Art House Productions is proud to present the organization’s Fall mainstage production of RENT by Jonathan Larson directed by Joshua M. Feder. This musical is presented as part of Art House’s 25th anniversary season. RENT will run at 345 Marin Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07302 from September 24 – October 18, 2026. Performances will be on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 pm.
Experience the groundbreaking Tony Award-winning musical and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama that defined a generation. Presented at Art House Productions during the 30th anniversary year of its original premiere, RENT follows a vibrant community of artists, musicians, and dreamers in New York City’s East Village as they pursue their passions, navigate love and loss, and strive to make a meaningful impact on the world around them.
Broadwayworld had the pleasure of interviewing Joshra M. Feder about his career and Rent at Art House Productions.
Joshua M. Feder is “over the moon” to be helming this production of RENT for Art House Productions, where he serves as the Producing Director. Recent directing credits include The Pirates of Penzance (MacBeth Concert Series), Peter and the Starcatcher (Fordham University), The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons (Emerson Stage), and Love’s Labour’s Lost (World’s Elsewhere Theatre Company). Josh spent 16 years with the New London Barn Playhouse, where he directed Sylvia, Over the Pub, and over 30 productions with their teen company, in addition to serving as Education Director and Artistic Associate. Assistant/Associate Director credits include Paper Mill Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, Northern Stage, and South Coast Rep; previous positions include Assistant General Manager of Emerson Stage and Director of Theater at the Kingswood Oxford School. He earned his BA in Theater from Dartmouth College and his MFA in Directing from UC Irvine, where he also received his Certificate in Arts Management.
When did you first aspire to have a theatrical career?
I was involved in theater from a very young age — my mom was part of a traveling children’s theater troupe, and has been a dance teacher all my life, so I was around the arts since I was born. It was always what I did with my free time, and I loved every aspect of it. I got involved in youth theater as a little kid, and got more serious about it in high school, when you start committing more specifically to your passions. I always knew it was what I was going to do with my life, and it’s been a journey of exploring different roles, genres, and ways of making theater ever since.
We’d love to know a little more about your education at Dartmouth and UC Irvine.
My undergrad experience in Dartmouth’s Theater Department was rich with exploring every aspect of the theater making process; I took classes in acting, directing, design, technical theater, history, and literature. I got to be a director, stage manager, actor, choreographer, producer, props manager, set builder, electrician, and costume builder on several productions — both on the mainstage and in student theater. I got to direct multiple shows, with teams of undergrad designers and stage managers, each of us with a direct mentor supporting us, challenging us, and inspiring us through every step of the process. My senior year gave me a true crash course in theater-making: the entire cohort of seniors (10 of us) were tasked with creating a theatre company, defining our mission and style, and then produced a show from the ground up — each of us holding two different roles (director and actor, actor and designer, designer and marketer, etc.).
I spent almost ten years developing my career before heading to University of California – Irvine for my MFA in Directing. My time at UCI was focused on deeply exploring the art of directing: finding ways to have deeper conversations with actors about their characters, having more enriching and artful conversations with designers, and developing my leadership skills to inspire everyone to do their best work. It was a chance for me to pause from the intensity of a career in the theater industry, and focus on the art. I also got to explore a greater variety of theatre genres (heightened style, realism, small casts, devising, and text-heavy scripts) as well as directing in different types of venues (in the round, outdoors, site-specific theater in unusual places, black boxes and prosceniums large and small).
Tell us about your role as Producing Director for Art House Productions and why you think the theatre is so outstanding.
My role as Producing Director at Art House Productions focuses on developing relationships with the incredible artists of the Jersey City community and beyond. I love meeting artists, hearing about their journeys, and working with them to bring a show they’ve developed to our space to share with our community. One of my favorite things about Art House is that we are a multi-arts space. In any given week, we may have a theater production, a dance show, a band concert, a comedy night, and a film screening in the theater, along with an exhibition in the art gallery. I get to support all these different artists presenting their work in our space, finding opportunities for them all, while also navigating an incredibly complicated calendar to fit all these amazing programs in.
