Rent



"Five-hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,

five-hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear,

five-hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,

how do you measure, measure a year?"

A modern-day Rock Opera adaptation of Puccini's La Boheme, written by Johnathan Larson (who died before the show was staged), RENT centers around a group of New York bohemians in the early nineties, including:


 * Mark Cohen: A film maker. He is Maureen's ex-boyfriend and Roger's roommate.
 * Roger Davis: A musician and former junkie. He and his now-deceased girlfriend April were diagnosed with HIV. Mimi attempts to pursue a relationship with him.
 * Mimi Marquez: An exotic dancer. She is a heroin addict, as well as having AIDS. She tries to pursue a relationship with Roger.
 * Tom Collins: an HIV-positive philosophy professor and former roommate of Mark and Roger. He falls in love with Angel.
 * Angel Dumott Schunard: A mischievous, HIV-positive drummer. He falls in love with Collins. Debate rages over whether Angel is male-to-female transgender or just likes the clothes, even on this very wiki.
 * Maureen Johnson: A free-spirited, bisexual performance artist. She left Mark for Joanne.
 * Joanne Jefferson: A Harvard-educated lawyer. She is Maureen's girlfriend, and much, MUCH more strait-laced.
 * Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III: Mark and Roger's landlord. He used to be their roommate, until he married into money and "sold out".

Notable for its revitalization of the musical theatre genre among young people, its ground-breaking portrayal of people with AIDS, and its obsessive fanbase.

