Rent

The group is at a church for Angel’s memorial service, which takes place on Halloween. Mimi, Mark, and Maureen each tell stories that show that Angel was both generous and fierce. Collins starts to sing a mournful gospel rendition of “I’ll Cover You,” and Joanne and an unnamed company member join in on the chorus. The company layers in with the chorus of “Seasons of Love.” After the service, Mark calls Alexi from the pay phone. He signed a contract with Buzzline and is going to be late for a meeting with her, but he reassures her assistant that he is on his way. Alone onstage, Mark sings, “How did we get here? How the hell … pan left—close on the steeple of the church” (118). It has been nearly a year since Christmas Eve, when everything was so electric and hot despite the snow. Now, it’s a mild-weathered morning in October, and he feels cold and raw. Mark asks, “Why are entire years strewn on the cutting-room floor of memory?” (118). The night of the protest is the scene that keeps replaying in his mind, and nothing else in the past year lives up to it. Mark wonders why his friends are living their lives and falling in love while he isn’t.