin' weird
JOANNE I'm so mad / That I don't know what to do / Fighting with microphones / Freezing down to my bones / And to top it all off / I'm with you
MARK Feel like going insane? / Got a fire in your brain? / And you're thinking of drinking gasoline?
JOANNE As a matter of fact -
MARK Honey, I know this act / It's called the Tango Maureen / The Tango Maureen / It's a dark, dizzy / Merry-go-round / As she keeps you dangling
JOANNE You're wrong
MARK Your heart she is mangling
JOANNE It's different with me
MARK And you toss and you turn / 'Cause her cold eyes can burn / Yet you yearn and you churn and rebound
JOANNE I think I know what you mean
BOTH The Tango Maureen
MARK Has she ever pouted her lips / And called you "Pookie"?
JOANNE Never
MARK Have you ever doubted a kiss or two?
JOANNE This is spooky / Did you swoon / When she walked through the door?
MARK Every time - so be cautious
JOANNE Did she moon over other boys - ?
MARK More than moon -
JOANNE I'm getting nauseous

(They begin to dance, with MARK leading.)

MARK Where'd you learn to tango?
JOANNE With the French Ambassador's daughter in her dorm room at Miss Porter's. And you?
MARK With Nanette Himmelfarb, the rabbi's daughter at the Scarsdale Jewish Community Center.

(They switch, and JOANNE leads.)

MARK It's hard to do this backward.
JOANNE You should try it in heels! / She cheated!
MARK She cheated
JOANNE Maureen cheated
MARK Fuckin' cheated
JOANNE I'm defeated / I should give up right now
MARK Gotta look on the bright side / With all of your might
JOANNE I'd fall for her still anyhow
BOTH When you're dancing her dance / You don't stand a chance / Her grip of romance / Makes you fall
MARK So you think, "Might as well"
JOANNE "Dance a tango to hell"
BOTH "At least I'll have tangoed at all" / The Tango Maureen / Gotta dance 'til your diva is through / You pretend to believe her / 'Cause in the end you can't leave her / But the end it will come / Still you have to play dumb / 'Til you're glum and you bum / And turn blue
MARK Why do we love when she's mean?
JOANNE And she can be so obscene
MARK Try the mike
JOANNE (the word echoes in digital-delay land) My Maureen (reverb: Een, Een, Een...)
MARK Patched
JOANNE Thanks
MARK You know - I feel great now!
JOANNE I feel lousy

(The pay phone rings. MARK hands it to JOANNE.)

JOANNE Hi, honey, we're... / Pookie? / You never called me Pookie / Forget it / We're patched

(SHE hangs up, looks at MARK.)

BOTH The Tango Maureen!

Life Support
(ANGEL & COLLINS attend an AIDS Life Support group. PAUL, the support leader, sits on the downstage railing above. GORDON, one of the members of the group, is standing downstage left, facing the audience. As the mebers enter, they introduce themselves and form a semicircle. Note: The names of the support group members should change every night and should honor actual friends of the compnay who have died of AIDS.)

STEVE Steve.
GORDON Gordon.
ALI Ali.
PAM Pam.
SUE Sue.
ANGEL Hi, I'm Angel.
COLLINS Tom. Collins.
PAUL I'm Paul. Let's begin.
ALL There's only us / There's only this...

(MARK blusters in noisily.)

MARK Sorry...Excuse me...oops
PAUL And you are?
MARK Oh - I'm not - / I'm just here to - / I don't have - / I'm here with - / Um - Mark / Mark - I'm Mark / Well - this is quite an operation
PAUL Sit down Mark / We'll continue the affirmation
ALL Forget regret, or life is yours to miss
GORDON Excuse me Paul - I'm having a problem with this / This credo - / My T-cells are low - / I regret that news, okay?
PAUL Alright / But Gordon - How do you feel today?
GORDON What do you mean?
PAUL How do you feel today?
GORDON Okay
PAUL Is that all?
GORDON Best I've felt all year
PAUL Then why choose fear?
GORDON I'm a New Yorker! / Fear's my life! / Look - I find some of what you teach suspect / Because I'm used to relying on intellect / But I try to open up to what I don't know
GORDON & ROGER (who sings from his loft) Because reason says I should have died three years ago
ALL No other road / No other way / No day but today

Out Tonight
(Mimi's apartment.)

MIMI What's the time? / Well it's gotta be close to midnight / My body's talking to me / It says, "Time for danger" / It says, "I wanna commit a crime / Wanna be the cause of a fight / Wanna put on a tight skirt and flirt / With a stranger" / I've had a knack from way back / At breaking the rules once I learn the games / Get up - life's too quick / I know someplace sick / Where this chick'll dance in the flames / We don't need any money / I always get in for free / You can get in too / If you get in with me / Let's go out tonight / I have to go out tonight / You wanna play? / Let's run away / We won't be back before it's Christmas Day / Take me out tonight (Meow) / When I get a wink from the doorman / Do you know how lucky you'll be? / That you're on line with the feline of Avenue B / Let's go out tonight / I have to go out tonight / You wanna prowl / Be my night owl? / Well take my hand we're gonna howl / Out tonight / In the evening I've got to roam / Can't sleep in the city of neon and chrome / Feels too damn much like home / When the Spanish babies cry / So let's find a bar / So dark we forget who we are / And all the scars from the / Nevers and maybes die / Let's go out tonight / Have to go out tonight / You're sweet / Wanna hit the street? / Wanna wail at the moon like a cat in heat? / Just take me out tonight

(MIMI makes her way to ROGER's door and ends the song in front of him.)

Please take me out tonight / Don't forsake me - out tonight / I'll let you make me - out tonight / Tonight - tonight - tonight

Another Day
(The loft. MIMI plants a huge kiss on ROGER, who recoils.)

ROGER Who do you think you are? / Barging in on me and my guitar / Little girl - hey / The door is that way / You better go you know / The fire's out anyway / Take your powder - take your candle / Your sweet whisper / I just can't handle / Well take your hair in the moonlight / Your brown eyes - goodbye, goodnight / I should tell you, I should tell you / I should tell you, I should - No! / Another time - another place / Our temperature would climb / There'd be a long embrace / We'd do another dance / It'd be another play / Looking for romance? / Come back another day / Another day
MIMI The heart may freeze or it can burn / The pain will ease if I can learn / There is no future / There is no past / I live this moment / As my last / There's only us / There's only this / Forget regret / Or life is yours to miss / No other road / No other way / No day but today
ROGER Excuse me if I'm off track / But if you're so wise / Then tell me - why do you need smack? / Take your needle / Take your fancy prayer / And don't forget / Get the moonlight out of your hair / Long ago you might've lit up my heart / But the fire's dead - ain't never gonna start / Another time - another place / The words would only rhyme / We'd be in outer space / It'd be another song / We'd sing another way / You wanna prove me wrong? / Come back another day / Another day
MIMI There's only yes / Only tonight / We must let go / To know what's right / No other course / No other way / No day but today

(Lights slowly fade up on the Life Support group.)
MIMI & OTHERS
I can't control
My destiny
I trust my soul
My only goal
Is just - to be

ALL
There's only now
There's only here
Give in to love
Or live in fear
No other path
No other way
No day but today

No day but today



No day but today


No day but today




No day but today



No day but today

 ROGER
Control your temper
She doesn't see
Who says that
there's a soul?

Just let me be

Who do you think you are?

Barging in on me and my guitar
Little girl, hey
The door is that way
The fire's out anyway

Take your powder
Take your candle
Take your brown eyes
Your pretty smile
Your silhouette

Another time,
another place
Another rhyme,
a warm embrace
Another dance,
another way
Another chance,
another day
(MIMI and the Life Support group members exit. One person, STEVE, remains at stage right, above.)

Will I?
(Various locations.)

ROGER I'm writing one great song before I...
STEVE Will I lose my dignity / Will someone care / Will I wake tomorrow / From this nightmare?
GROUP #1 Will I lose my dignity / Will someone care / Will I wake tomorrow / From this nightmare?
GROUP #2 Will I lose my dignity / Will someone care / Will I wake tomorrow / From this nightmare?
GROUP #3 Will I lose my dignity / Will someone care / Will I wake tomorrow / From this nightmare?
GROUP #4 Will I lose my dignity / Will someone care / Will I wake tomorrow / From this nightmare?

(ROGER puts on his jacket and exits the loft.)

X-Mo Bells #2/Bummer
THREE HOMELESS PEOPLE Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing - / Out of town / Santa Fe
SQUEEGEEMAN Honest living, man!