"Collins: We went to steal and air conditioner.
 * Ambiguous Gender: Angel. An unusual case, as it isn't because of androgyny, but because Angel is male-bodied, dating a gay man, dresses like a drag queen, acts femininely, and is hinted to prefer the pronoun "she". Her actual gender is never explicitly stated, so interpretations of her range from Cross Dresser to transfeminine to everything in between.
 * Ambiguously Brown: Mimi is said to be Latina, but since her first actress was half-black, other portrayals have ranged from fully-black to even white.
 * Anachronism Stew: The play doesn't have a set time period and premiered in 1996, but the movie is based circa 1990. Benny would have to be a prophet to plan a Cyber Studio before the internet was mainstream; ditto for Angel referencing Thelma and Louise a year before it was released. And that's not even the half of it...
 * Among other things, Mark's film montage at the end contained a mural painted on a wall for deceased Latin music legend Celia Cruz on it (with "RIP Celia" and everything)...though the movie was supposed to be set about 10 years before that happened.
 * Anything That Moves: Maureen seems to fall prey to this trope, perhaps best personified when she sings: "Ever since puberty / Everybody stares at me / Boys, girls, I can't help it, baby!"
 * Audience Participation: Moo with me
 * Auto-Tune: Some of Rosario Dawson's cadences have it applied, almost to the level of Cher.
 * Big Applesauce: The show takes place in New York City.
 * Big No: Roger in Finale A.
 * Book Ends: "December 24th, 9 PM, Eastern Standard Time..."
 * Bury Your Gays: The only one who dies in the play is . The ONE character almost everyone likes, both in-universe and among fans.
 * The Dutch production changes this and kills too.
 * She died in the original opera, so perhaps they simply thought they were restoring the original storyline.
 * Cast Full of Gay: Joanne, Collins and Angel are gay; Maureen is bisexual; Mark, Roger, Mimi and Benny are straight.
 * Character Development: Roger defrosts, Mark is given some depth in "Halloween" and "Goodbye Love," Maureen gets a little less slutty and clingy after "Goodbye Love" (or at least, is willing to try harder to stay faithful to Joanne).
 * Cut Song: The stage show is nearly entirely sung-through; the movie converts several songs into dialogue scenes or nixes them completely. Notable cuts include the various "Tune-Up" sequences, "We're Okay", "Christmas Bells", "Happy New Year" and "Contact". Furthermore, "Halloween" was recorded and filmed, but cut from the theatrical release.
 * Not to mention all the songs that got cut from the stage version. "You're a Fool", "Because You Were Right", "You'll Get Over It", "Real Estate", and "Open Road" are a few. Some are rather bad ("You'll Get Over It"--a duet between Mark and Maureen about her dating a woman--made him sound like an ignorant lout and her like a callous whore). Others, like "Real Estate" (a Villain Song for Benny) were cut for length.
 * The high school edition of RENT cuts Contact, though this is understandable. It would be hard enough to get RENT put on in a high school without there being a onstage orgy.
 * Dark Reprise: The literal reprise of "I'll Cover You" sends 97% of people into either quiet, manageable tears or full-blown hysterics.
 * Defrosting Ice King: Roger, eventually, as he warms up to Mimi. Turned up to eleven if you compare "Another Day" to "Your Eyes".
 * Disney Death:
 * Double Meaning Title: It refers to the rent that Mark and Roger can't pay, and to the general feeling of being torn (i.e., "rent") apart. And the third meaning, as suggested by "I'll Cover You" and "What You Own" - nothing is owned, only rented, in this life. Including life.
 * Downer Ending: The Dutch production apparently did not like how . And decided to change it so that  . This was approved by the licensors and everything.
 * Drag Queen: Angel
 * Driven to Suicide:, and, less humorously,.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: In the DVD commentary, Chris Columbus and Anthony Rapp speculate that the true reason some viewers left the theater during the "I'll Cover You" scene is because they had difficulty coping with their own desire for Wilson Jermaine Heredia and his fantastic legs.
 * Expy: Every single major character is a personality Expy to a character (or two, in the case of Joanne) in La Boheme.
 * Mark is Marcello
 * Roger is Rodolfo
 * Mimi is Mimì
 * Tom is Colline
 * Angel is Schaunard
 * Maureen is Musetta
 * Joanne is Alcindoro/partially Marcello
 * Benny is Benoît
 * Face Heel Turn: Apparently Benny went through one of these prior to the events of the play.
 * Fan Service: The only reason why, in the film, "Out Tonight" is performed while Mimi is at work instead of at her apartment like in the play. Maureen also suits this, what with her skin-tight near see-through leather catsuit, and flashing her butt.
 * Femme Fatale: Maureen.
 * Foe Yay:
 * Foreshadowing: Possibly Fridge Brilliance here, but Mimi singing the Support Group's mantra in Another Day
 * Funny Answering Machine: Mark and Roger saying "speeeeeaak" together in a bored tone in songs such as Voice Mail #1.
 * The New York Theatre Workshop version of RENT has another funny voicemail that never made the final cut.
 * Funny Answering Machine: Mark and Roger saying "speeeeeaak" together in a bored tone in songs such as Voice Mail #1.
 * The New York Theatre Workshop version of RENT has another funny voicemail that never made the final cut.

Angel: We'll be right back."

"Maureen: Joanne, which way to the stage?!"
 * Funny Background Event: Easy to miss, but in the Hollywood Bowl performance, Mark is seen crossing his legs while Maureen acts out suckling on the cow's udder by sucking her thumb suggestively.
 * In the 2008 film performance: When Maureen dons a pair of silver shades to imitate Benny, Benny removes his and hides them in his jacket.
 * The Heart: Angel in general, Mimi to Roger, Mark a bit.
 * Heel Face Turn:.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Roger and Mark. "What You Own" is their duet and ends with spectacular harmony and a big hug between them once Roger gets back.
 * This is especially apparent in the New York Theatre Workshop version of "Goodbye Love" from all the way back in 1994. Instead of Roger yelling at Mark, Mark sings this part  , with Roger telling him that it's not true. They then share a sweet "I love you" before parting ways.
 * Not to mention the use of the "I Should Tell You" theme leading directly into Roger's "love you too". (The theme remains in the final version, but not the words.)
 * Hooker With a Heart of Gold: Mimi. Okay, she's not a hooker, or even a stripper really, but she does do S&M Dances, and basically follows this trope.
 * How We Got Here: Inverted by Halloween. "How did we get here, how the hell..."
 * Actually, this trope is played straight in the original Broadway version. Mark is on stage with just his camera and sings the beginning part of Halloween: "How did we get here, how the hell? Pan left, /Close on the steeple of the church/How did we get here, how the hell?/Christmas. Christmas Eve, last year" which goes straight into Voicemail #1. However, it was later removed from the show in most Broadway productions.
 * Incoming Ham: In "Christmas Bells", for Maureen.

