[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/howaboutlove.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The original Broadway cast in its full, GLBT-riffic glory.]]

->''[[EarWorm 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 RockOpera adaptation of Puccini's ''LaBoheme'', written by Jonathan Larson (who [[AuthorExistenceFailure 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 [[{{Transgender}} male-to-female transgender]] or [[DragQueen 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 [[FanDumb obsessive fanbase]].

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!!This play provides examples of:

* AmbiguousGender: 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 {{crossdresser}} to {{trans|gender}}feminine to everything in between.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Mimi is said to be Latina, but since her first actress was half-black, other portrayals have ranged from fully-black to even white.
* AnachronismStew: The play doesn't have a set time period and premiered in 1996, but the movie is based circa 1989. Benny would have to be a prophet to plan a Cyber Studio before the internet was mainstream; ditto for Angel referencing ''ThelmaAndLouise'' 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.
** May be justified given the show's long gestation time, dating back to at least 1992.
* AnythingThatMoves: 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!"
* AudienceParticipation: "Moo with me!"
* AutoTune: Some of Rosario Dawson's cadences have it applied, almost to the level of Cher.
* BigApplesauce: The show takes place in NewYorkCity.
* BigNo: Roger in Finale A.
* BookEnds: "''December 24th, 9 PM, Eastern Standard Time...''"
* BuryYourGays: The only one who dies in the play is [[spoiler:Angel]]. The ONE character almost everyone likes, both in-universe and among fans.
** The Dutch production changes this and kills [[spoiler:Mimi]] too.
*** She died in the original opera, so perhaps they simply thought they were restoring the original storyline.
* CastFullOfGay: Joanne, Collins and Angel are gay; Maureen is bisexual; Mark, Roger, Mimi and Benny are straight.
* CharacterDevelopment: Roger {{defrost|ingIceQueen}}s, 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).
* CutSong: 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" and "Voicemail" sequences, "We're Okay", "Christmas Bells", "Happy New Year" and "Contact". Furthermore, "Halloween" was recorded and filmed, but cut from the theatrical release. Less than 1/3 of "Goodbye Love" made the cut.
** Not to mention all the songs that got cut from the stage version. "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1UQerzKa5M You're a Fool]]", "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oXP2MkaaKk Because You Were Right]]", "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1gJDuWrfs You'll Get Over It]]", "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWwviipzgY0 Real Estate]]", "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU_uYMRGLxo Do a Little Business]]," and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suFyS0nq9IY 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 VillainSong 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.
* DarkReprise: The literal reprise of "I'll Cover You" sends 97% of people into either quiet, manageable tears or full-blown hysterics.
* [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice King]]: Roger, eventually, as he warms up to Mimi. Turned up to eleven if you compare "Another Day" to "Your Eyes".
* DidIMentionItsChristmas: The play spans two Christmases as well as one [[NewYearHasCome New Year's Eve]], though the holidays are rather incidental to the plot.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: Angel. This almost happens to Mimi, too. See below.]]
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Mimi, who is saved through ThePowerOfRock... alongside a heavy dose of FridgeLogic/slight MindScrew.]]
** [[spoiler:Not in the Dutch production.]]
** [[spoiler:Being brought from the freezing street to a warm room probably helped.]]
* DoubleMeaningTitle: 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 in this life, only rented. Including life itself.
** There's also the other meaning of "rent" as in "torn," which many characters are (emotionally).
* DownerEnding: The Dutch production apparently did not like how [[spoiler: Mimi seemed to be brought back to life by the power of love]]. And decided to change it so that [[spoiler: she really ''does'' die. And after she gets carried off stage by the other characters, Mark stands on stage and sings a cynical rendition of the finale]]. This was approved by the licensors and everything.
* DragQueen: Angel
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Evita]], and, less humorously, [[spoiler:Roger's old girlfriend, April]].
* DuetBonding: Mimi and Roger especially.
* EnsembleCast
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: 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 ''LaBoheme''.
** 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
* FaceHeelTurn: Apparently [[DesignatedVillain Benny]] went through one of these prior to the events of the play.
* {{Fanservice}}: 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.
-->"Its a living."
* FemmeFatale: Maureen.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Possibly FridgeBrilliance here, but Mimi singing the Support Group's mantra in Another Day [[spoiler: is possibly an early indication of her being HIV Positive.]]
* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Mark acts as the narrator. There really is no central character, though the movie would like to believe it's Roger, it seems.
* FriendsRentControl: Mark and Roger's apartment is ''huge''. No wonder they can barely afford to live there.