(He recoils as though he's almost been run over by a car) Feliz Navidad

(Three POLICE OFFICERS, in full riot gear, enter and approach sleeping BLANKET PERSON. The FIRST OFFICER pokes her with a nightstick.)

HOMELESS PERSON Evening, officers

(Without answering, the FIRST OFFICER raises his nightstick again.)

MARK (pointing his camera) Smile for Ted Koppel, Officer Martin!

(The FIRST OFFICER lowers his stick.)

HOMELESS PERSON And a Merry Christmas to your family
POLICE OFFICERS Right!

(The POLICE OFFICERS stride offstage. MARK continues to film BLANKET PERSON.)

BLANKET PERSON (To MARK) Who the fuck do you think you are? / I don't need no goddamn help / From some bleeding heart cameraman / My life's not for you to / Make a name for yourself on!
ANGEL Easy sugar, easy / He was just trying to -
BLANKET PERSON Just trying to use me to kill his guilt / It's not that kind of movie, honey / Let's go - this lot is full of / Motherfucking artists / Hey artist / Gotta dollar? / I thought not

(BLANKET PERSON crosses to downstage left with another HOMELESS PERSON.)

Santa Fe
(The Street.)

ANGEL New York City -
MARK Uh-huh
ANGEL Center of the universe
COLLINS Sing it girl -
ANGEL Times are shitty / But I'm pretty sure they can't get worse
MARK I hear you
ANGEL It's a comfort to know / When you're singing the hit-the-road blues / That anywhere else you could possibly go / After New York would be a pleasure cruise
COLLINS Now you're talking / Well, I'm thwarted by a metaphysic puzzle / And I'm sick of grading papers that - I know / And I'm shouting in my sleep, I need a muzzle / All this misery pays no salary, so / Let's open up a restaurant / In Santa Fe / Oh sunny Santa Fe would be nice / Let's open up a restaurant in Santa Fe / And leave this to the roaches and mice / Oh - oh
ALL Oh -
ANGEL You teach?
COLLINS I teach - computer-age philosophy / But my students would rather watch TV
ANGEL America
ALL America!
COLLINS You're a sensitive aesthete / Brush the sauce onto the meat / You could make the menu sparkle with rhyme / You could drum a gentle drum / I could seat guests as they come / Chatting not about Heidegger, but wine!
COLLINS (with HOMELESS PEOPLE in the shadows) Let's open up a restaurant in Santa Fe
ALL Santa Fe
COLLINS Our labors would reap financial gains
ALL Gains, gains, gains
COLLINS We'll open up a restaurant in Santa Fe
ALL Santa Fe
COLLINS And save from devastation our brains
HOMELESS PEOPLE Save our brains
COLLINS We'll pack up all our junk and fly so far away / Devote ourselves to projects that sell / We'll open up a restaurant in Santa Fe ALL Santa Fe
COLLINS Forget this cold Bohemian hell / Oh -
ALL Oh -
COLLINS Do you know the way to Santa Fe? / You know, tumbleweeds...prairie dogs... / Yeah

I'll Cover You
(The street.)

MARK I'll meet you at the show. I'll try and convince Roger to go.

(MARK exits)

ANGEL Alone at last.
COLLINS He'll be back - I guarantee.
ANGEL I've been hearing violins all night.
COLLINS Anything to do with me? Are we a thing?
ANGEL Darling - we're everything.
Live in my house / I'll be your shelter / Just pay me back / With one thousand kisses / Be my lover - I'll cover you
COLLINS Open your door / I'll be your tenant / Don't got much baggage / To lay at your feet / But sweet kisses I've got to spare / I'll be there - I'll cover you
BOTH I think they meant it / When they said you can't buy love / Now I know you can rent it / A new lease you are, my love / On life - be my life

(THEY do a short dance)

BOTH Just slip me on / I'll be your blanket / Wherever - whatever - I'll be your coat
ANGEL You'll be my king / And I'll be your castle
COLLINS No you'll be my queen / And I'll be your moat
BOTH I think they meant it / When they said you can't buy love / Now I know you can rent it / A new lease you are, my love / On life / All my life / I've longed to discover / Something as true as this is
COLLINS
So with a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you

With a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you


When you're worn out and tired


When your heart
has expired

ANGEL

If you're cold and you're lonely


You've got one nickel only

With a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you

With a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you

BOTH Oh lover I'll cover you / Oh lover I'll cover you

We're Okay
(At the pay phone.)

JOANNE (on cellular phone) Steve - Joanne / The Murget case? / A dismissal! / Good work, counselor

(The pay phone rings. JOANNE answers it and begins a conversation with MAUREEN simultaneously juggling two other calls on her cellular phone.)

We're okay / Honeybear - wait! / I'm on the other phone / Yes, I have the cowbell / We're okay / (into cellular phone) So tell them we'll sue / But a settlement will do / Sexual harassment - and civil rights, too / Steve, you're great / (into pay phone) No you cut the paper plate / Didja cheat on Mark a lot would you say? / We're okay / Honey, hold on... / (into cellular phone) Steve...hold on...

(JOANNE presses the call-waiting button on the cellular phone.)

Hello? / Dad - yes / I beeped you / Maureen is coming to Mother's hearing / We're okay / (into pay phone) Honeybear - what? / Newt's lesbian sister / I'll tell them / (into cellular phone) You heard? / (into pay phone) They heard / We're okay / (into cellular phone) And to you, Dad

(JOANNE presses the call-waiting as she speaks into the pay phone.)

Oh - Jill is there? / (into cellular phone) Steve, gotta go - / (into pay phone) Jill with the short black hair? / The Calvin Klein model? / (into cellular phone) Steve, gotta go! / (into pay phone) The model who lives in Penthouse A? / We're / We're okay / I'm on my way

Christmas Bells
(Various locations, St. Marks Place.)

FIVE HOMELESS PEOPLE Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are singing / On TV - at Saks
SQUEEGEEMAN Honest living, honest living / Honest living, honest living / Honest living, honest living
FIVE HOMELESS PEOPLE Can't you spare a dime or two / Here but for the grace of God go you / You'll be merry / I'll be merry / Tho' merry ain't in my vocabulary / No sleighbells / No Santa Claus / No yule log / No tinsel / No holly / No hearth / No
SOLOIST Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
ALL FIVE Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer / No room at the Holiday Inn - oh no

(A few flakes of snow begin to descend.)

And it's beginning to snow

(The stage suddenly explodes with life! The scene is St. Mark's Place on Christmas Eve - an open-air bazaar of color, noise, and movement.)

VENDORS Hats, bats, shoes, booze / Mountain bikes, potpourri / Leather bags, girlie mags / Forty-fives, AZT
VENDOR #1 No one's buying / Feel like crying
ALL No room at the Holiday Inn, oh no / And it's beginning to snow

(Lights up on one woman, who is showing off a collection of stolen coats to COLLINS and ANGEL.)

VENDOR #2 How about a fur - / In perfect shape / Owned by an MBA from uptown / I got a tweed / Broken in by a greedy / Broker who went broke / And then broke down
COLLINS You don't have to do this
ANGEL Hush your mouth, it's Christmas
COLLINS I do not deserve you, Angel

COLLINS
Give - give
All you do
Is give
Give me some
way to show
How much you've touched me so

 ANGEL
Wait - what's on
the floor?
Let's see some more

No - No - No...
ANGEL Kiss me - it's beginning to snow

(Lights focus on MARK and ROGER on right above.)

MARK ...She said, "Would you light my candle" / And she put on a pout / And she wanted you / To take her out tonight?
ROGER Right
MARK She got you out!
ROGER She was more than okay / But I pushed her away / It was bad - I got mad / And I had to get her out of my sight
MARK Wait, wait, wait - you said she was sweet
ROGER Let's go eat - I'll just get fat / It's the one vice left - when you're dead meat

(MIMI has entered looking furtively for THE MAN.)

ROGER There - that's her
MARK Maureen?
ROGER Mimi!
MARK Whoa!
ROGER I should go.
MARK Hey - it's beginning to snow

(The POLICE OFFICERS, in riot gear, enter above.)

POLICE OFFICERS I'm dreaming of a white, right Christmas

(POLICE OFFICERS exit.)

MIMI & JUNKIES Follow the man - follow the man / With his pockets full of the jam / Follow the man - follow the man / Help me out, daddy / If you can / Got any D man?
THE MAN I'm cool
MIMI & JUNKIES Got any C man?
THE MAN I'm cool
MIMI & JUNKIES Got any X / Any smack / Any horse / Any jugie boogie, boy / Any blow?