Rent is an iconic play. What are some of the challenges of directing it?
Rent is incredibly special to me, and I know it is just as special to many people. Generally, what makes a show like that challenging is balancing people’s expectations (there are certain things everyone expects, and wants, to see) with our unique team’s vision, understanding, and ideas for the production. As an artist, you never want to copy what others have done, but at the same time, you want to make sure to honor what is loved about the show as you create your own version of it.
Another interesting thing we’ve been discussing is that, while 30 years ago, it was incredibly contemporary, there are things about it that do make it a “period piece.” Many of us on the team remember the 1990s, and it’s not that long ago in the grand scheme of things, but there are differences that firmly set it in that time that are different from now. Of course clothing style and phone technology are some obvious visual markers, but more deeply, the medical advancements of the last 30 years give people a very different understanding of HIV, and there have been huge strides forwards in LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance. At the same time, there are still social, economic, and human challenges very powerfully present in our daily lives that make this story still meaningful. We are hoping to capture all of that in our production.
Can you tell us a little about the show’s cast and creative team?
We have an incredible team of folks working on this show. Our cast and creative team includes several Jersey City locals, folks from the surrounding New Jersey towns, as well as folks based in NYC. Our venue in downtown Jersey City makes us able to have the best of both New Jersey and NYC when bringing together talented artists. When we were first assembling our creative and production team, we started by looking at various local organizations — colleges, local theater companies, and other arts communities — to make sure this production was truly engaging with multiple groups in our community. We wanted to make sure to engage some artists that Art House already knows and loves, but also find new collaborations and relationships to enrich the show and reach new parts of the NJ theater scene. As far as a cast, we have an incredibly talented bunch. Over 1500 people submitted initial video auditions, and through two rounds of callbacks, we found our wonderful cast of 14 unique and brilliant performers.
Many of our readers may have seen Rent at other theatres. What would you like people to know about the upcoming production at Art House?
One of the most exciting things about our production is the intimacy. Art House has a small black box theater, so no matter where you sit, you’ll never be more than 15 feet from the action. We’re doing the show in a 3/4 thrust, which also means each side of the theater will get a unique view and experience. For a show that is already so beautiful and touching and personal, having the audience experience it so close, and in three dimensions, will invite them to connect with the characters in a direct way.
Can you share with us any of your future plans?
Art House is celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, and this special production is one of the key components of that. Art House also has a public art installation in Lincoln Park, with nearly 100 artist-designed flags featuring original work by Hudson County artists. Those flags will be on display through November, so be sure to check them out! Art House also recently announced that we are welcoming Skyline Arts, a fabulous local youth theater company, into the Art House organization to be one of our featured education programs, which means we’ll get to expand and strengthen our ability to connect with young artists in our community, with lots of exciting youth theater productions coming to Art House starting in November. And of course, all our usual exciting programs throughout the rest of the year and into 2027!
Anything else, absolutely anything you want BWW NJ readers to know.
If you do the math, you’ll notice that Art House celebrating its 25th anniversary this year means it was founded in 2001. Our organization began as a response to the September 11th, to bring the community together through art and dialogue, to create hope and connection in a devastating time. When we were choosing a theater production to commemorate that, RENT was the clear choice: its themes of community, chosen family, and the courage to create in uncertain times wonderfully align with Art House’s mission. During the entire run of RENT, we’ll also have an exhibition in our Gallery called Creation from Destruction, which will include works by a variety of artists that explore the transformative power of art in response to tragedy, examining how artists process both personal and collective experiences through acts of creation.
To learn more about Joshua M. Feder, please visit his website at www.joshuamfeder.com.
For more information on Art House Productions and to order tickets for Rent, please visit their website at arthouseproductions.org. Follow them on social media @arthouseproductions.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Art House Productions