"Joanne: This is weird.
 * Insistent Terminology: Mimi is an S&M dancer, not a stripper. Making that mistake in front of the wrong fan can be hazardous to your safety.
 * Ironic Echo: "I'll cover you." The first time, it's part of an extended metaphor about a pair of lovers providing shelter for each other. The next time, it's about.
 * Irrelevant Act Opener: Seasons Of Love. The show's most iconic tune also has almost nothing to do with the narrative itself.
 * One could also argue that Seasons of Love IS what the whole show is about: measuring life in the love you have lived, not the days; . The whole play is a celebration of   and the effect  had on this group of musical misfits.
 * Let's not forget either, Seasons of Love talks about the length of a year and how it should be measured in moments, memories, and love. It then proceeds to show a year of their life.
 * The Ishmael: Mark. There really is no central character, though the movie would like to believe it's Roger, it seems.
 * Ivy League for Everyone
 * Jewish and Nerdy: Mark.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: "Do you know the way to Santa Fe?"
 * Ladykiller in Love: Arguably Maureen with Joanne, as they at the end of the show.
 * Large Ham: Three words: Over The Moon.
 * Last-Name Basis: (Tom) Collins.
 * Le Film Artistique: Mark's raison d'être.
 * List Song: La Vie Boheme
 * Love Triangle: Mark, Joanne, and Maureen as well as Roger, Mimi, and Benny. The movie also gives us Mark, Roger, and Mimi subtext.
 * Magical Queer: Angel
 * Man Hug: Mark and Roger on several occasions, most notably at the end of "What You Own".
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Mimi to Roger, Maureen to Joanne. Angel to everyone.
 * The Masochism Tango: The tango... Maureen.
 * Meaningful Echo: "No Day But Today", "Without You", and "Will I" were all given this treatment in the finale. At the same time.
 * Also, during Finale B, Roger meaningfully echoes.
 * During Finale A, Roger and Mimi echo "Another Day," "Light My Candle," and "I Should Tell You."
 * "I Should Tell You" is also echoed briefly in "Your Eyes."
 * It's also echoed in "Goodbye Love" in the sung-conversation between Mark and Roger, right before he says "I'll call." More Roger Mark subtext, anyone?
 * Some of "Today 4 U" is reprised far more sexily during "Contact."
 * Meaningful Funeral:
 * Meaningful Name:
 * Also, many characters' names are modernizations of their counterparts from La Boheme.
 * The Messiah: Both Angel and Mark.
 * Mister Muffykins: Evita, Benny's wife's dog (at least the yappy part).
 * Mind Screw: "Contact": It's kind of a stage-wide orgy that is also a metaphor for . It never fails to confuse the hell out of everyone the first time around.
 * The Movie: FEATURING : Most of the original Broadway cast members!
 * The Musical: Rent is arguably the late parts of The Eighties and the early parts of The Nineties condensed and put to an awesome soundtrack.
 * No Bisexuals: Maureen falls prey to this, being constantly referred to as a lesbian, when she is actually bisexual. It seems she just mostly prefers women.
 * Original Cast Precedent: Mark and Mimi are stated to be respectively Jewish and Hispanic, but the races of the other characters are pretty much determined by those of the original cast members despite race being mostly incidental. Thus, Joanne, Collins and Benny are always black; Angel always Hispanic; and Maureen and Roger always white.
 * International professional productions may differ, and so may amateur productions. All-white (with the occasional Token Minority) amateur productions of 'RENT' are not rare occurrences.
 * Subverted in the Hollywood Bowl production in Maureen's case, as she was played by the Hawaiian/Filipina Nicole Scherzinger.
 * Only Sane Man: Some see Benny as this. Especially because he seems to be the only person who thought to put Mimi into rehab.
 * Mark sees himself as this.
 * The Power of Rock: How they.
 * Along with The Power of Love.
 * Positive Discrimination: It might be a coincidence, but the four canonically minority characters (Benny, Collins, Joanne, and Mimi) seem to be the only ones with stable jobs.
 * Precision F-Strike:

Mark: So weird...