(ROGER pulls MIMI aside.)

ROGER Hey
MIMI Hey
ROGER I just want to say / I'm sorry for the way -
MIMI Forget it
ROGER I blew up / Can I make it up to you?
MIMI How?
ROGER Dinner party?
MIMI That'll do
THE MAN Hey lover-boy - cutie pie / You steal my client - you die
ROGER You didn't miss me - you won't miss her / You'll never lack for customers
JUNKIES I'm willin' / I'm illin' / I gotta get my sickness off / Gotta run, gotta ride / Gotta gun, gotta hide - gotta go
THE MAN And it's beginning to snow

(BENNY enters, talking on his cellular phone.)

BENNY Wish me luck Alison - / The protest is on
COAT VENDOR
L.L Bean,
Geoffrey Beene,
Burberry zip-out
lining

 JUNKIES
Got any C man?
Got any D man?
Got any B man?
Got any crack?
Got any X?
SQUEEGEEMAN Honest living -
ROGER Mark, this is Mimi -
MARK & MIMI Hi
ROGER She'll be dining - with us
COAT VENDOR Here's a new arrival
THE MAN That is an ounce
VENDORS Hats, dats, bats
COLLINS That's my coat!
COAT VENDOR We give discounts
MARK I think we've met
ANGEL Let's get a better one
COLLINS It's a sham
MIMI That's what he said
THE MAN I said it's a gram!
COLLINS But she's a thief!
ANGEL But she brought us together
BENNY Which investor is coming?
COLLINS I'll take the leather
BENNY Your father? - damn!

(The following is sung simultaneously.)

HOMELESS & VENDORS Christmas bells are swinging / Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are singing / In my dreams - next year / Once you donate you can go / Celebrate in Tuckahoe / You'll feel cheery / I'll feel cheery / Tho' I don't really know that theory / No bathrobe / No steuben glass / No cappuccino makers / No pearls, no diamonds / No "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" / Chestnuts roasting on an open fire / No room at the Holiday Inn, Oh no -
POLICE OFFICERS I'm dreaming of a white Christmas / Just like the ones I used to know / Jingle bells - prison cells / Fa la la la - fa la la la / You have the right to remain / Silent night holy night / Fall on your knees oh night divine / You'll do some time / Fa la la la la / Fa la la la la
JUNKIES Got any C man? / Got any D man? / Got any B man? Got any X? - Crack? / I'm willin' - I'm illin' / Gotta get my sickness off / C-D help me / Follow the man - follow the man / Follow the man / Jugie boogie - jugie boogie / Follow the man - follow the man / Any crack any X any jugie boogie boy / Any blow any X, any jugie boogie boy / Got any D man, got any C man / Got any crack any X, any jugie boogie?
COAT VENDOR Twenty-five
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-five
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-five
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR No way / Twenty-four
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-four
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-four
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Not today / Twenty-three
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-three
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-three
ANGEL Fifteen / It's old
COAT VENDOR Twenty-two
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Twenty-one
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Seventeen
ANGEL Fifteen
COAT VENDOR Fifteen
ANGEL & COAT VENDOR Sold!
MARK & ROGER Let's / Go to / The lot - Maureen's performing
MIMI Who's Maureen?
ROGER His ex
MARK But I am over her
ROGER Let's / Not / Hold hands yet
MIMI Is that a warning?
ALL THREE He - you - I / Just / Need(s) / To take it slow / I should tell you I should tell you / I should tell you I should tell you / I should tell you I...
ALL And it's beginning to / And it's beginning to / And it's beginning to -

(Lights blackout and a blinding headlight comes through the door. As it reaches downstage, the lights come up and reveal MAUREEN.)

MAUREEN Joanne, which way to the stage?
ALL Snow!!!

(Blackout.)

Over the Moon
(The Lot.)

MARK Maureen's performance.

(MAUREEN stands in front of a microphone.)

MAUREEN Last night I had a dream. I found myself in a desert called Cyberland. It was hot. My canteen had sprung a leak and I was thirsty. Out of the abyss walked a cow - Elsie. I asked if she had anything to drink. She said, "I'm forbidden to produce milk. In Cyberland, we only drink Diet Coke." (reverb: Coke, Coke, Coke) She said, "Only thing to do is jump over the moon. They've closed everything real down...like barns, troughs, performance spaces...and replaced it all with lies and rules and virtual life. (reverb: Life, Life, Life) But there is a way out..."
BACKUPS Leap of faith, leap of faith / Leap of faith, leap of faith
MAUREEN Only thing to do is jump over the moon / I gotta get out of here! It's like I'm being tied to the hood of a yellow rental truck, packed in with fertilizer and fuel oil, pushed over a cliff by a suicidal Mickey Mouse! - I've gotta find a way

MAUREEN
To jump over
the moon
Only thing to do is
jump over the moon 		BACKUPS

Leap of faith, etc.

MAUREEN Then a little bulldog entered. His name (we have learned) was Benny. And although he once had principles, He abandoned them to live as a lap dog to a wealthy daughter of the revolution. "That's bull," he said. "Ever since the cat took up the fiddle, that cow's been jumpy. And the dish and the spoon were evicted from the table - and eloped... She's had trouble with that milk and the moon ever since. Maybe it's a female thing, 'cause who'd want to leave Cyberland anyway? ...Walls ain't so bad. The dish and the spoon for instance. They were down on their luck - knocked on my doghouse door. I said, 'Not in my backyard, utensils! Go back to China!' The only way out is up." Elsie whispered to me, "A leap of faith. Still thirsty?" she asked. Parched. "Have some milk." I lowered myself beneath her swollen udder and sucked the sweetest milk I'd ever tasted.

(MAUREEN makes a slurping, sucking sound.)

"Climb on board," she said. And as a harvest moon rose over Cyberland, we reared back and sprang into a gallop. Leaping out of orbit!
MAUREEN
I awoke singing
Only thing to do
Only thing to do is jump
Only thing to do is jump over the moon
Only thing to do is jump over the moon
Over the moon - over the
Moooooooo
Moooooooo
Moooooooo
Moo with me

 BACKUPS
Leap of faith, etc.

(MAUREEN encourages the audience to moo with her. SHE says, "C'mon, sir, moo with me," etc. The audience responds. When the "moos" reach a crescendo, she cuts them off with a big sweep of her arms.)

Thank you.

(Blackout.)

La Vie Bohéme
(Life Cafe. Downstage right, the PRINCIPALS have lined up and are waiting to be seated. A large table is situated down center. Down and to the right, BENNY & MR. GREY are seated at a smaller table. The RESTAURANT MAN tries to shoo our friends out.)

RESTAURANT MAN No, please, no / Not tonight, please, no / Mister - can't you go - / Not tonight - can't have a scene
ROGER What?
RESTAURANT MANGo, please go - / You - hello, sir - / I said no / Important customer
MARK What am I - just a blur?
RESTAURANT MAN You sit all night - you never buy!
MARK That's a lie - that's a lie / I had a tea the other day
RESTAURANT MAN You couldn't pay
MARK Oh yeah
COLLINS Benjamin Coffin the third - here?
RESTAURANT MAN Oh no
ALL Wine and beer!
MAUREEN The enemy of Avenue A / We'll stay

(THEY sit.)

RESTAURANT MAN Oy vey!
COLLINS What brings the mogul in his own mind to the Life Cafe?
BENNY I would like to propose a toast / To Maureen's noble try / It went well
MAUREEN Go to hell
BENNY Was the yuppie scum stomped / Not counting the homeless / How many tickets weren't comped
ROGER Why did Muffy -
BENNY Alison
ROGER Miss the show?
BENNY There was a death in the family / If you must know
ANGEL Who died?
BENNY Our Akita
BENNY, MARK, ANGEL & COLLINS Evita
BENNY Mimi - I'm surprised / A bright and charming girl like you / Hangs out with these slackers / (Who don't adhere to deals) / They make fun - Yet I'm the one / Attempting to do some good / Or do you really want a neighborhood / Where people piss on your stoop every night? / Bohemia, Bohemia's / A fallacy in your head / This is Calcutta / Bohemia is dead

(The BOHEMIANS immediately begin to enact a mock funeral, with MARK delivering the "eulogy.")

