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Mark, a filmmaker and the show's narrator, is spending a cold Christmas Eve in the Lower East Side industrial loft he shares with his roommate Roger, a musician. They receive several phone calls (TUNE UP/VOICE MAIL #1). The first is from Mark's mother consoling him over the loss of his girlfriend Maureen, a performance artist, to JoAnne, a Harvard Law School graduate. The second is from their friend Tom Collins who is detained by muggers. The last is from their landlord Benny demanding the rent. The power blows and so do Roger and Mark's tops (RENT).

Outside, Collins is reeling from the mugging. He is comforted by Angel, a street musician, who offers him a helping hand (YOU OKAY HONEY?). Both HIV+, Angel and Collins head out for a night on the town and a life support meeting.

In response to a call for help, Mark sets out for the lot where Maureen is performing a protest against Benny's eviction of the homeless from a nearby lot. He urges Roger to come along but he refuses. As Mark reports, Roger has not left the apartment in six months. He is still reeling from the suicide of his girlfriend, who slashed her wrists upon learning that she had AIDS. Roger tries to write a song but the only melody he finds is "Musetta's Waltz" from Puccini's La Bohème (ONE SONG GLORY).

Mimi, an S&M dancer who lives below Mark and Roger, knocks with a request: LIGHT MY CANDLE. The attraction between she and Roger is immediate, but Roger shies away and shows her the door. Mimi knocks again. She has lost her stash. Roger helps her look and Mimi eventually finds it- in Roger's back pocket.

As JoAnne wrangles with the sound equipment for Maureen's performance, her parents leave her VOICE MAIL #2, pleading with her to come to her mother's confirmation hearings in Washington. Collins arrives at the loft with a bag full of goodies. This includes Angel, transvested into Angel Dumott Shunard and gloriously arrayed in his Christmas finest- wig, glitter, and platform pumps. In TODAY 4 U, Angel explains how he earned $1,000: a wealthy woman hired him to play the drums until her neighbor's yappy Akita barked itself to death.

Benny enters with a proposal (YOU'LL SEE): if Mark and Roger stop Maureen's protest, he will forgo the rent. He entices them with plans for Cyber Arts, a state-of-the-art, multimedia studio that will realize all of their dreams. Unsuccessful, Benny leaves. Mark, Collins and Angel try to coax Roger into coming to the life support meeting with them but he refuses.

Mark finally reaches the lot where Maureen will perform her protest. He encounters JoAnne, still struggling with the sound equipment and the many demands Maureen makes upon her. Mark offers help. Though they dreaded meeting, they have a lot in common (TANGO: MAUREEN). Once he finishes, Mark joins Angel and Collins at the LIFE SUPPORT meeting.

In her apartment, Mimi dresses and appeals to an imaginary Roger to take her OUT TONIGHT. She barges into his apartment and continues her appeal to Roger himself but after a passionate kiss he vehemently rejects her. They fight, her words blending with the affirmation of the support group that emphasizes the importance of living the moment (ANOTHER DAY). A young man from the support group asks quietly "Will I lose my dignity/Will someone care?" (WILL I?). His thoughts and fears are echoed by each member of the community. The thoughts are Roger's too, and he decides to go outside.

After the meeting, Mark, Angel and Collins roam the lot and rescue a homeless woman from the taunts and nightsticks of the neighborhood cops (ON THE STREET). Discouraged by life in New York, the three dream of opening up a restaurant in SANTA FE. Alone at last, Angel and Collins finally express their love for each other (I'LL COVER YOU). JoAnne, meanwhile has her hands full juggling work, parents, and the ever-demanding Maureen...all over the phone(WE'RE OKAY).

The scene changes to St. Mark's Place where vendors hawk their wares to the bohemians of the East Village (CHRISTMAS BELLS). Angel buys a new coat for Collins. Mark finds Roger who spots Mimi looking for drugs. Roger apologizes and asks her to dinner. Just as the snow begins to fall, Maureen finally appears on her motorcycle to perform her protest, OVER THE MOON.

Following the protest, all convene at the Life Café, including Benny who announces that Bohemia is dead. Thus ensues a makeshift mock-wake that quickly segues into a celebration of LA VIE BOHEME. During the song, Benny confronts Mimi and threatens to reveal their past affair to Roger. Beepers go off to remind the revelers to take their AZT. Roger and Mimi each discover that the other is HIV+. Frightened, excited, they vow to be together (I SHOULD TELL YOU).

