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Anthony Rapp captures the passion and grit
unique to the theatre world as he recounts his life-changing
experience in the original cast of the Pulitzer Prize-winning
musical Rent.
Anthony had a special feeling about Jonathan
Larson’s rock musical from his first audition, so he was thrilled
when he landed a starring role as the filmmaker Mark Cohen.
With his mom’s cancer in remission and a reason to quit his
newly acquired job at Starbucks, his life was looking up.
When Rent opened to thunderous
acclaim off Broadway, Rapp and his fellow cast members knew
that something truly extraordinary had taken shape. But even
as friends and family were celebrating the show’s success,
they were also mourning Jonathan Larson’s sudden death from
an aortic aneurysm. By the time Rent made its triumphant
jump to Broadway, Larson had posthumously won the 1996 Pulitzer
Prize. When Anthony’s mom began to lose her battle with cancer,
he struggled to balance the demands of life in the theatre
with his responsibility to his family. Here, Anthony recounts
the show’s magnificent success and his overwhelming loss.
He also shares his first experiences discovering his sexuality,
the tension it created with his mother, and his struggle into
adulthood to gain her acceptance.
Variously marked by fledgling love and
devastating loss, piercing frustration and powerful enlightenment,
Without You charts the course of Rapp’s exhilarating
journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the
intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain.
Anthony Rapp has been acting professionally
since he was nine years old. He’s best known for originating
the role of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning
landmark rock opera Rent, taking the show from off
Broadway to Broadway, Chicago, and London. He shared an OBIE
Award with the rest of the original cast for his performance.
He has appeared in numerous films, including Adventures
in Babysitting, Dazed and Confused, the Oscar-winning
A Beautiful Mind, and, most recently, the film adaptation
of Rent. In 2000, he released his debut album, Look
Around. He lives in New York City with his partner, Rodney
To, and their three cats, Emma, Sebastian, and Spike. This
is his first book.
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