MARK Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes
COLLINS & ROGER Dies irae - dies illa / Kyrie eleison / Yitgadal V'Yitkadash, etc.
MARK Here she lies / No one knew her worth / The late great daughter of mother earth / On this night when we celebrate the birth / In that little town of Bethlehem / We raise our glass - you bet your ass to - (MAUREEN flashes hers) / La Vie Bohéme
ALL La Vie Bohéme / La Vie Bohéme / La Vie Bohéme / La Vie Bohéme
MARK To days of inspiration, / Playing hookie, making something / Out of nothing, the need / To express - / To communicate, / To going against the grain, / Going insane, / Going mad / To loving tension, no pension / To more than one dimension, / To starving for attention, / Hating convention, hating pretension, / Not to mention of course, / Hating dear old Mom and Dad / To riding your bike, / Midday past the three-piece suits - / To fruits - to no absolutes - / To Absolute - to choice - / To the Village Voice - / To any passing fad / To being an us - for once - / Instead of a them -
ALL La Vie Bohéme / La Vie Bohéme

(JOANNE enters.)

MAUREEN Is the equipment in a pyramid?
JOANNE It is, Maureen
MAUREEN The mixer doesn't have a case / Don't give me that face

(MAUREEN smacks JOANNE's ass as she exits. MR. GREY reacts.)

MR. GREY Ahhemm!
MAUREEN Hey Mister - she's my sister
RESTAURANT MAN So that's five miso soup, four seaweed salad / Three soy burger dinner, two tofu dog platter / And one pasta with meatless balls
A BOY Ugh
COLLINS It tastes the same
MIMI If you close your eyes
RESTAURANT MAN And thirteen orders of fries / Is that it here?
ALL Wine and beer!
MIMI & ANGEL To handcrafted beers made in local breweries / To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese / To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo / To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou
MAUREEN & COLLINS Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion / Creation, vacation
MARK Mucho masturbation
MAUREEN & COLLINS Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new
COLLINS To Sontag
ANGEL To Sondheim
FOUR PEOPLE To anything taboo
COLLINS & ROGER Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham and Cage
COLLINS Lenny Bruce
ROGER Langston Hughes
MAUREEN To the stage
PERSON #1 To Uta
PERSON #2 To Buddha
PERSON #3 Pablo Neruda, too
MARK & MIMI Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow / To blow off Auntie Em
ALL La Vie Bohéme

(JOANNE returns.)

MAUREEN And wipe the speakers off before you pack
JOANNE Yes, Maureen
MAUREEN Well - hurry back

(MAUREEN & JOANNE kiss.)

MR. GREY Sisters?
MAUREEN We're close

(ANGEL jumps on top of COLLINS, who's on the table. They kiss.)

ANGEL, COLLINS, MAUREEN, MARK & MR. GREY Brothers!
MARK, ANGEL, MIMI & THREE OTHERS Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens / Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee-Wee Herman / German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein / Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa / "Carmina Burana"
ALL To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy / Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC, / To no shame - never playing the fame game
COLLINS To marijuana
ALL To sodomy / It's between God and me / To S & M

(MR. GREY walks out.)

BENNY Waiter...waiter...waiter
ALL La Vie Bohéme
COLLINS In honor of the death of Bohemia, an impromptu salon will commence immediately following dinner... Mimi Marquez, clad only in bubble wrap, will perform her famous lawn-chair-handcuff dance to the sounds of iced tea being stirred
ROGER Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability to hold an erection on the high holy days

(ROGER picks up an electric guitar and starts to tune it.)

MARK Maureen Johnson, back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the 11th Street lot, will sing Native American tribal chants backward through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric cello - which she has never studied.

(At this point, JOANNE has entered and seen MAUREEN playfully kiss MARK. JOANNE exits. BENNY pulls MIMI aside.)

BENNY Your new boyfriend doesn't know about us?
MIMI There's nothing to know
BENNY Don't you think that we should discuss -
MIMI It was three months ago
BENNY He doesn't act like he's with you
MIMI We're taking it slow
BENNY Where is he now?
MIMI He's right - Hmm
BENNY Uh-huh
MIMI Where'd he go?
MARK Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song

(ROGER picks up a guitar and plays Musetta's theme.)

MARK That doesn't remind us of "Musetta's Waltz"
COLLINS Angel Dumott Schunard will now model the latest fall fashions from Paris while accompanying herself on the ten gallon plastic pickle-tub
ANGEL And Collins will recount his exploits as an anarchist - including the tale of his successful reprogramming of the MIT virtual-reality equipment to self-destruct as it broadcast the words
ALL "Actual reality - act up - fight AIDS"
BENNY Check!

(BENNY exits. Lights on MIMI and ROGER.)

MIMI Excuse me - did I do something wrong? / I get invited - then ignored - all night long
ROGER I've been trying - I'm not lying / No one's perfect - I've got baggage
MIMI Life's too short - babe - time is flying / I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine
ROGER I should tell you -
MIMI I've got baggage too
ROGER I should tell you
BOTH Baggage - wine -
OTHERS And beer!

(Several beepers sound. Each turns off his or her beeper.)

MIMI AZT break

(MIMI, ROGER, ANGEL & COLLINS take pills.)

ROGER You?
MIMI Me. You?
ROGER Mimi

(They hold hands and stare into each other's eyes lovingly. The rest of the COMPANY freezes.)

I Should Tell You
ROGER I should tell you I'm disaster / I forget how to begin it
MIMI Let's just make this part go faster / I have yet to - be in it / I should tell you
ROGER I should tell you
MIMI I should tell you
ROGER I should tell you
MIMI I should tell you I blew the candle out / Just to get back in
ROGER I'd forgotten how to smile / Until your candle burned my skin
MIMII should tell you
ROGER I should tell you
MIMI I should tell you
BOTH I should tell / Well, here we go / Now we -
MIMI Oh no
ROGER I know - this something is / Here goes -
MIMI Here goes
ROGER Guess so / It's starting to / Who knows -
MIMI Who knows
BOTH Who knows where / Who goes there / Who knows / Here goes / Trusting desire - starting to learn / Walking through fire without a burn / Clinging - a shoulder, a leap begins / Stinging and older, asleep on pins / So here we go / Now we -
ROGER Oh no
MIMI I know
ROGER Oh no
BOTH Who knows where - who goes there / Here goes - here goes / Here goes - here goes / Here goes - here goes

La Vie Bohéme B
(ROGER and MIMI exit. JOANNE reenters, obviously steamed.)

MAUREEN Are we packed?
JOANNE Yes and by next week / I want you to be
MAUREEN Pookie?
JOANNE And you should see / They've padlocked your building / And they're rioting on Avenue B / Benny called the cops
MAUREEN That fuck
JOANNE They don't know what they're doing / The cops are sweeping the lot / But no one's leaving / They're just sitting there, mooing!
ALL Yea!!!

(Pandemonium erupts in the restaurant.)

ALL To dance!
A GIRL No way to make a living, masochism, pain, perfection, / Muscle spasms, chiropractors, short careers, eating disorders
ALL Film
MARK Adventure, tedium, no family, boring locations, / Dark rooms, perfect faces, egos, money, Hollywood and sleaze
ALL Music
ANGEL Food of love, emotion, mathematics, isolation, rhythm, / Feeling, power, harmony, and heavy competition
ALL Anarchy
COLLINS & MAUREEN Revolution, justice, screaming for solutions, / Forcing changes, risk, and danger, making noise and making pleas
ALL To faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross-dressers too
MAUREEN To me
MARK To me
COLLINS & ANGEL To me
ALL To you, and you and you, you and you / To people living with, living with, living with / Not dying from disease / Let he among us without sin / Be the first to condemn / La Vie Bohéme / La Vie Bohéme / La Vie Bohéme

MARK
Anyone out of the mainstream
Is anyone in the mainstream?
Anyone alive - with
a sex drive
Tear down the wall
Aren't we all
The opposite of war isn't peace...
It's creation
 		ALL

La Vie Bohéme

La Vie Bohéme

La Vie Bohéme
ALL La Vie Bohéme
MARK The riot continues. The Christmas tree goes up in flames. The snow dances. Oblivious, Mimi and Roger share a small, lovely kiss.
ALL Viva la Vie Bohéme

End of Act One

Act II
(The COMPANY enters from all directions and forms a line across the apron of the stage.)

