Rent Page #4

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

You 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:

(playing with some wires)

"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!

Well, 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:

F***in' 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)

It's hard to do this backwards

JOANNE:

You should try it in heels!

She cheated

MARK:

She cheated

JOANNE:

Maureen cheated

MARK:

F***in' 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

Make 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 till 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

Till 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:

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)

Honey, we're... (pause) Pookie?!

You never call me Pookie...

Forget it, we're patched

(She hangs up, looks at MARK)

BOTH:

The Tango Maureen

LIFE SUPPORT:

(ANGEL and 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

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