No Day But Today: Plot

The first act of the show takes place on Christmas Eve. The show begins as Mark Cohen, a filmmaker (and the narrator of the show), begins shooting an unscripted documentary in his loft. He turns the camera on his roommate and best friend Roger Davis tuning his guitar (Tune Up #1). Roger is a reformed junkie who became a recluse after his girlfriend committed suicide after learning they had contracted HIV. Mark's mother interrupts the filming with a phone call; she reassures Mark about his performance-artist ex-girlfriend Maureen Johnson dumping him for a woman (Voicemail #1).
Roger and Mark's friend Tom Collins arrives at their building but is mugged before he can enter. Meanwhile, Roger and Mark receive a call from former friend and roommate Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III. Benny bought Mark and Roger's apartment building, as well as the lot next door. He tells them the rent is due, despite his promise to let them live there for free (Tune Up #2). Mark and Roger refuse to pay their rent (Rent).

Meanwhile, Joanne Jefferson (Maureen's new girlfriend) is setting up for Maureen's performance protesting Benny's plan to develop the lot where many homeless people are currently living. When the sound system blows, Maureen calls Mark, who agrees to help against his better judgment. Back on the street, Angel Dumott Schunard, a street drummer and drag queen, spots Collins injured and comes to his aid. They are instantly attracted to one another and quickly discover that they both have AIDS (You Okay Honey?).

Back at the loft, Mark tries to get Roger out of the apartment before reminding him to take his AZT (Tune Up #3). Roger attempts to write a great song to make his mark on the world before he dies of AIDS (One Song Glory). Roger is interrupted by Mimi Márquez, a beautiful stranger, knocking on his door to ask him for a match to light her candle. There is mutual attraction while Roger learns that she is a nineteen-year-old exotic dancer and junkie who lives in the apartment downstairs (Light My Candle).
Joanne's parents call her, wondering why she is stage managing and reminding her that she has to attend her mother's confirmation hearings (Voicemail #2). Meanwhile, Collins arrives at the apartment and introduces Mark and Roger to Angel, who describes how he earned $3,000 (Today 4 U). Benny arrives with an offer: if they convince Maureen to cancel her protest, he'll let them live in his new studio project, rent-free (You'll See). However, the two rebuff his offer. After Benny leaves, Angel and Collins invite Mark and Roger to attend Life Support, a local HIV support group meeting.
Mark meets Joanne at the lot. While fixing the sound equipment, Mark tells Joanne of how Maureen flirted and cheated with other men while he dated her (Tango: Maureen). At the Life Support meeting, the group talks about living with AIDS (Life Support).

Mimi dances up the fire escape to Roger's apartment and asks Roger to take her out for the night (Out Tonight). Roger rejects her, telling her he cannot love again, and demands that she leaves (Another Day). Focus is then set on the Life Support meeting, as people from the group wonder if they will lose their dignity because they have AIDS (Will I?).

On their way to the show, Collins, Mark and Angel meet a peddler who gets angry with Mark for making a name for himself filming their lives but not really aiding them (On the Street). Collins talks about his dream of escaping New York and opening up a restaurant (Santa Fe). Soon after, Collins and Angel confess their love for each other (I'll Cover You). Joanne then speaks like crazy on the phone, getting everything ready for the protest (We're Okay).

Roger intercepts Mimi on her way to buy drugs, inviting her to come to the protest and dinner with them instead, to which she agrees. Meanwhile, people from the streets protest for not having a place to spend Christmas (Christmas Bells).
Maureen arrives and begins her performance: A thinly-veiled criticism of Benny through a metaphor involving a cow and a bulldog, culminating in her urging the crowd to "moo" with her (Over The Moon and Over The Moon Playoff). The protest results in a riot that Mark catches on camera. Afterward, the group goes to the Life Café, where they run into Benny and his investor and father-in-law Mr. Grey. Benny criticizes the protest and the group's Bohemian lifestyle, declaring that Bohemia is dead. Mark and all the bohemians in the café rise up and celebrate the Bohemian lifestyle, paying tribute to everything they love, driving Mr. Grey and Benny from the café (La Vie Boheme A).

Mimi confronts Roger about ignoring her during dinner. Roger tries to explain that he has baggage, but Mimi isn't fazed. Then, as Mimi's beeper goes off (reminding her to take her AZT) she and Roger each discover that the other is HIV-positive. They talk openly for the first time, and finally start a relationship (I Should Tell You), whilst the group continue to celebrate Bohemia (La Vie Boheme B).