Seasons of Love
COMPANY Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Six hundred minutes / Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Moments so dear / Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Six hundred minutes / How do you measure - measure a year? / In daylights - in sunsets / In midnights - in cups of coffee / In inches - in miles / In laughter - in strife / In - Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Six hundred minutes / How do you measure / A year in the life? / How about love? / How about love? / How about love? / Measure in love / Seasons of love / Seasons of love
SOLOIST #1 Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Six hundred minutes / Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Journeys to plan / Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Six hundred minutes / How do you measure the life / Of a woman or a man?
SOLOIST #2 In truths that she learned / Or in times that he cried / In bridges he burned / Or the way that she died
ALL It's time now - to sing out / Tho' the story never ends / Let's celebrate / Remember a year in the life of friends / Remember the love / Remember the love / Remember the love / Measure in love
SOLOIST #1 Measure, measure your life in love / Seasons of love / Seasons of love

Happy New Year
(New Year's Eve. The scene opens on the street outside the apartment. One table, lying on its end, serves as the door.)

MARK (carrying mock door) Pan to the padlocked door. New Year's-Rocking Eve. The breaking-back-into-the-building party…

(ROGER & MIMI try in vain to pry a padlock from the door. They appear to be happy.)

MIMI How long 'til next year?
ROGER Three-and-a-half minutes…
MIMI I'm giving up my vices / I'm going back - back to school / Eviction or not / This week's been so hot / That long as I've got you / I know I'll be cool / I couldn't crack the love code, dear / 'Til you made the lock on my heart explode / It's gonna be a happy new year / A happy new year

(MARK enters the scene.)

MARK Coast is clear / You're supposed to be working / That's for midnight / Where are they? / There isn't much time
MIMI Maybe they're dressing / I mean what does one wear that's apropos / For a party - that's also a crime

(MAUREEN enters wearing a skintight "cat burglar" suit and carrying a bag of potato chips.)

MAUREEN Chips, anyone?
MARK You can take the girl out of Hicksville / But you can't take the Hicksville out of the girl
MAUREEN My riot got you on TV / I deserve a royalty
MIMI Be nice, you two / Or no God-awful champagne

(MAUREEN takes out a cellular phone and dials.)

MAUREEN Don't mind if I do / No luck?
ROGER Bolted plywood, padlocked with a chain / A total dead end
MAUREEN Just like my ex-girlfriend / (on cellular phone) Honey...? / I know you're there / Please pick up the phone / Are you okay? / It's not funny / It's not fair / How can I atone? / Are you okay? / I lose control / But I can learn to behave / Give me one more chance / Let me be your slave / I'll kiss your Doc Martens / Let me kiss your Doc Martens / Your every wish I will obey

(JOANNE enters.)

JOANNE That might be okay / Down girl / Heel... stay / I did a bit of research / With my friends at legal aid / Technically, you're squatters / There's hope / But just in case

(JOANNE whips out...)

MARK & JOANNE Rope!
MARK (pointing off) We can hoist a line -
JOANNE To the fire escape -
MARK And tie off at
MARK & JOANNE That bench!
MAUREEN I can't take them as chums
JOANNE Start hoisting...wench

(All three cross upstage and attempt to throw up the length of rope over a plank. ROGER & MIMI are laughing and holding each other.)

ROGER I think I should be laughing / Yet I forget / Forget how to begin / I'm feeling something inside / And yet I still can't decide / If I should hide / Or make a wide-open grin / Last week I wanted just to disappear / My life was dust / But now it just may be a happy new year / A happy new year

(COLLINS & ANGEL enter. COLLINS, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, carries a bottle of champagne. ANGEL wears a plastic dress and blonde wig: a small blowtorch is slung over his shoulder.)

COLLINS Bond - James Bond
ANGEL And Pussy Galore - in person
MIMI Pussy - you came prepared
ANGEL I was a boy scout once / And a brownie / 'Til some brat got scared
COLLINS (to MIMI) Aha! Moneypenny - my martini!
MIMI Will bad champagne do?
ROGER That's shaken - not stirred
COLLINS Pussy - the bolts

(COLLINS takes a swig of champagne as ANGEL grabs the blowtorch.)

ANGEL Just say the word!

(ANGEL turns on the blowtorch.)

MIMI Two minutes left to execute our plan
COLLINS Where's everyone else?
ROGER Playing Spiderman
MARK Ironic close-up: tight / On the phone machine's red light / Once the Boho boys are gone / The power mysteriously comes on

Voice Mail #3
(Lights up on MRS. COHEN, who's standing on a chair and holding up a phone.)

MRS. COHEN Mark, it's the wicked witch of the West / Your mother / Happy new year from Scarsdale / We're all impressed that the riot footage / Made the nightly news / Even your father says mazel tov / Honey - call him / Love, Mom

(MRS. COHEN, stepping off the chair, passes the phone to ALEXI DARLING.)

ALEXI DARLING (on the chair) Mark Cohen / Alexi Darling from Buzzline
MARK Oh, that show's so sleazy.
ALEXI DARLING Your footage on the riots: A-one / Feature-segment-network-deal time / I'm sending you a contract / Ker-ching, ker-ching / Marky give us a call / 970-4301 / Or at home try 863-6754 / Or - my cell phone at 919-763-0090 / Or - you can E-mail me / At Darling Alexi Newscom dot net / Or - you can page me at - / (Beeep!)

Happy New Year B
MAUREEN I think we need an agent!
MARK We?
JOANNE That's selling out
MARK But it's nice to dream
MAUREEN Yeah - it's network TV / And it's all thanks to me
MARK Somehow I think I smell / The whiff of a scheme
JOANNE Me too
MAUREEN We can plan another protest
JOANNE We?!
MAUREEN This time you can shoot from the start... / (to MARK) You'll direct / (to JOANNE) Starring me!

(Lights shift back to downstairs.)

ALL 5, 4, 3... Open sesame!!

(The door falls away, revealing MARK, JOANNE & MAUREEN.)

Happy New Year / Happy New Year / Happy New...

(BENNY enters.)

BENNY I see that you've beaten me to the punch
ROGER How did you know we'd be here?
BENNY I had a hunch
MARK You're not mad?
BENNY I'm here to end this war / It's a shame you went and destroyed the door
MIMI Why all the sudden the big about-face
BENNY The credit is yours / You made a good case
ROGER What case?
BENNY Mimi came to see me / And she had much to say
MIMI That's not how you put it at all yesterday
BENNY I couldn't stop thinking about the whole mess / Mark - you might want this on film

(MARK picks up his camera.)

MARK I guess
BENNY (formally) I regret the / Unlucky circumstances / Of the past seven days
ROGER Circumstance? / You padlocked our door
BENNY And it's with great pleasure / On behalf of Cyberarts / That I hand you this key

(BENNY hands him the key.)

ANGEL Golf claps

(THEY oblige.)

MARK I had no juice in my battery
BENNY Reshoot
ROGER I see - this is a photo opportunity
MAUREEN The benevolent God / Ushers the poor artists back to their flat / Were you planning on taking down the barbed wire / From the lot, too?
ROGER Anything but that!
BENNY Clearing the lot was a safety concern / We break ground this month / But you can return
MAUREEN That's why you're here with people you hate / Instead of with Muffy at Muffy's estate
BENNY I'd honestly rather be with you tonight / Than in Westport -
ROGER Spare us, old sport, the soundbite
BENNY Mimi - since your ways are so seductive
MIMI You came on to me!
BENNY Persuade him not to be so counterproductive
ROGER Liar!
BENNY Why not tell them what you wore to my place?
MIMI I was on my way to work
BENNY Black leather and lace! / My desk was a mess / I think I'm still sore
MIMI 'Cause I kicked him and told him I wasn't his whore!
BENNY Does your boyfriend know / Who your last boyfriend was?
ROGER I'm not her boyfriend / I don't care what she does
ANGEL People! Is this any way to start a new year? / Have compassion / Benny just lost his cat
BENNY My dog - but I appreciate that
ANGEL My cat had a fall / And I went through hell
BENNY It's like losing a - / How did you know that she fell?
COLLINS (hands BENNY a glass of champagne) Champagne?
BENNY Don't mind if I do / To dogs
ALL BUT BENNY No Benny - to you!
ANGEL Let's make a resolution
MIMI I'll drink to that
COLLINS Let's always stay friends
JOANNE Tho' we may have our disputes
MAUREEN This family tree's got deep roots
MARK Friendship is thicker than blood
ROGER That depends
MIMI Depends on trust
ROGER Depends on true devotion
JOANNE Depends on love
MARK (to ROGER) Depends on not denying emotion
ROGER Perhaps
ALL It's gonna be a happy new year
ROGER I guess
ALL It's gonna be a happy new year
ROGER You're right

(ANGEL brings ROGER and MIMI together. ANGEL and others move away from MIMI and ROGER.)

ANGEL It's gonna be a happy new year
ROGER & MIMI I'm sorry
ROGER Coming?
MIMI In a minute - I'm fine - go

(ROGER kisses MIMI and exits. THE MAN appears.)