Joanne: Very weird...

Mark: Fucking weird!"

"Joanne: She cheated!
 * TWICE in the same song, actually.

Mark: She cheated.

Joanne: Maureen cheated!

Mark: Fucking cheated!"

"Roger: Muffy-
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: Beautifully, beautifully inverted- Jonathan Larson wrote this in memorial to his friends who had died of AIDS, but it's almost as if he wrote his own memorial. See the book "Without You" by Anthony Rapp for details.
 * Recycled in Space: Puccini's La Boheme IN MODERN-DAY NEW YORK!
 * Refuge in Audacity: The reason we can forgive Angel for killing Evita.
 * And in the movie Maureen and Joanne breaking up literally seconds after their 1989 lesbian equivalent to a wedding.
 * Rock Opera
 * Rummage Sale Reject: The entire cast.
 * Running Gag:

Benny/Mark: Allison..."

"Mimi: "AZT Break.""
 * Say My Name: In "Your Eyes": "MIIMIIIIII!"
 * Self-Parody: "Right Brain" definitely counts as an accidental example of this trope. Dating back to the New York Theatre Workshop in 1994, "Right Brain" was what is now "One Song Glory", and many fans either feel like vomiting or laughing when they hear it, for very obvious reasons.
 * Setting Update
 * Shout-Out: It has many references to being a Recycled in Space version of La Boheme, such as:
 * Angel's last name (Schunard, the name of the character she was modeled after) - not to mention Collins (Colline), Mark (Marcello), Mimi (just guess), etc...
 * The use of "Musetta's Waltz" (the song Roger keeps playing on his guitar)
 * Or the line from "La Vie Boheme A": "And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song ... (Roger plays) ... that doesn't remind us of Musetta's Waltz."
 * The lines "Every single day, I walk down the street, I hear people say 'Baby's so sweet'" in "Take Me or Leave Me" (a fairly direct, if modernized, translation of the first lines of "Quando m'en vo", or Musetta's Waltz).
 * And of course, the akita, Evitata.
 * Part of "Christmas Bells," where various vendors shout out their wares to passerby, echoes a similar scenario in the Act II opening of La Boheme.
 * And near the ending,
 * Sidekick Song: "Today 4 U" for Angel, "Santa Fe" for Collins, "Over the Moon" for Maureen.
 * So Beautiful It's a Curse: Maureen's flimsy justification for being the town bike in the song "Take Me or Leave Me."
 * Somewhere a Mammalogist Is Crying: Evita the little yappy dog is specifically mentioned to be an akita, for rhyming reasons. Akitas are a large breed, reaching 100 lbs or more.
 * Stepford Smiler: Mark. While he's always attempting to be Roger's happy, supportive best friend, the song "Halloween" marks him (pun intended) as someone contemplative, mournful, and terrified of the reality of his situation. And when I capture it on film, will it mean that it's the end and I'm alone?
 * True Companions: This is supposed to be the overall relationship of the main characters. Well, except Benny.
 * Unreliable Narrator: Mark
 * Uptight Loves Wild: Joanne and Maureen.
 * Villain Song: "You'll See, Boys"
 * Wham! Line: A few, including La Vie Boheme's


 * There's also a "Wham Shadow", when Collins appears.
 * From Goodbye Love, Mark's "perhaps that's because I'm the one of us to survive!"
 * What the Hell, Hero?: A homeless woman delivers a scathing one to Mark, rightly pointing out that he's only using her plight to make a name for himself and kill some of his guilt, since filming her like an animal on the Discovery Channel doesn't solve any of her problems. This actually causes him to rethink his movie plans, refocusing it on his friends facing HIV.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: Angel.