Act I-Part One
(The audience enters in the theatre to discover a stage bare of curtains. At stage left looms a
metal sculpture intended to represent: [a] a totem pole/Christmas tree that stands in an
abandoned lot, [b] a wood burning stove with a snaky chimney that is at the center of MARK
and ROGER's loft apartment, and [c] in Act II, a church steeple. On stage the five-musician
band performs under a wooden platform surrounded by railing. The wooden platform has a
staircase on the upstage side. Downstage left is a black, waist-high rail fence. Once the
audience is in the theatre, CREW and BAND MEMBERS move about informally onstage in
preparation for Act I.
ROGER DAVIS, carrying an electric guitar, enters upstage left and crosses to a guitar amp
sitting on a chair at center stage. He casually plugs his guitar into the amp and adjusts levels,
then crosses downstage and sits on the table.
After a few chords, the COMPANY, led by MARK COHEN, enters from all directions and fills
the stage. MARK sets up a small tripod and a 16mm movie camera downstage center,
aimed upstage. He addresses the audience.)
INTRO
MARK
We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mark, and my roommate, Roger. We live in an
industrial loft on the corner of 11th street and Avenue B, the top floor of what was once a
music publishing factory. Old rock 'n' roll posters hang on the walls. They have Roger's
picture advertising gigs at CBGB's and the Pyramid Club. We have an illegal wood burning
stove; its exhaust pipe crawls up to a skylight. All of our electrical appliances are plugged into
one thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent city has
sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside, we are freezing because we have no heat.
(He turns the camera to ROGER)
Smile!
TUNE UP #1
MARK
December 24th, Nine PM
Eastern Standard Time
From here on in
I shoot without a script
See if anything comes of it
Instead of my old shit
First shot -- Roger
Tuning the Fender guitar
He hasn't played in a year
ROGER
This won't tune
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
We screen
Zoom in on the answering machine!
(An actor places a telephone on a chair and we see MARK'S MOM in a special light.)
VOICE MAIL #1
ROGER & MARK'S OUTGOING MESSAGE
"Speak" ... ("Beeeep!")
MOM
That was a very loud beep
I don't even know if this is working
Mark -- Mark -- are you there
Are you screening your calls --
It's mom
We wanted to call and say we love you
And we'll miss you tomorrow
Cindy and the kids are here -- send their love
Oh, I hope you like the hot plate
Just don't leave it on, dear
When you leave the house
Oh, and Mark
We're sorry to hear that Maureen dumped you
I say c'est la vie
So let her be a lesbian...
There are other fishies in the sea
... Love Mom!
(Lights fade on MOM and answering machine.)
TUNE UP #2
MARK
Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger
ROGER
I'm writing one great song --
MARK
The phone rings.
ROGER
Yesss!
MARK
We screen.
ROGER & MARK'S ANSWERING MACHINE
"Speak" ... ("Beeeep!")
(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 pre-ordained
(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?
BOTH
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
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 -- bread-lines
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
TOGETHER
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year's rent
MARK
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
BOTH
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
ROGER & MARK
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
(On phone)
Don't screen, Maureen
It's me -- Joanne
Your substitute production manager
Hey hey hey! (Did you eat?)
Don't change the subject Maureen
But darling -- you haven't eaten all day
You won't throw up
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
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'
Oh, 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 and 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 and 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
Ughhhhh--
Ughhhhh--
Ughhhhh-- I can't think
Ughhhhh--
Ughhhhh--
Ughhhhh-- 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
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
(On phone)
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
Till 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
ALL
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
ALL
When they act tough - you call their bluff
MARK & ROGER
We're not gonna pay
MARK & ROGER W/HALF THE COMPANY
We're not gonna pay
MARK & ROGER W/OTHER HALF OF COMPANY
We're not gonna pay
ALL
Last year's rent
This year's rent
Next year's rent
Rent rent rent rent rent
We're not gonna pay rent
ROGER & MARK
'Cause everything is rent
YOU OKAY HONEY? (The street)
(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.)
A 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 merri -- ho ho ho
And I do not take no
(ANGEL and COLLINS walk off stage right.)
TUNE UP #3 (The loft)
(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.
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.)
ROGER
I'm writing one great song before I...
ONE SONG GLORY
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.)
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.)
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.)
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 lookss 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
It's a 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 accident.)
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 Eleventh
Street Lot. Tonight at midnight in the lot between A and B. Party at Life Cafe to follow (BEEP)
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 (The loft)
(MARK and 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 non-stop 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