THE MAN Well, well, well. What have we here?

(HE walks over to MIMI and holds out a small plastic bag of white powder.)

It's gonna be a happy new year / There, there...etc.

(Fade out.)

Take Me or Leave Me
(Any location and JOANNE's loft.)

MARK Valentine's Day...pan across the empty lot. Roger's down at Mimi's, where he's been for almost two months now, although he keeps talking about selling his guitar and heading out of town. (Still jealous of Benny)... God knows where Collins and Angel are... Could be that new Shanty Town near the river or a suite at the Plaza...Maureen and Joanne are rehearsing.
JOANNE I said - once more from the top!
MAUREEN I said no!!
MARK That is if they're speaking this week... Me? I'm here. Nowhere.

(Lights up on the scene.)

JOANNE And the line is, "Cyber Arts and its corporate sponsor, Grey Communications, would like to mitigate the Christmas Eve riots..." What is so difficult...?
MAUREEN It just doesn't roll off my tongue. I like my version.
JOANNE You - dressed as a ground hog - to protest the ground breaking...
MAUREEN It's a metaphor!
JOANNE It's...less than brilliant.
MAUREEN That's it, Miss Ivy League!
JOANNE What?
MAUREEN Ever since New Year's, I haven't said boo. I let you direct. I didn't pierce my nipples because it grossed you out. I didn't stay and dance at the Clit Club that night 'cause you wanted to go home...
JOANNE You were flirting with the woman in rubber.
MAUREEN That's what this is about? There will always be women in rubber - flirting with me! Give me a break. / Every single day / I walk down the street / I hear people say, / "Baby's so sweet" / Ever since puberty / Everybody stares at me / Boys – girls / I can't help it baby / So be kind / Don't lose your mind / Just remember that I'm your baby / Take me for what I am / Who I was meant to be / And if you give a damn / Take me baby or leave me / Take me baby or leave me / A tiger in a cage / Can never see the sun / This diva needs her stage / Baby - let's have fun! / You are the one I choose / Folks'd kill to fill your shoes / You love the limelight too, baby / So be mine / Or don't waste my time / Cryin' - "Honeybear - are you still my baby?" / Take me for what I am / Who I was meant to be / And if you give a damn / Take me baby or leave me / No way can I be what I'm not / But hey don't you want your girl hot! / Don't fight - don't lose your head / 'Cause every night - who's in your bed? / Who's in your bed, baby? (pouts in JOANNE's direction) / Kiss, Pookie.
JOANNE It won't work / I look before I leap / I love margins and discipline / I make lists in my sleep / Baby what's my sin? / Never quit I follow through / I hate mess - but I love you / What to do / With my impromptu baby? / So be wise / This girl satisfies / You've got a prize - don't compromise / You're one lucky baby / Take me for what I am
MAUREEN A control freak
JOANNE Who I was meant to be
MAUREEN A snob - yet overattentive
JOANNE And if you give a damn
MAUREEN A lovable, droll geek
JOANNE Take me baby or leave me
MAUREEN And anal retentive!
BOTH That's it!
JOANNE The straw that breaks my back
BOTH I quit
JOANNE Unless you take it back
BOTH Women
MAUREEN What is it about them?
BOTH Can't live - / With them - / Or without them! / Take me for what I am / Who I was meant to be / And if you give a damn / Take me baby or leave me / Take me baby / Or leave me / Guess I'm leavin' / I'm gone!

(They both sit.)

Seasons of Love B
COMPANY In diapers - report cards / In spoked wheels - in speeding tickets / In contracts - dollars / In funerals - in births / In - five hundred twenty-five thousand / Six hundred minutes / How do you figure / A last year on earth? / Figure in love / Figure in love / Figure in love / Measure in love / Seasons of love / Seasons of love

Without You
(MIMI's Apartment. Three beds appear downstage. One, a hospital bed, is occupied by ANGEL. ROGER sits on another, JOANNE on the third. MIMI approaches ROGER, and then appears to be in a hurry.)

ROGER Where were you?
MIMI I'm sorry, I'm late...
ROGER (interrupting) I know. You lost your keys. No, you went for a walk; you had to help your mother. (As he picks up the guitar) And how's Benny? I'm gonna work upstairs tonight.
MIMI Wait… / I should tell you / I should… / Never mind…
ROGER Happy Spring

(ROGER exits. MIMI pulls out a just-purchased stash and angrily flings it across the room. As she sings the following, a stylized "musical beds" is choreographed around her; during the bridge of the song, COLLINS carries ANGEL from the hospital bed and ROGER takes his place. By the end of the song, MAUREEN & JOANNE are reunited, as are ROGER and MIMI. COLLINS & ANGEL have lain down together, where ANGEL dies.)

MIMI Without you / The ground thaws / The rain falls / The grass grows / Without you / The seeds root / The flowers bloom / The children play / The stars gleam / The poets dream / The eagles fly / Without you / The earth turns / The sun burns / But I die / Without you / Without you / The breeze warms / The girl smiles / The cloud moves / Without you / The tides change / The boys run / The oceans crash / The crowds roar / The days soar / The babies cry / Without you / The moon glows / The river flows / But I die / Without you
ROGER The world revives
MIMI Colors renew
BOTH But I know blue / Only blue / Lonely blue / Within me, blue / Without you
MIMI Without you / The hand gropes / The ear hears / The pulse beats
ROGER Without you / The eyes gaze / The legs walk / The lungs breathe
BOTH The mind churns / The heart yearns / The tears dry / Without you / Life goes on / But I'm gone / 'Cause I die
ROGER Without you
MIMI Without you
ROGER Without you
BOTH Without you

Voice Mail #4
(The loft. The phone rings....)

ROGER & MARK'S ANSWERING MACHINE Speak... / (Beeep!)
ALEXI DARLING Mark Cohen / Alexi Darling / Labor Day weekend / In East Hampton / On the beach / Just saw Alec Baldwin / Told him you say hi / Just kidding / We still need directors / You still need money / You know you need money / Pick up the phone / Don't be afraid of ker-ching, ker-ching / Marky - sell us your soul / Just kidding / We're waiting…

Contact
(The COMPANY forms two main groups. As the music begins, a group of dancers start a sensual life and death dance, while a group of actors gather around a table centerstage to speak words of passion which punctuates the dancing. Eventually, the actors converge on the table and cover themselves with a white sheet, while moving to the music.)

GROUP A (ROGER, MARK, JOANNE & BENNY) Hot-hot-hot-sweat-sweet / Wet-wet-wet-red-heat / Hot-hot-hot-sweat-sweet / Wet-wet-wet-red-heat / Please don't stop please / Please don't stop stop / Stop stop stop don't / Please please please please / Hot-hot-hot-sweat-sweet / Wet-wet-wet-red-heat / Sticky-licky-trickle-tickle / Steamy-creamy-stroking-soaking
GROUP B (MIMI, COLLINS, MAUREEN & ANGEL) Hot-hot-hot-sweat-sweet-wet-wet-wet-red-heat
COLLINS Touch!
MAUREEN Taste!
MIMI Deep!
COLLINS Dark!
MAUREEN Kiss!
COLLINS Beg!
MIMI Slap!
MIMI, MAUREEN & COLLINS Fear!
COLLINS Thick!
COLLINS, MIMI & MAUREEN Red, red / Red, red / Red, red - please
MAUREEN Harder
ANGEL Faster
MAUREEN Wetter
MIMI Bastard
COLLINS You whore
MAUREEN You cannibal
MIMI & ANGEL More
MAUREEN You animal
MAUREEN, COLLINS & MIMI Fluid no fluid no contact yes No contact
ALL Fire fire burn - burn yes! / No latex rubber rubber / Fire latex rubber latex bummer lover bummer

(The music explodes into a fevered rhythmic heat as ANGEL is revealed in a lone spotlight, dancing wildly.)

ANGEL Take me / Take me / Today for you / Tomorrow for me / Today me / Tomorrow you / Tomorrow you / Love / You / Love you / I love / You I love / You! / Take me / Take me / I love you

(The music dies as ANGEL vanishes.)

ROGER'S VOICE Um
JOANNE'S VOICE Wait
MIMI'S VOICE Slipped
COLLINS' VOICE Shit
JOANNE'S VOICE Ow!
ROGER'S VOICE Where'd it go?
MIMI'S VOICE Safe
COLLINS' VOICE Damn
MAUREEN'S VOICE I think I missed - don't get pissed
ALL It was bad for me - was it bad for you?
JOANNE It's over
MAUREEN It's over
ROGER It's over
MIMI It's over
COLLINS It's over

I'll Cover You: Reprise
(In a church. Angel's memorial.)

