by Marion Garmel
Star News
March 19, 1999

Roger (Christian Mena) -- An HIV-positive rock musician numb from the suicide of his HIV-positive girlfriend. He hasn't left his apartment in six months.

Mena is a singer/songwriter who fronts the Latin pop band Maracujah!

Mimi (Julia Santana) -- The HIV-positive junkie who falls in love with Roger, based on Mimi, the tubercular seamstress, in La Boheme.

Santana is an actress/singer who has headlined at such major clubs as the Palladium and Roseland.

Mark (Scott Hunt) -- Roger's roommate and an aspiring filmmaker, who was left by Maureen. He serves as narrator for the audience and an observer of his friends while filming a documentary about their lives.

Hunt performed in Rent on Broadway and in the 10th anniversary production of Les Miserables.

Maureen (Fadale) -- The sexy performance artist and incorrigible flirt who left Mark for Joanne. Her current show is a protest of the proposed demolition of a lot that is a haven for the homeless.

Fadale joined Rent from the European tour of Fame, where she played Selena.

Joanne (Danielle Lee Greaves) -- The lesbian lawyer who now is Maureen's girlfriend, a very structured and disciplined person.

Greaves was a member of the first national tour of Rent.

Tom Collins (Dwayne Clark) -- An HIV-positive philosophy teacher and computer whiz who falls in love with Angel and nurses him as Angel's condition deteriorates.

Clark appeared in Smokey Joe's Cafe on Broadway, in the national tour and in Australia.

Angel (Pierre Angelo Bayuga) -- An HIV-positive drag queen and street musician who is adopted by the others. His positive attitude is a counterbalance to the despair of some of his friends.

Bayuga performed in Miss Saigon in Germany and in his native Canada.

Benny (Carl Thornton) -- A former roommate of Roger and Mark's who now owns the building where most of the group lives. He has purchased the lot where the homeless live and wants to build cyber arts studio with condominiums on top.

Thornton recently was on tour singing backup vocals for Atlantic Records artist Robin S.