Opening with "Seasons of Love" - a song which contemplates how to measure a year in a life - the second act takes place over the course of the year following the first act, beginning on New Years Eve.
Mimi, Mark, and Roger attempt to break into their building, which has been padlocked by Benny in response to Maureen's protest. Mimi makes a New Year's resolution to give up her vices and go back to school. Joanne and Maureen also decide to try a relationship again (Happy New Year A). Collins and Angel arrive bearing a blowtorch. As the others work on the door, Mark, Joanne and Maureen climb the fire escape into the loft and find a message from Alexi Darling on the answering machine, as Buzzline, a tabloid newsmagazine, wants to hire Mark after having seen his footage of the riot (Voice Mail #3).
The others finally break through the door just as Benny arrives. He says he's there to call a truce, but the group doesn't trust him. He reveals that Mimi, a former girlfriend of his, came onto him. This revelation upsets Roger and he briefly rebuffs Mimi before Angel settles everyone down. Roger and Mimi both apologize, but Mimi remains upset, and turns to the drug dealer for a fix (Happy New Year B).
On Valentine's Day, Maureen and Joanne have a fight, giving each other relationship ultimatums (Take Me Or Leave Me). Maureen's flirtatious ways and Joanne's controlling behavior are too much to take, so they break up. The company sings a reprise of "Seasons of Love", as time passes and seasons change (Seasons of Love B). By spring, Roger and Mimi's relationship becomes strained. Roger keeps talking about moving out of town. Mimi comes home late again, causing Roger to believe that she is cheating on him with Benny. Roger jealously storms out, Mimi stops him and tries to tell him the truth, that she is not cheating and that she is still using drugs, but can't get the words out, and Roger leaves her (Without You). Collins continues nursing Angel who is very sick as AIDS begins to overtake him. Mark continues to receive calls from Buzzline (Voice Mail #4). Eventually, Roger and Mimi, and Joanne and Maureen, reconcile.

They then break up just as quickly. They are frustrated in their relationships, because they cannot trust and fully commit to one another (Contact). At the same time, Angel dies and Collins is heartbroken (I'll Cover You [Reprise]). Mark expresses his fear of being the only one left surviving when the rest of his friends die of AIDS (Halloween). He finally accepts the job offer from Buzzline. Roger reveals that he is leaving New York for Santa Fe, which sparks an argument about commitment between him and Mimi, and Maureen and Joanne. Collins arrives and admonishes the entire group for fighting on the day of Angel's funeral. Maureen and Joanne realize their fighting is petty, and they reconcile. Mimi tries to go to Roger, but he turns away.

As Roger prepares to leave the city, Mark accuses him of running away from Mimi, while Roger accuses Mark of hiding in his work. When Roger leaves the apartment, he finds that Mimi, who had come to say goodbye, has heard everything (Goodbye Love). Mark suggests that Mimi enroll in a clinic and Benny suggests rehab, which he offers to pay for. Instead, Mimi runs away. Collins is then ejected from the church as he is unable to pay for Angel's funeral. Benny offers to cover the bill. He, Collins, and Mark reconcile.

Roger and Mark both have an artistic epiphany, as Roger finds his song in Mimi and Mark finds his film in Angel's memory. Roger returns to New York just in time for Christmas, and Mark quits Buzzline to work on his own film (What You Own).

Worried about their children not answering their calls, the cast's parents leave several messages on their phones (Voice Mail #5). On Christmas Eve, Mark is preparing to screen his finished documentary when Collins arrives and gives Mark and Roger money. He tells them that he has rewired an ATM to dispense money to anyone who enters the code: A-N-G-E-L. Suddenly, Maureen and Joanne arrive carrying Mimi, who is sick and delirious. Roger and Mimi clear up their misunderstandings as Mimi grows weaker. She begins to fade, but not before telling Roger that she loves him (Finale A). Roger tells her to hold on as he plays her the song he wrote for her, which says that he has always loved her (Your Eyes). Mimi nearly dies: She says that she was heading into a light, but Angel told her to go back.
As Mark screens his documentary, the cast begins to sing the Life Support message of the fleetingness of life and reaffirm that there is "no day but today" (Finale B).

No Day But Today is an AU RENT based Roleplaying site, meaning the events in your topics DO NOT necessarily have to follow those of the above plot, for example, if you are playing Angel and you do not want her to die, she doesn't have to.