MIMI Angel was one of my closest friends. It's right that it's Halloween, because it was her favorite holiday. I knew we'd hit it off from the moment we met – that skinhead was bothering her and she said she was more of a man than he'd ever be and more of a woman than he'd ever get…
MARK …and then there was that time that he walked up to this group of tourists – and they were petrified because, A – they were obviously lost, and B – had probably never spoken to a drag queen before in their lives...and he...she just offered to escort them out of Alphabet City… And then she let them take a picture with her - and then she said she'd help 'em find the Circle Line…
MAUREEN …so much more original then any of us - you'd find an old table cloth on the street and make a dress - and next year, sure enough - they'd be mass-producing them at the Gap! You always said how lucky you were that we were all friends - but it was us, baby, who were the lucky ones.

COLLINS Live in my house / I'll be your shelter / Just pay me back with one thousand kisses / Be my lover / And I'll cover you / Open your door - I'll be your tenant / Don't got much baggage / To lay at your feet / But sweet kisses I've got to spare / I'll be there - I'll cover you / I think they meant it / When they said you can't buy love / Now I know you can rent it / A new lease you were, my love, on life / All my life / I've longed to discover / Something as true / As this is

(The following is sung simultaneously.)
JOANNE & SOLOIST
So with a thousand
sweet kisses
I'll cover you

With a thousand
sweet kisses
I'll cover you

With a thousand
sweet kisses
I'll cover you

With a thousand
sweet kisses
I'll cover you

COLLINS


If you're cold and
you're lonely


You've got one
nickel only


When you're worn
out and tired



When your heart
has expired

COMPANY Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes / Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred moments so dear / Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes / Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred - / Measure a year / Oh lover I'll cover you / Oh lover I'll cover you
COLLINS & COMPANY Oh lover / I'll cover you / Oh lover
COLLINS I'll cover you
COMPANY Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes / Five hundred twenty-five thousand / Seasons of love
COLLINS I'll cover you

Halloween
(Outside of the church. MARK is speaking on the pay phone.)

MARK Hi. It's Mark Cohen. Is Alexi there?... No, don't bother her. Just tell her I'm running a little late for our appointment...Yes, I'm still coming... Yes, I signed the contract... Thanks…

How did we get here? / How the hell… / Pan left - close on the steeple of the church / How did I get here? / How the hell... / Christmas / Christmas Eve - last year / How could a night so frozen / Be so scalding hot? / How can a morning this mild / Be so raw? / Why are entire years strewn / On the cutting-room floor of memory / When single frames from one magic night / Forever flicker in close-up / On the 3-D Imax of my mind / That's poetic / That's pathetic / Why did Mimi knock on Roger's door / And Collins choose that phone booth / Back where Angel set up his drums? / Why did Maureen's equipment break down? / Why am I the witness? / And when I capture it on film / Will it mean that it's the end / And I'm alone?

Goodbye Love
(The PRINCIPALS emerge from the church.)

MIMI (to ROGER) It's true you sold your guitar and bought a car?
ROGER It's true - I'm leaving now for Santa Fe / It's true you're with this yuppie scum?
BENNY You said - you'd never speak to him again
MIMI Not now
MAUREEN Who said that you have any say / In who she says things to at all?
ROGER Yeah!
JOANNE Who said that you should stick your nose in other people's…
MAUREEN Who said I was talking to you?

JOANNE
We used to have this
fight each night
She'd never admit
I existed
MIMI
He was the
same way - He was
always / "Run away -
hit the road / Don't
commit" - you're full
of shit 		MARK

Calm down
Everyone please

BENNY
Mimi

JOANNE She's in denial
MIMI He's in denial
JOANNE
Didn't give
an inch / When I
gave a mile 		MARK
Come on
MIMI I gave a mile
ROGER Gave a mile to who?
MARK & BENNY Come on guys, chill!
MIMI & JOANNE I'd be happy to die for a taste / Of what Angel had / Someone to live for - unafraid / To say I love you
ROGER All your words are nice Mimi / But love's not a three-way street / You'll never share real love / Until you love yourself - I should know
COLLINS You all said you'd be cool today / So please - for my sake… / I can't believe he's gone (to ROGER) / I can't believe you're going / I can't believe this family must die / Angel helped us believe in love / I can't believe you disagree
ALL I can't believe this is goodbye

(MAUREEN & JOANNE reconcile.)

MAUREEN Pookie
JOANNE Honeybear
MAUREEN I missed you so much
JOANNE I missed you
MAUREEN I missed your smell
JOANNE Your mouth / Your -

(JOANNE gives MAUREEN a firm kiss on the lips.)

MAUREEN Ow
JOANNE What?
MAUREEN Nothing, Pookie
JOANNE No, baby - you said “Ow” - What?
MAUREEN You bit my tongue
JOANNE No, I didn't
MAUREEN You did - I'm bleeding
JOANNE No, it isn't
MAUREEN I think I should know…
JOANNE Let me see -
MAUREEN She doesn't believe me
JOANNE I was only trying to…

(They hug & exit. The PASTOR from the church emerges on the above.)

PASTOR Thomas B. Collins?
COLLINS Coming

(The PASTOR exits above and COLLINS exits into the church. BENNY stands off to the side as MIMI approaches ROGER, who turns away. She hesitates before leaving with BENNY. ROGER & MARK are left alone.)

MARK I hear there are great restaurants out west
ROGER Some of the best. How could she?
MARK How could you let her go?
ROGER You just don't know… How could we lose Angel?
MARK Maybe you'll see why when you stop escaping your pain / At least now if you try - Angel's death won't be in vain
ROGER His death is in vain

(MIMI reappears up left, in the shadows. She overhears ROGER & MARK's conversation.)

MARK Are you insane? / There’s so much to care about / There's me - there's Mimi -
ROGER Mimi's got her baggage too
MARK So do you
ROGER Who are you to tell me what I know, what to do
MARK A friend
ROGER But who, Mark, are you? / "Mark has got his work" / They say, "Mark lives for his work" / And, "Mark's in love with his work" / Mark hides in his work
MARK From what?
ROGER From facing your failure, facing your loneliness / Facing the fact you live a lie / Yes, you live a lie - tell you why / You're always preaching not to be numb / When that's how you thrive / You pretend to create and observe / When you really detach from feeling alive
MARK Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive
ROGER Poor baby
MARK Mimi still loves Roger / Is Roger really jealous / Or afraid that Mimi's weak
ROGER Mimi did look pale
MARK Mimi's gotten thin / Mimi's running out of time / Roger’s running out the door -
ROGER No more! Oh no! / I've gotta go
MARK Hey, for somebody who's always been let down, / Who's heading out of town?
ROGER For someone who longs for a community of his own, / Who's with his camera, alone?

(ROGER takes a step to go, then stops, turns.)

I'll call / I hate the fall

(ROGER turns to go and sees MIMI.)

ROGER You heard?
MIMI Every word / You don't want baggage without lifetime guarantees / You don't want to watch me die? / I just came to say / Goodbye, love / Goodbye, love / Came to say goodbye, love, goodbye
MIMI
Just came to say
Goodbye love
Goodbye love
Goodbye love
goodbye

 ROGER
Glory
One blaze of
Glory
I have to find
(ROGER exits. BENNY returns. MIMI steps away.)

MIMI Please don't touch me / Understand / I'm scared / I need to go away
MARK I know a place - a clinic
BENNY A rehab?
MIMI Maybe - could you?
BENNY I'll pay
MIMI Goodbye love / Goodbye love / Came to say goodbye, love, goodbye / Just came to say / Goodbye love / Goodbye love / Goodbye love / Hello - disease

(MIMI runs off. After a moment, COLLINS quickly enters, with the PASTOR trailing behind him.)

What You Own
PASTOR Off the premises now / We give no handouts here!
MARK What happened to “Rest in Peace”?
PASTOR Off the premises, queer!

(The PASTOR starts to exit.)

COLLINS That's no way to send a boy to meet his maker / They had to know / We couldn't pay the undertaker
BENNY Don't you worry 'bout him. Hey, I'll take care of it

(The PASTOR acknowledges BENNY and exits.)

MARK Must be nice to have money
ALL THREE No shit
COLLINS I think it's only fair to tell you / You just paid for the funeral / Of the person who killed your dog
BENNY I know / I always hated that dog / Let's pay him off / and then get drunk
MARK I can't, I have a meeting
COLLINS & BENNY Punk! Let's go

(COLLINS & BENNY exit.)

