Cast of ‘Rent’ joins in memorial for late lawmaker

HARTFORD — A flash mob of the cast of the musical “Rent” turned into a public memorial for state Rep. Ezequiel Santiago on Friday before about 2,000 people gathered in the vast atrium of the Legislative Office Building.

Spectators jammed shoulder- to-shoulder on the first floor and along the four upper balconies when the noontime event, scheduled to raise AIDS/HIV awareness became a family mourning session for lawmakers, who cried and hugged, remembering Santiago, 45, who died suddenly earlier in the day from a suspected heart attack.

Members of the touring cast of the rock musical sang the showstopping “Seasons of Love,” in an appearance first scheduled as a semi-secret performance to support legislation that would make it easier for people to obtain a drug found to help prevent the HIV virus.

But when news of Santiago’s death reached lawmakers, it quickly turned into a emotional celebration and musical tribute for the popular 10-year member of the House of Representatives from Bridgeport.

Shortly after noon, Rep. Brandon McGee of Hartford called for quiet in the bustling atrium and asked for visitors, employees and lawmakers to join the legislative Black and Hispanic Caucus in a moment of silence. On the floor around him were dozens of lawmakers and legislative leaders.

Then, the actors, wearing gray T-shirts and lined up along the second-floor balcony, were led by a single acoustic guitar:

“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?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life?”

“We had been working behind the scenes for the last week with The Bushnell about having some sort of afternoon of HIV/AIDS awareness,” said Rep. Jeff Currey, D-East Hartford, as the noontime crowd slowly dispersed. “Then obviously we all woke up this morning to the news of his passing and anybody who knows the show ‘Rent’ and who knows the song they were going to sing, it was just a perfect way to tie it all together and allow for a moment of hope, sadness, basically every emotion you can possibly imagine, all rolled up into one. And I think that was evident in the smiles, the tears, the cheers that you heard throughout the atrium.”

“He touched everyone in this building,” said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport. “He was such a quiet, soft-spoken leader. We have a very close-knit and tight delegation. We rely on each other for so much. I feel like I lost a brother today.”

“We lost our heart,” added Rep. Jack Hennessy, the senior member of the city’s delegation of two state senators and six House members.

Shawn Lang, deputy director of the nonprofit AIDS Connecticut, said the touring cast of the 23-yearold Broadway hit, currently performing at The Bushnell across the street from the Capitol, had originally agreed to raise AIDS/HIV awareness, particular a legislative proposal that would make it easier for people to obtain prophylactic medication, a one-a-day pill found to stop the spread of the virus.

“We are really trying to shine a light on the populations that are hardest hit by HIV and AIDS, which are young black and Latino men who have sex with men,” she said. “We have the tools now to end the AIDS crisis.”