JoAnne has been sent back to the lot by Maureen several times to check on the equipment. She finally rebels, telling Maureen that their relationship is over and announcing a riot in the lot: Benny has padlocked the building and called the cops but the homeless are standing their ground. And mooing. The artists rejoice, the riot continues, and Roger and Mimi share a small, lovely kiss.

The second act begins with the company posing the question, "How do you measure a year in the life?" (SEASONS OF LOVE). It is one week later, New Year's Eve, and Mark, Roger, Mimi, Maureen, JoAnne, Angel and Collins are having a breaking-back-into-the-building party (HAPPY NEW YEAR). Once inside, Mark listens to one more phone message from his mother in Scarsdale as well as one from Alexi Darling, a tabloid TV producer salivating over his footage of the riot (VOICE MAIL #3). Benny crashes the party, angering Roger and alienating Roger from Mimi. Dejected, Mimi wanders outside and into the welcoming arms of her drug dealer.

Mark fastforwards to Valentine's Day. Roger and Mimi are still together. Angel and Collins could be anywhere. Maureen and JoAnne are still rehearsing another show, but it is not going well (TAKE ME OR LEAVE ME).

The company reprises SEASONS OF LOVE and time marches forward again, to spring. Roger and Mimi have a fight and Roger walks out. Alone, Mimi reflects on what life would be like without Roger (WITHOUT YOU). At the same time, Collins nurses a sick Angel; Maureen and JoAnne reconcile; as do Mimi and Roger.

At the end of the summer, Alexi is still courting Mark for her TV show (VOICE MAIL #4). Roger and Mimi, unsatisfied by love's complications, break up, as do Maureen and JoAnne. Angel dies (CONTACT). At a memorial service, his friends remember his spirit. Collins remembers his love (I'LL COVER YOU: REPRISE).

Outside the church, Mark phones Alexi to accept the job. Mark ponders how life has changed since last year as he recalls the joys of that one night last Christmas (HALLOWEEN). As the mourners leave the church, Mimi confirms that Roger has sold his guitar and is leaving town. Roger confirms that Mimi is now with Benny. A fight erupts among Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Benny, and JoAnne. Collins interrupts them with the sorrowful reality that the family is breaking up. JoAnne and Maureen reunite. Mimi and Benny leave.

Mark tries to convince Roger to stay in New York and face his pain and the fact that Mimi is very sick. Roger attacks Mark, accusing him of hiding from his feelings. Mimi enters, having overheard the entire angry exchange, and bids Roger farewell (GOODBYE, LOVE). Roger leaves town. Mimi turns to Mark for help. Benny offers one helping hand to Mimi and extends the other to Collins to help him pay Angel's funeral expenses. Mimi refuses the help and flees. Collins accepts and he and Benny go out for a drink.

Mark considers the events and faces the last year, as does Roger, who is on his way to Santa Fe. Roger begins to discover his own song and Mark turns down the television job to finish his own film (WHAT YOU OWN).

Roger's mom, Mark's mom, Mimi's mom, and JoAnne's father all wonder where their children are (VOICE MAIL #5). Back at the loft, Mark tells us again it's Christmas and he now has a rough version of his film, which he's going to show tonight. Roger has returned, has written his song, but cannot find Mimi. Collins enters with money he has gotten from an ATM rewired to give money to anyone with a special code. The password? Angel.

Maureen and JoAnne suddenly arrive holding Mimi, whom they found collapsed and near death in the park. Roger begs her not to die and sings for her the song it has taken him all year to write, YOUR EYES. Mimi dies as Roger wails her name over a blast of Puccini's music. Suddenly Mimi awakens, it seems that a guardian Angel was watching over her.

The company joins in a reprise of the affirmation that love is all and that there is "no day but today" (FINALE).

All work © Jonathan Larson...

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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 Santa Fe I'll Cover You We're Okay Christmas Bells Over the Moon La Vie Boheme I Should Tell You La Vie Boheme B

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 Your Eyes Finale B

(The audience enters in the theatre to discover a stage bare of curtains. At stage left looms a metal sculpture intended to represent: [a] a totem pole/Christmas tree that stands in an abandoned lot, [b] a wood burning stove with a snaky chimney that is at the center of MARK and ROGER's loft apartment, and [c] in Act II, a church steeple. On stage the five-musician band performs under a wooden platform surrounded by railing. The wooden platform has a staircase on the upstage side. Downstage left is a black, waist-high rail fence. Once the audience is in the theatre, CREW and BAND MEMBERS move about informally onstage in preparation for Act I.