** In the stage version, it's stated that there is no heat or electricity in the apartment. These come from an illegal wood-burning stove and an extension cord which is stealing power from elsewhere. Benny had also promised them a rent-free stay, which he then went back on, putting them a year behind.
* FunnyAnsweringMachine: 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.
--> '''Collins''': We went to steal and air conditioner.
--> '''Angel''': We'll be right back.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Easy to miss, but in the Hollywood Bowl performance, Mark is seen [[RagingStiffie crossing his legs]] while Maureen acts out suckling on the cow's udder by sucking her thumb suggestively.
** In the 2005 film performance: When Maureen dons a pair of silver shades to imitate Benny, Benny removes his and hides them in his jacket.
* TheHeart: Angel in general, Mimi to Roger, Mark a bit.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Benny reconciles with the others after Mimi goes back to him (even though he was cheating on his wife). He even attends Angel's funeral which he later pays for. In the movie, two scenes that should ''not'' have been deleted reveal that he always knew Angel killed his wife's dog but was relieved because he hated that mutt, and he gave Roger his blessing to get back together with Mimi towards the end]].
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Roger and Mark. "What You Own" is their duet and ends with ''spectacular'' harmony and a big hug between them once Roger gets back [[spoiler: from Santa Fe]].
** 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 [[spoiler: for hiding in his work]], Mark sings this part [[spoiler: about himself]], 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.)
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Mimi, though she's an exotic dancer rather than a prostitute.
* HowWeGotHere: 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.
* IncomingHam: In "Christmas Bells", for Maureen.
-->'''Maureen:''' Joanne, which way to the stage?!
* InsistentTerminology: Mimi is an S&M dancer, not a stripper. Making that mistake in front of the wrong fan can be [[BerserkButton hazardous to your safety]].
* IronicEcho: "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 [[spoiler:burying Angel]].
* IrrelevantActOpener: ''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; [[spoiler: Angel]]. The whole play is a celebration of [[spoiler: Angel]] and the effect [[spoiler:s/he]] had on this group of musical misfits.
** ''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.
* IvyLeagueForEveryone
* IWantSong: "Santa Fe" and "One Song Glory"
* JewishAndNerdy: Mark.
* LadykillerInLove: Arguably Maureen with Joanne, as they [[spoiler:have reconciled and appear to be happy]] at the end of the show.
* LargeHam: Three words: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_118BHpkli8 Over]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbyj-HZGZG4 The]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QH4HpoamIQ&feature=related Moon.]]
--> '''Maureen''': 'THE ONLY WAY OUT IS UP!' Elsie whispered to me.
* LastNameBasis: (Tom) Collins.
* LeFilmArtistique: Mark's raison d'être.
* ListSong: La Vie Boheme.
* LoveTriangle: Mark, Joanne, and Maureen as well as Roger, Mimi, and Benny. The movie also gives us Mark, Roger, and Mimi subtext.
* MagicalQueer: Angel
* ManHug: Mark and Roger on several occasions, most notably at the end of "What You Own".
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Mimi to Roger, Maureen to Joanne. Angel to everyone.
* MarriedToTheJob: Mark. As Roger rants at him: "Mark's has got his work, they say Mark lives for his work, and Mark's in love with his work..." Of course, [[SurvivorGuilt there's a reason]]...
* TheMasochismTango: The tango... Maureen.
* MatingDance: "Contact"
* MeaningfulEcho:
** "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 [[spoiler:"Thank God this moment's not the last", a much-needed nod to Another Day]].
** 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" and 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."
* MeaningfulFuneral: [[spoiler:Angel's.]]
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:The only character to die? Angel.]]
** Also, many characters' names are modernizations of their counterparts from La Boheme.
* TheMessiah: Both Angel and Mark.
* MisterMuffykins: Evita, Benny's wife's dog (at least the yappy part).
* MindScrew: "Contact": It's kind of a stage-wide orgy that is also a metaphor for [[spoiler:Angel's death]]. It never fails to confuse the hell out of everyone the first time around.
* TheMovie: [-FEATURING-]: Most of the original Broadway cast members!
* TheMusical: Rent is the late parts of TheEighties and the early parts of TheNineties condensed and put to an [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic awesome soundtrack]].
* NewYearHasCome: "Seasons of Love"
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The tabloid news show that Mark briefly works at does a piece on "vampire welfare queens who are compulsive bowlers."
* NoBisexuals: Maureen falls prey to this, being constantly referred to as [[HoYay a lesbian]], when she is actually bisexual. It seems she just mostly prefers women.
* OriginalCastPrecedent: 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 TokenMinority) 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.
