by Paul Duchene
Our Town
January 2, 2001

Rent was an immediate hit, jump-started by the tragic death of its creator Jonathan Larson, who died at 35 from an aortic aneurysm on the night of the dress rehearsal.  The show went on to win four 1996 Tonys, including Best Musical.

Five years and 2000 Broadway performances later, its popularity is undimmed. Rent has played in almost every country in the world and the touring show comes to Portland for the second time for eight performances from January 2 through 7 as part of Portland Opera's Best of Broadway series. Jeffrey Seller was one of the original producers of the show along with Kevin McCollum and Alan S. Gordon.  He took time to discuss the Rent phenomenon from his New York office.

Q: How did you get involved with the show?  What drew you to it?

A:  It had to do with seeing Jonathan's earlier show Tick, Tick, Boom! his rock monologue about turning 30.  That was about staying true to your dreams and not selling out and trying to find love in a city that's tough to find love in.  All these elements are in Rent.  When I saw Tick, Tick in 1990 I was 25 and I had that "something's coming" moment.  I felt like I was watching an artist who had something to say about my life.  I felt like I knew him.  No other theater artist has captured the pulse of my generation.

Q:  Have times changed much since it was first produced?

A:  Not much, it remains remarkably sturdy.  There are still people with HIV, they're still taking AZT.  Some are winning, some are losing.  The good news is more people are winning than losing.  We haven't won the war but the drugs have gotten better.  There's still an AIDS crisis in the country, you can be sure.  Ultimately, Rent is about young people trying to find love and stay true to their dreams in an absolutely insane place. Jonathan captured so many eras and styles, I don't know that the music is any more or less current, he was riffing Billy Joel.

Q:  Was Rent changed for the road show?  There was quite a fuss here recently when a scene was done in a state drama contest and some people walked out.

A:  The show will be exactly the same show you would see in New York.  Absolutely.

Q:  I've read that you audition people in various cities.  Do you do that regularly?

A:  We do it occasionally, we do find diamonds in the rough.  We've cast people from Washington, Atlanta, Detroit and we always find some in Los Angeles.

Q:  What's your favorite moment in the show?

A:  ...it's been part of my life for so long...certainly when the show was fresh to me, I think I smiled the most at the "I'll Cover You" song in the first act.

Q:  And your favorite character?

A:  I think the romance of Collins and Angel...they are the most perfect couple, they have simple, honest true love.

Q:  Do you see Rent as being contemporary and classic at the same time--something that freezes a moment in time like West Side Story?

A:  I don't know if anyone will know for a couple of decades.  West Side Story was both a contemporary and a classic from the day it opened. Arthur Lawrence didn't set out to write a boot to sound like New York in 1950 -- he wrote in a vernacular that was neither past, present or future--some words he made up purposefully to create his own world.