Back in 2002, my friend Sean and I wanted to make a collection of songs from the musical Rent. This was shortly after P2P filesharing had come into vogue and we used Kazaa to get a lot of the songs. Sean had seen the musical and heard the soundtrack but I had only heard a few songs. We got what songs we could and put them willy-nilly onto a CD. The following is more or less how Rent would be performed if Jonathan Larson had written it based on our setlist.
The show begins with Mark’s mother consoling him on the answering machine. Mark’s girlfriend, Maureen, has dumped him for a woman. Then, the company sings the eponymous title song, where they bemoan the paying of their rent and back-rent. Everything falls apart with everyone, and the group sings “Goodbye Love,” wherein Mimi is dating Benny, Roger is leaving for Santa Fe, Maureen and Joanne fight, Roger and Mark fight, Mimi gets deathly sick and Benny pays for her clinic. Mimi decides to be honest with Roger and sings “I Should Tell You” and the two of them bond over their HIV/AIDS. Sensing the sadness in the air, Angel does an impromptu show with “Today 4 U” and everyone has a great time. Sadly, Mimi and Roger break up in “Without You.” Roger decides he needs to make his mark on the world and vows to achieve it musically in “One Song Glory.”
In what we can only assume is a flashback, Mimi and Roger meet for the first time, as Mimi asks him, “Light My Candle.” He does so, she recovers her drugs (not a candy bar wrapper) and then we all sing “Seasons of Love,” thinking about laughter, sunsets and cups of coffee.
While everyone is thinking about how many minutes are in a year, Collins professes his love for Angel and vice-versa and they sing “I’ll Cover You.” However, not everyone is having such a good time. Maureen demands that Joanne accepts who she is (and vice-versa) as the two sing “Take Me or Leave Me.” The citizens of the city wonder if someone will care when they die, and they sing “Will I?” together, in an interesting show of support for a song about being alone.
Angel dies. Evidently (s)he was much more sick than (s)he let on. Collins feels lied to and betrayed but plans a pretty funeral, nonetheless, and sings their favorite song, “I’ll Cover You” as a reprise. Benny tells the guys they don’t have to pay rent if they can get Maureen to cancel her protest and the ghost of Angel invites the boys to a Life Support meeting in “You’ll See.” Roger and Mark struggle with who they are in this crazy world and sing “What You Own.” Marius and Cossette then introduce themselves to each other, already knowing they must be together forever in “A Heart Full of Love,” and Eponine laments losing Marius’ love, even though she knows she never had it to begin with.