ROGER DAVIS, carrying an electric guitar, enters upstage left and crosses to a guitar amp sitting on a chair at center stage. He casually plugs his guitar into the amp and adjusts levels, then crosses downstage and sits on the table.

After a few chords, the COMPANY, led by MARK COHEN, enters from all directions and fills the stage. MARK sets up a small tripod and a 16mm movie camera downstage center, aimed upstage. He addresses the audience.)

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)

December 24th, Nine PM

Eastern Standard Time

I shoot without a script

See if anything comes of it

Instead of my old shit

Tuning the Fender guitar

He hasn't played in a year

He's just coming back

From half a year of withdrawal

Are you talking to me?

Are you ready? Hold that focus -- steady

Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger ...

I'm writing one great song --

Zoom in on the answering machine!

(An actor places a telephone on a chair and we see MARK'S MOM in a special light.)

ROGER & MARK'S OUTGOING MESSAGE

"Speak" ... ("Beeeep!")

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 --

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

We're sorry to hear that Maureen dumped you

So let her be a lesbian...

There are other fishies in the sea

(Lights fade on MOM and answering machine.)

Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger

I'm writing one great song --

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.)

"Chestnuts roasting ---"

(as MARK picks up the phone)

Roger picked up the phone??

(MARK pulls out a small leather pouch and drops it off the apron downstage center as if from a window; a weighted leather pouch plops down from "upstairs." COLLINS catches it.)

A wild night is now pre-ordained

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

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

What does he mean...?

What do you mean "detained"?

(Lights come up on BENNY, who's on a cellular phone.)

Dudes, I'm on my way

This past year's rent which I let slide

Let slide? You said we were 'golden'

When you bought the building

When we were roommates

Remember -- you lived here!?

You, me, Collins and Maureen

How is the drama queen?

She's performing tonight

Still her production manager?

Two days ago I was bumped

You still dating her?

Last month I was dumped

She's got a new man?

Rent, my amigos, is due

Or I will have to evict you

(ROGER defiantly picks out Musetta's theme from Puccini's La Boheme on the electric guitar. The fuse blows on the amp.)

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

How do you document real life

When real life is getting more

Like fiction each day

Headlines -- bread-lines

And now this deadline

"Eviction -- or pay"

How do you write a song

When the chords sound wrong

Though they once sounded right and rare

When the notes are sour

You once had to ignite the air

And we're hungry and frozen

Some life that we've chosen

How do you start a fire

When there's nothing to burn

And it feels like something's stuck in your flue

How can you generate heat

When you can't feel your feet

And they're turning blue!

You light up a mean blaze

(ROGER grabs one of his own posters.)

(MARK grabs old manuscripts.)

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

Don't screen, Maureen

Your substitute production manager

Hey hey hey! (Did you eat?)

Don't change the subject Maureen

But darling -- you haven't eaten all day

The digital delay ---

Didn't blow up (exactly)

There may have been one teeny tiny spark

You're not calling Mark

How do you stay on your feet

When on every street

It's 'trick or treat'

(And tonight it's 'trick')

'Welcome back to town'

Oh, I should lie down

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

Alison baby -- you sound sad

I don't believe those two after everything I've done

Ever since our wedding I'm dirt -- They'll see

I can help them all out in the long run

(Three locales: JOANNE at the pay phone, MARK and ROGER in their loft, and COLLINS on the ground. The following is sung simultaneously.)

Forces are gathering

Ughhhhh-- I can't think

Ughhhhh-- I need a drink

MARK (reading from a script page)

"The music ignites the night with passionate fire"

Maureen -- I'm not a theatre person

"The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"

Could never be a theatre person

Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground

JOANNE (realizing she's been cut off)

And feel the heat of the future's glow

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

--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

ROGER & OTHER HALF OF COMPANY

How can you connect in an age

Where strangers, landlords, lovers

Your own blood cells betray

What binds the fabric together

When the raging, shifting winds of change

Draw a line in the sand

And then make a stand

Use your camera to spar

When they act tough - you call their bluff

MARK & ROGER W/HALF THE COMPANY

MARK & ROGER W/OTHER HALF OF COMPANY

Rent rent rent rent rent

We're not gonna pay rent

'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.)

Christmas bells are ringing

(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.)

But they purloined my coat --

Well you missed a sleeve! -- Thanks

Hell, it's Christmas Eve

An angel of the first degree

Friends call me Collins -- Tom Collins

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

We'll get along fine

Get you a coat, have a bite

Make a night -- I'm flush

My friends are waiting --

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)