Anthony Deane Rapp (born October 26, 1971) is an American stage and film actor and singer best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996 and later for reprising the role in the film version and the Broadway Tour of Rent in 2009. He also performed the role of Charlie Brown in the 1999 Broadway revival of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Early life
Rapp was born in Joliet, Illinois, the son of Mary Lee (née Baird) and Douglas Rapp, a computer specialist. After his parents' divorce, he was raised by his mother, a trained nurse.
Rapp attended high school at Joliet West High School in Joliet, Illinois and theatre camp at Interlochen Arts Camp. In junior high school, Rapp won numerous awards for his singing. His brother is playwright, novelist, and filmmaker Adam Rapp.
Career
Rapp first performed on Broadway in 1981 in the musical The Little Prince and the Aviator, a musical based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novel The Little Prince. The show closed during previews. He also appeared in the 1987 movie Adventures in Babysitting, which was directed by Chris Columbus. Columbus would later direct Rapp in the film version of Rent. He has appeared in several movies and Broadway shows, most notably as intellectuals. His notable work includes such films as Dazed and Confused, A Beautiful Mind, School Ties, Road Trip, Six Degrees of Separation (stage and film versions), An American Family, Danny Roane: First Time Director and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Rapp is probably best known for playing Mark Cohen in the off-Broadway and original Broadway casts of Jonathan Larson's musical Rent. For his audition for the musical, Rapp sang R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion", and received his callback in September 1994. He reprised that role in the film adaptation, which was released on November 23, 2005.
In 2000, Rapp released a solo CD, entitled Look Around. He returned to Rent on July 30, 2007, for a six-week run, along with original cast member Adam Pascal. Rapp and Adam Pascal continued in their return to Broadway's Rent through October 7 at the Nederlander Theatre.
Rapp and Pascal, along with fellow original cast member Gwen Stewart, reprised their roles of Mark and Roger in a national tour of Rent beginning January 6, 2009.
As of fall 2013, Rapp is in previews of If/Then along with fellow Rent alum Idina Menzel. If/Then played the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., and began previews on Broadway on March 5, 2014. Rapp also appeared in the television special Psych: The Musical, which premiered on USA Network on December 15, 2013.
Personal life
Rapp is called by Metro Weekly "one of the first openly gay men on Broadway," but Rapp rejects the label of "gay" and identifies only as "queer" in a 1997 interview with Oasis Magazine:
I don't want to get into labels, but I've never labeled myself except to say I'm queer. The things that's been most important to me to be out about is that I have been in loving relationships with men. That is what I think is most important with any kind of visibility at this point is for people to see that ... yes, certainly it's about sex, people have sex, but ... what's most important who you love and are in love with[.] So, how I've come out is by thanking the man I love in the bio. I haven't said 'I am gay.' Because the truth is that I've also been in love with women, although the truth is I do think I'm primarily homosexual. But the whole debate about bisexuality gets tiresome to me and I don't want to enter into it. People have such misconceptions about it. I'm really happy that right now there's a great conversation going on about fluidity, because I think that for a lot of people, that's the case.
Work
Theatre
- The Little Prince and the Aviator (1981)
- Precious Sons
- Six Degrees of Separation (1990)
- Sophistry (play) (1993)
- Rent (New York Theatre Workshop, 1994)
- Rent (1996, 2007, 2009, 2010)
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999)
- Nocturne (Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2001)
- Henry V (2002)
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2003)
- Little Shop of Horrors (2004)
- Feeling Electric (2005)
- Anthony Rapp's “Without You†(City Theatre, 2008)
- Anthony Rapp's “Without You†(Edinburgh Fringe Festival & Menier Chocolate Factory, 2012)
- Pop! (City Theatre, 2012)
- If/Then (Richard Rogers Theater, 2014)
Television
- Sky High (1990)
- Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker (1994) Â Â Â
- The Lazarus Man (1996)
- The X-Files (1997)
- The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004)
- Kidnapped (2006)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2012)
- Psych: The Musical (2013)
Discography
- Look Around (2000)
Autobiography
- Rapp, Anthony (2006). Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBNÂ 0-7432-6976-4.Â
References
External links
- Official website
- Anthony Rapp on Myspace
- Anthony Rapp at the Internet Broadway Database
- Anthony Rapp at the Internet Movie Database
- Review of Without You from Kirkus Reviews
- Anthony Rapp sings at The Booksmith in San Francisco
- "Out Out Damn Spot" Fanlisting
- Anthony Rapp attends Theatre Cedar Rapids production of RENT