Various Artists - Rent |
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Rent
Various Artists 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 Blow my mind And now this deadline "Eviction ROGER Rent! 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 Where is the power MARK And we're hungry and frozen Some life that we've chosen ROGER 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.) (On phone) JOANNE Don't screen, Maureen It's me Your substitute production manager Hey hey hey! (Did you eat?) Don't change the subject Maureen But darling 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' 'Welcome back to town' (And tonight it's 'trick') Oh, I should lie down Everything's brown And uh 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 Alison baby I don't believe those two after everything I've done Ever since our wedding I'm dirt I can help them all out in the long run BENNY Forces are gathering Forces are gathering Can't turn away Forces are gathering COLLINS UghhhhhUghhhhhUghhhhhUghhhhhUghhhhhUghhhhh MARK (reading from a script page) "The music ignites the night with passionate fire" JOANNE Maureen 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? MARK Hello? Maureen? 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 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 Rent rent rent rent rent This year's rent Next year's rent We're not gonna pay rent ROGER & MARK 'Cause everything is rent |
