Michael McElroy who plays Collins, first starred in the production of Rent in 1997 and also in the final Broadway company of Rent. The man who has come in to himself playing a computer age philosopher talks with the Gay & Lesbian Times about how the coming-of-age musical changed his perspective as a gay black man and what it has been like to reunite with some of the original cast members in the production that has touched the lives of an entire generation of audience members.

Gay & Lesbian Times: You had some big shoes to fill coming into the show. What was it like to experience coming into what was becoming such a cultural phenomenon?

Michael McElroy: I was privileged to go into the show at the height of what Rent was at that time. It was really an incredible experience. Jesse [L. Martin], the original Tom Collins was amazing with me coming in to the production, as was everyone else. I must say it was a great time to join the Rent family. I had the benefit of being there with most of the original cast right as the first replacements were coming in. So Jesse was always so gracious to me. I just watched the show and watched him. I stole what I thought would work for me and brought in my perspective on things. It was really the first time I had ever gone into a show and replaced someone during the show.

GLT: Did the show bring a lot of first experiences?

MM: I had never experienced something like that where people would sleep outside for tickets to see the show I was in. There were long lines of people trying to get the tickets to the showing; all the Rentheads were in the front row. I just never experienced anything like that. To see that kind of audience and to be there to witness that kind of shift in an audience was life-changing. I’d been in shows where you had your regular theater-going folks and that is what it was. Rent however had a following – it was young kids and their kids, teenagers and people who the show spoke to and that generation. It was kind of mind-blowing at that time. To be fortunate enough to be there then and then to be there at the end of the show on Broadway when things wrapped up was pretty amazing too.

GLT: Tom Collins is a computer-age philosopher. How do you relate to the character?

MM: (laughing) What I love about Tom Collins as an African-American actor is that it is not very often that one gets to play this type of character. He is brilliant, he is a professor, he’s gone to MIT, he is articulate and can express himself, he’s the life of the party, has good friends whom he is loved by and is really loved by his friends. Then finally he meets Angel and falls in love and somebody else kind of pulls him into something. Usually he is the ringleader ,and Angel is kind of magic in a way. So how I relate to the character is that Tom Collins is someone who can express himself as a man of color; as a gay man he puts himself out there.

GLT: What do you like most about playing this particular role?

MM: What I enjoy is that the audience gets to see who I think is the love of his life. They get to experience falling into that love and watch it grow. Then experience his loss and watch him move forward. So it’s just a great experience to just play that entire journey. Those kind of roles – gay, straight or otherwise – don’t come along very often. I love it.

GLT: Do you relate to him as a gay man?

MM: Yes, of course!

GLT: What have you brought to the role as a black gay man?

MM: Well the role was definitely not built around me, because the framework was already there when I came in, with what Jesse had done. But what I did bring to it was my own perspective as a gay black man. So that was something that was already in me. So that was what I brought to Tom Collins and who I thought he is. Those things that he experienced I was familiar with. Though I had never lost a partner, I had lost friends, so that sense of loss and what that meant at that time was very relevant. For me I moved to New York in the early 1990s when we were still in the throws of the AIDS epidemic. I was part of the community and had friends who I would be in shows with who were dying, so I understood what the production was all about. To see people I was starring with one day and then the next day they were gone and sick, wasting away and no longer with us. So I knew that experience, and as a result I put my stamp on it in my own way.

GLT: Is there an Angel in your life?

MM: Right now? No. Who can have an Angel when you’re touring. I’ve been away since this January and will probably be away for another year. It’s not to say that I wouldn’t want one, but it is very difficult negotiating a relationship while on the road. Some people are doing it and doing it very well, however I’m focused on my career at the moment.

GLT: How has it been to reunite with some of the original cast members?

MM: Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal were the original Mark and Roger when I came in 1997. And they’re great to work with and are fun guys and really down to earth. But what is even greater about it all that not often as a community of actors do we get to do a role in a great show and then go away and experience life and love and pain and joy. Experiencing all those thing that make us human and then coming back and bringing that perspective to the piece that you did before is eye-opening. It’s great being on stage with them again because years have gone by, so the perspective is different. It’s deeper and richer. It’s like you know who these characters are, because you’ve found them in your body, but now they’re in there with more stuff. So I just enjoy getting to share the stage with them because we’re getting to do something we did 12 to 15 years ago, but from a different perspective.

GLT: How has your perspective changed from first coming to the show to closing it and now on tour?

MM: While I had a perspective of loss with friends and co-workers, I had not experienced the loss in terms of being in a relationship and how devastating that is. Just having had the experience of a breakdown of a relationship, coming back it changes how important I see the relationship that Angel and Collins have. A lot of times we go around bruised and battered by life, but these two people are both dealing with negotiating being HIV-positive and what that means. The fact they are both able to come together and put their hurt and pain aside and love each other; it means more to me now.

GLT: Speaking of perspectives changing, the world has seen a lot of change since 1996. How have you been affected gay black actor on stage?

MM: That’s an interesting question. And as a member of the Academy just said we have come a long way and still have a long way to go. And while we don’t want to be perceived as being racist, I think we are all a little racist. And the only way that things are ever going to change is if we admit to the fact that we all have issues. So for me it is interesting because on stage I’m this person that everybody loves as Collins and they love Angel, but if you see me walking down the street and out of character, I’m simply a black guy, and the person who just saw me on stage doesn’t recognize me and I do sometimes see those realities as having changed.

GLT: How do you reconcile that?

MM: It keeps me grounded if I realize that it is simply the way people are portrayed in this world. As a member of two distinctly diverse communities, while we have come a long way since the show opened in 1996, we certainly still have a long way to go on many levels.