Editing Rent (musical) (section)

==Roles==

===Main characters===
<!--NOTE: DO NOT ADD SINGING RANGES. This is original research-->
* '''Mark Cohen''': A struggling [[Jewish-American]] documentary filmmaker and the [[narrator]] of the show. He is Roger's roommate; at the start of the show, he has recently been dumped by Maureen.
* '''Roger Davis''': A once-successful-but-now-struggling musician and ex-lead singer and rock guitarist who is HIV-positive and an ex-junkie. He hopes to write one last meaningful song before he dies. He has difficulty coping with his own mortality as well as that of his friends. His girlfriend, April, killed herself after finding out that she was HIV-positive. He is roommates with Mark.
* '''Mimi Márquez''': A [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Latina]] [[stripper]] and drug addict. She lives downstairs from Mark and Roger, is Roger's love interest, and, like him, is HIV-positive. She is also Benny's ex-lover.
* '''Tom Collins''': An [[Anarchism|anarchist]] professor with AIDS. He is described by Mark as a "computer genius, teacher, and vagabond anarchist who ran naked through the [[Parthenon]]." Collins dreams of opening a restaurant in Santa Fe, where the problems in New York will not affect him and his friends. He was formerly a roommate of Roger, Mark, Benny, and Maureen, now just Roger and Mark, until he moves out.
* '''Angel Dumott Schunard''': A young drag queen who is addressed as female when in drag and as male when out of drag. Angel, who has AIDS, is a street percussionist with a generous disposition as well as Collins' love interest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtishows.com/full-cast-info/1157|title=Casting &#124; Music Theatre International|access-date=April 7, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128052542/https://www.mtishows.com/full-cast-info/1157|url-status=live}}</ref>
* '''{{visible anchor|Maureen Johnson}}''': A [[performance art]]ist who is Mark's ex-girlfriend and Joanne's current girlfriend. She is very flirtatious and cheated on Mark. Larson considered Maureen a lesbian, despite her previous relationships with men, and he specifically identified her as "lesbian" in the script itself.<ref name="Rent: Leap of Faith" />
* '''Joanne Jefferson''': An Ivy League-educated public interest [[lawyer]] and a [[lesbian]]. Joanne is the woman for whom Maureen left Mark. Joanne has very politically powerful parents (one is undergoing confirmation to be a judge, the other is a government official).
* '''Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III''': The [[landlord]] of Mark, Roger, and Mimi's apartment building and ex-roommate of Mark, Collins, Roger, and Maureen. Now married to Alison Grey of the Westport Greys, a very wealthy family involved in real estate, and he is considered [[yuppie]] scum and a sell-out by his ex-roommates. He at one time had a relationship with Mimi.

===Minor characters===
* '''Mrs. Cohen''': Mark's stereotypical Jewish mother. Her voicemail messages are the basis for the songs Voicemail #1, Voicemail #3, and Voicemail #5.
* '''Alexi Darling''': The producer of Buzzline, a sleazy tabloid company that tries to employ Mark after his footage of the riot makes primetime. Sings Voicemail #3 and Voicemail #4.
* '''Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson''': The wealthy parents of Joanne Jefferson, they leave her Voicemail #2. Mr. Jefferson is also one of the a cappella singers in Voicemail #5. Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson's actors usually sing the solos in Seasons of Love.
* '''Mrs. Davis''': Roger's confused mother who calls in Voicemail #5, asking continuously, "Roger, where are you?"
* '''Mrs. Marquez''': Mimi's Spanish-speaking mother who sings in Voicemail #5, wondering, in Spanish, where she is.
* '''Mr. Grey''': Benny's father-in-law who wants to buy out the lot.
* '''The Man''': The local drug dealer whom Mimi buys from and Roger used to buy from. Based on the character Parpignol from ''La Bohème''.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Titrington|first=Elizabeth|title="OVER THE MOON": The Creation and Development of Rent by Jonathan Larson|date=2007|publisher=University of Maryland|url=http://earbirding.com/3020summer2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Over-The-Moon.pdf|access-date=December 29, 2013|archive-date=December 31, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000018/http://earbirding.com/3020summer2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Over-The-Moon.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* '''Paul''': The man in charge of the Life Support group.
* '''Gordon''': One of the Life Support members.
* '''Steve''': One of the Life Support members.
* '''Ali''': One of the Life Support members
* '''Pam''': One of the Life Support members
* '''Sue''': One of the Life Support members. 
* In Larson's script, the roles of all of the Life Support members are encouraged to take on the name that someone in the cast (or production) knows or has known to have succumbed to AIDS. In the final Broadway performance, Sue is renamed Lisa.
* '''Squeegee Man''': A homeless person who chants "Honest living!" over and over during "Christmas Bells".
* '''The Waiter''': A waiter at Life Cafe.
* '''The Woman with Bags''' or '''Homeless Woman''': A woman who calls Mark out for trying to use her to assuage his guilt during "On The Street".
* '''The Preacher''' or '''The Pastor''': The Preacher kicks Collins out of the church because he can't pay for Angel's funeral.
There are also many other non-named roles such as Cops, Bohemians, Vendors, Homeless People.

In professional productions, all the minor characters are played by the seven members of the ensemble. The usual doubling is as follows:
* Mark's Mother/Pam
* Mrs. Jefferson/Woman with Bags/Coat Vendor/Mimi's Mother/Ali/Seasons of Love Soloist
* Alexi Darling/Roger's Mother/Sue
* Mr. Jefferson/Christmas Caroler/Preacher/Seasons of Love Soloist
* Gordon/The Man/Mr. Grey
* Steve/Waiter/Squeegee Man
* Paul/Cop/Vendor