** Spectacularly averted in the 20th anniversary tour in the UK where Mimi is played by a white, blonde blue eyed woman, Angel is white and Joanne is white.
* OnlySaneMan: 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.
* ThePowerOfRock: How they [[spoiler:save Mimi]].
** Along with ThePowerOfLove.
* PositiveDiscrimination: 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.
* PrecisionFStrike:
-->'''Joanne:''' This is weird.\\
'''Mark:''' So weird...\\
'''Joanne:''' Very weird...\\
'''Mark:''' '''Fucking''' weird!
** TWICE in the same song, actually.
-->'''Joanne:''' She cheated!\\
'''Mark:''' She cheated.\\
'''Joanne:''' Maureen cheated!\\
'''Mark:''' '''Fucking''' cheated!
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: 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.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mark gets a pretty good one from a homeless lady who feels he's exploiting her plight to make his movie.
* RecycledINSPACE: Puccini's ''La Boheme'' [-IN MODERN-DAY NEW YORK!-]
* RockOpera
* RummageSaleReject: The entire cast.
* RunningGag:
-->'''Roger''': Muffy-
-->'''Benny/Mark''': [[MyNameIsNotDurwood Allison...]]
** The constant puns with Mimi's name and the word "me", seen at least in "Light My Candle", "La Vie Boheme A" and "Goodbye Love".
* SayMyName: In "Your Eyes": "MIIMIIIIII!" [[spoiler:shouted by Roger, which is either a DownerEnding in the Dutch production, or her DisneyDeath in other productions everywhere else.]]
* SelfParody: "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 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiH29pTi5nA hear it]], for very obvious reasons.
* SettingUpdate
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Roger and Mimi. In the song "Happy New Year", Benny sings "Does your boyfriend know who your last boyfriend was?" and Roger responds "I'm not her boyfriend!".
* ShoutOut: It has ''many'' references to being a RecycledINSPACE version of ''LaBoheme'', 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 "[[CantStandThemCantLiveWithoutThem 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, Music/{{Evi|ta}}[[AndrewLloydWebber ta]].
** Part of "Christmas Bells," where various vendors shout out their wares to passerby, echoes a similar scenario in the Act II opening of ''LaBoheme.''
** And near the ending, [[spoiler:Roger's shout of [[SayMyName "MIIMIIIIII!"]] when [[DisneyDeath he thinks Mimi has died]] in "Your Eyes" is similar to the [[DownerEnding ending of the opera]], when Mimì [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in Rodolfo's arms]] and he cries out her name over her corpse.]]
* SidekickSong: "Today 4 U" for Angel, "Santa Fe" for Collins, "Over the Moon" for Maureen.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Maureen's flimsy justification for being the town bike in the song "Take Me or Leave Me."
* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying: 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.
** Maybe Evita was just a puppy. Which might make her death even worse.
* StepfordSmiler: Mark. While he's always attempting to be [[ManicPixieDreamGirl 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. [[TearJerker ''And when I capture it on film, will it mean that it's the end and I'm alone?'']]
* SurvivorGuilt: Mark. He's not HIV positive, so he knows he's probably going to outlive all of his friends, and he's already not coping well:
-->"Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive!"
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Do you know the way to Santa Fe?"
* TrueCompanions: This is supposed to be the overall relationship of the main characters.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The movie, at least, starts on Christmas Eve 1989, but the show has always been synonymous with TheNineties. The repeated references to VirtualReality as [[NewMediaAreEvil an evil takeover plot]] by TheMan are downright HilariousInHindsight. AIDS spreading like wildfire to several of the characters (and being a short-term death sentence) is less hilarious, but pegs the action just as firmly in the early 1990s. Benny's desire to sleep with Mimi, who he knows to be infected, is arguably the worst case. It's also important to note that a large part of the reason so many people contracted AIDS in the [[TheNineties 1990s]] was because it took a while for accurate information about how HIV spreads to become common knowledge, and even longer for preventatives to become easy to get. Also, plenty of HIV negative people are in sexual relationships with HIV positive people, although it was much more dangerous back then, since so little was known.
* UnreliableNarrator: Mark
* UptightLovesWild: Joanne and Maureen.
* VillainSong: "You'll See, Boys"
* WhamLine: A few, including ''La Vie Boheme''[='=]s
-->'''Mimi''': "AZT Break."
** There's also a "Wham Shadow", when Collins appears [[spoiler:holding Angel's body]].
** From ''Goodbye Love'', Mark's "perhaps that's because I'm the one of us to survive!"
* WhatTheHellHero: 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.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Angel.
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