This week we’re going to be discussing Rent, the movie version. Rent the musical was first performed in 1994 on stage and the movie came out in 2005. Set in the East Village, NYC in 1989-1990 the main characters struggle with their sexuality, drugs, paying rent, and living through the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Seasons of Love – all eight characters are each in the spotlight on a stage; there are moments that take up a year; one of the most iconic musical songs

Rent – on Christmas Eve, Mark (filmmaker) and Roger’s (musician) old friend and landlord Benny is making them pay rent; Mark and Roger sing about not being able to pay rent because nobody wants to hire artists; during the song they set fire to screenplays and posters, they throw it out their building; their old roommate Tom Collins (Collins) attempts to visit but get mugged

You’ll See – Benny has a plan to get all the homeless people out of a nearby lot to create a cyber studio for the Arts; Mark and Roger, although wanting the Cyber Arts studio, oppose it since it would get rid of the lot and they have to pay rent; Benny won’t have them pay if they get Maureen, Mark’s ex-girlfriend, to cancel her protest concerning the tent city that Benny is trying to get rid of

Angel and Collins meet on the street where Angel is drumming; they bond over both having AIDS

One Song Glory – Roger is HIV positive; he is trying to write a final song before he dies

Light My Candle – Mimi, a dancer, visits Roger; there is sexual tension between the two and Roger realizes that she takes heroin because he recognized the signs of an addict; the audience learns that Roger’s ex-girlfriend died from HIV, he contracted it from her by sharing needles

Today 4 U – on Christmas, Collins and Angel visit Mark and Roger; they got these presents because Angel killed a dog for a rich lady; they invite Mark and Roger to attend an AIDS support group which Roger declines; Mark goes to help Maureen fix her sound system

Tango: Maureen – Mark meets Maureen’s current girlfriend, Joanne, there and they are hostile towards each other at first; Mark begins to speak about Maureen’s actions while she was with him and Joanna realizes Maureen does the same to her; Mark and Joanne Tango while they bond over Maureen’s flirtatious nature

Life Support – Mark attends the Life Support AIDS support group; he films the meeting for a documentary he is making about people living with HIV/AIDS; the people at the meeting are talking about living one day at a time because they are still alive even though their doctors said they should have died by now

Out Tonight – Mimi visits Roger again and says she wants to go out, to dance, to party, possibly to get more drugs

Another Day – Roger, still hurt from his last girlfriend dying, does not want to enable Mimi by going out with her; he also wants to share that he is HIV positive but doesn’t think it’s the right time yet; Mimi has AIDS but wants to live everyday as if it’s her last

Will I – Roger joins Mark, Angel, and Collins at a Life Support meeting; the groups wonders whether they will lose their dignity if they tell someone they have HIV/AIDS

Santa Fe – as they leave the meeting, Roger, Mark, Angel, and Collins wonder what it would be like to leave New York and open a restaurant in Santa Fe

I’ll Cover You – Roger and Mark leave; Angel and Collins realize they are falling in love

Over The Moon – Roger and Mark help Maureen set up this performance; her protest calls out Benny for trying to shut down the tent city; it ends in a riot

La Vie Boheme – Mark, having recorded Maureen’s performance and the riot, sold the footage to the news station; they celebrate at a cafe; Roger and Mimi both figure out they have HIV/AIDS

I Should Tell You – Roger and Mimi take a moment aside to reveal their feelings to each other

La Vie Boheme (reprise) – everyone continues to celebrate at the cafe

Seasons of Love (reprise) – this song holds the same premise as the original; it is about the moments that take up a person’s last year on Earth

Since Mark and Roger didn’t pay rent Benny locks their apartment; Angel breaks the lock with a garbage can; Mark gets a job at the news station that he sold Maureen’s performance video to;

Take Me or Leave Me – Maureen proposes to Joanne after they get into an argument; they break up again when Maureen flirts with another woman at their engagement party

Benny and Mimi used to be couple; she persuades Benny to give Mark and Roger their apartment back

Without You – Roger becomes suspicious of Mimi and they eventually break up even though they are miserable without each other

I’ll Cover You (reprise) – Angel dies in Collins arms; the group mourns Angel’s death and go their separate ways, except for Maureen and Joanne who find each other again

Halloween – Mark, who has been filming everyone since Christmas of 1989, watches the tapes; he wonders why any of the events of that holiday season happened now that they’re all split up

Goodbye Love – Roger has sold his guitar and gone to Santa Fe but comes back for Mimi; this is probably my favorite song, the way Mimi sings “goodbye love” gives me chills

What You Own – Mark quits his job at the news station to create his own movie; he and Roger have both found the inspiration they need to create their art

Finale – Joanne and Maureen find Mimi on the street, about to die; after a conversation with Roger it seems as if she has; Roger says she can’t go before she hears a song he wrote for her

Your Eyes – as you can probably tell this song is about Mimi’s eyes; it plays on some lyrics from the night they first met and the last time they saw each other

Finale (reprise) – Mimi awakens and says that she heard Angel telling her to go back to their friends; they choose that there’s “no day but today” to live

Love Heals – Mark’s documentary has been shown for the first time; they reaffirm the title of the song “love heals”