MARK (imagining) “Hi. Mark Cohen here, reporting for Buzzline…. Back to you, Alexi. Coming up next - vampire welfare queens who are compulsive bowlers.” Oh my God, what am I doing? / Don't breathe too deep / Don't think all day / Dive into work / Drive the other way / That drip of hurt / That pint of shame / Goes away / Just play the game / You're living in America / At the end of the millennium / You're living in America / Leave your conscience at the tone / And when you're living in America / At the end of the millennium / You're what you own

(Lights up on ROGER.)

ROGER The filmmaker cannot see
MARK And the songwriter cannot hear
ROGER Yet I see Mimi everywhere
MARK Angel's voice is in my ear
ROGER Just tighten those shoulders
MARK Just clench your jaw till you frown
ROGER Just don't let go
BOTH Or you may drown / You're living in America / At the end of the millennium / You're living in America / Where it's like the Twilight Zone / And when you're living in America / At the end of the millennium / You're what you own / So I own not a notion / I escape and ape content / I don't own emotion - I rent
MARK
What was it about
that night 		ROGER

What was it about
that night
BOTH Connection - in an isolating age
MARK
For once the shadows
gave way to light 		ROGER

For once the shadows
gave way to light
BOTH For once I didn't disengage

(MARK goes to the pay phone and dials.)

MARK Angel - I hear you - I hear it / I see it - I see it / My film!
ROGER Mimi I see you - / I see it / I hear it - I hear it / My song!
MARK
Alexi - Mark
Call me a
hypocrite
I need to finish
my own film
I quit!

 ROGER
One song - Glory
Mimi
Your eyes
BOTH Dying in America / At the end of the millennium / We're dying in America / To come into our own / But when you're dying in America / At the end of the millennium / You're not alone / I'm not alone / I'm not alone

(Blackout.)

Voice Mail #5
(Various locations. In blackout, once again the phone rings.)

ROGER & MARK'S ANSWERING MACHINE Speak... / (Beeep!)
ROGER'S MOTHER Roger / This is your mother / Roger, honey, I don't get these postcards / "Moving to Santa Fe" / "Back in New York" / "Starting a rock band" / Roger, where are you?? Please call

(The following is sung simultaneously.)

MIMI'S MOTHER Mimi, chica, dondé estas? / Tu mama esta llamando / Dondé estas, Mimi, Call?
MR. JEFFERSON Kitten - wherever are you - call
MRS. COHEN Mark - are you there - are you there? / I don't know if he's there / We're all here wishing you were here, too - / Where are you, Mark, are you there, are you, where are you? / Mark - are you there - are you there? / I don't know if - Please call your mother

Finale A
(The lot & the loft.)

ALL SEVEN HOMELESS PEOPLE Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing / Christmas bells are ringing / How time flies / When compassion dies / No stockings / No candy canes / No gingerbread / No safety net / No loose change / No change no
ONE HOMELESS MAN Santy Claus is coming
ALL 'Cause Santy Claus ain't coming / No room at the Holiday Inn – again / Well, maybe next year / Or – when

(Lights shift back to the loft. A small projector rests on a milk crate, which is on a dolly.)

MARK December 24th, ten p.m. Eastern standard time / I can't believe a year went by so fast / Time to see – what we have – time to see / Turn the projector on

(A rough title credit, "TODAY 4 U: Proof Positive," appears, followed by a shot from last Christmas of ROGER tuning his guitar.)

MARK First shot Roger / With the Fender guitar he just got out of hock / When he sold the car / That took him away and back
ROGER I found my song
MARK He found his song / If he could just find Mimi
ROGER I tried – you know I tried

(MARK's image appears on-screen.)

MARK Fade in on Mark / Who's still in the dark
ROGER But he's got great footage
MARK Which he's cut together
ROGER To screen tonight

(BENNY's image appears on-screen.)

MARK In honor of Benny's wife
ROGER Muffy
MARK Alison / Pulling Benny out of the East Village location

(The projector blows a fuse. Blackout.)

ROGER Then again. Maybe we won't screen it tonight.
MARK I wonder how Alison found out about Mimi?
ROGER Maybe a little bird told her.

(COLLINS enters in the dark, with several twenty-dollar bills in each hand.)

COLLINS Or an angel. (Lights fade up) / I had a little hunch that you could use a little flow
ROGER Tutoring again?
COLLINS Negative
MARK Back at NYU?
COLLINS No, no, no / I rewired the ATM at the Food Emporium / To provide an honorarium to anyone with the code
ROGER & MARK The code – / Well...?
COLLINS A-N-G-E-L / Yet Robin Hooding isn't the solution / The powers that be must be undermined where they dwell / In a small, exclusive gourmet institution / Where we overcharge the wealthy clientele
ALL THREE Let's open up a restaurant in Santa Fe / With a private corner banquette, in the back
COLLINS We'll make it yet, we'll somehow get to Santa Fe
ROGER But you'd miss New York before you could unpack
ALL THREE Ohh –

(MAUREEN & JOANNE enter, carrying MIMI.)

MAUREEN Mark! Roger! Anyone – help!
MARK Maureen?
MAUREEN It's Mimi – I can't get her up the stairs
ROGER No!

(They enter the loft.)

MAUREEN She was huddled in the park in the dark / And she was freezing / And begged to come here
ROGER Over here / Oh, God

(They lay her down carefully on the table.)

MIMI Got a light – I know you – you're shivering…
JOANNE She's been living on the street
ROGER We need some heat
MIMI I'm shivering
MARK We can buy some wood and something to eat
COLLINS I'm afraid she needs more than heat
MIMI I heard that
MAUREEN Collins will call for a doctor, honey
MIMI Don't waste your money on Mimi, me, me
COLLINS Hello – 911? / I'm on hold
MIMI Cold...cold...would you light my candle?
ROGER Yes, we'll, oh God – find a candle
MIMI I should tell you / I should tell you
ROGER I should tell you / I should tell you
MIMI I should tell you / Benny wasn't any –
ROGER Shhh – I know / I should tell you why I left / It wasn't 'cause I didn't –
MIMI I know / I should tell you
ROGER I should tell you
MIMI (whispering) I should tell you / I love you –

(MIMI fades.)

ROGER Who do you think you are? / Leaving me alone with my guitar / Hold on there's something you should hear / It isn't much but it took all year

(MIMI stirs and ROGER begins playing acoustic guitar at her bedside.)

Your Eyes
ROGER Your eyes / As we said our goodbyes / Can't get them out of my mind / And I find I can't hide (from) / Your eyes / The ones that took me by surprise / The night you came into my life / Where there's moonlight / I see your eyes

(Band takes over.)

How'd I let you slip away / When I'm longing so to hold you / Now I'd die for one more day / 'Cause there's something I should have told you / Yes there's something I should have told you / When I looked into your eyes / Why does distance make us wise? / You were the song all along / And before the song dies / I should tell you I should tell you / I have always loved you / You can see it in my eyes

(We hear Musetta's theme, played correctly and passionately. MIMI's head falls to the side and her arm drops limply off the edge of the table.)

Mimi!

Finale B
(Suddenly, MIMI's hand twitches. Incredibly, she is still alive.)

MIMI I jumped over the moon!
ROGER What?
MIMI A leap of mooooooooooooo –
JOANNE She's back!
MIMI I was in a tunnel. Heading for this warm, white light…
MAUREEN Oh, my God!
MIMI And I swear Angel was there – and she looked good. And she said, "Turn around, girlfriend – and listen to that boy's song…."
COLLINS She's drenched
MAUREEN Her fever's breaking
MARK There is no future – there is no past
ROGER Thank God this moment's not the last
MIMI & ROGER There's only us / There's only this / Forget regret or life is yours to miss
ALL No other road no other way / No day but today

(As the finale grows, the entire COMPANY makes its way on stage.)
WOMEN
I can't control
My destiny
I trust my soul
My only goal
Is just to be

 MEN
Will I lose my dignity
Will someone care
Will I wake tomorrow
From this nightmare
(MARK's film resumes, along with two more films projecting on the back wall, "Scenes from Rent...")
Without you
The hand gropes
The ear hears
The pulse beats
Life goes on
But I'm gone
'Cause I die
Without you
I die without you
I die without you
I die without you
I die without you
I die without you
 		There's only now
There's only here
Give in to love
Or live in fear
No other path
No other way

No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
ALL No day but today

The End

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