Rent Page #12

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 and

MARK's conversation)

MARK:

Are you insane?

There 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:

But 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)

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

Just came to say

Goodbye love

Goodbye love

Goodbye love

Goodbye

ROGER:

Glory

One blaze of

Glory

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 away. After a moment, COLLINS quickly enters, with the

PASTOR trailing behind him)

PASTOR:

Off the premises now, we give no handouts here

MARK:

What happened to Rest In Peace?

PASTOR:

Off the premises, queer

COLLINS:

That's no way to send a boy to meet his maker

They had to know we couldn't pay the undertaker

BENNY:

(To COLLINS) Don't you worry 'bout him

(To PASTOR) Hey, I'll take care of it

(The PASTOR acknowledges BENNY and exits)

MARK:

Must be nice to have money

ALL THREE:

No sh*t

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

BENNY & COLLINS

Punk! Let's go

(COLLINS and 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?

WHAT YOU OWN:

MARK:

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 (on the phone)

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

And 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..." (Beep)

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, donde estas?

Tu mama esta llamando

Donde 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 (The lot and the loft)

ALL SEVEN HOMELESS

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 prjector 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)

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

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