Anthony Rapp

Anthony Rapp
At an annual charity event by BCEF (September 2006)
Born	Anthony Deane Rapp October 26, 1971 (1971-10-26) Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, singer
Years active	1981–present
Website
Official website

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. After his parents' divorce, he was raised by his mother, a trained nurse.

Rapp attended high school at Joliet Central 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

At the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Mo. after performing in Rent, June 7, 2009

Rapp first performed on Broadway in 1981 in the flop 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. Rapp has embraced his role as an unofficial spokesperson for the musical and has given numerous television and print interviews regarding the show and its development. Some of Rapp's photographs from rehearsals of Rent have been published.^{[citation needed]}

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.

In 2006, Rapp released a memoir about his days in RENT, as well as the death of Jonathan Larson, the death of his mother in 1997 from cancer, and his own experiences growing up, entitled Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent. It was re-released in paperback on October 31, 2006.It premiered at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. He presented this piece in New York at Joe's Pub on September 29, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Rapp is an advocate in show business for LGBT rights, having first come out at the age of 18 to his mother over the phone.

Work

Theatre

• The Little Prince and the Aviator (1981)
• Precious Sons
• Six Degrees of Separation (1990)
• Sophistry (play) (1993)
• Rent (New York Theater 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” (Pittsburgh City Theatre, 2008)

Television

• Sky High (1990)
• Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker (1994)    
• The Lazarus Man (1996)
• The X-Files (1997)
• The Beach Boys: An American Family (2000)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004)
• Kidnapped (2006)

Filmography

• Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
• Grave Secrets (1989)
• Far From Home (1989)
• School Ties (1992)
• Dazed and Confused (1993)
• Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
• Twister (1996 film) (1996)
• The Mantis Murder (1996)
• David Searching (1997)
• Man of the Century (1999)
• Road Trip (2000)
• Cruise Control (2001)
• A Beautiful Mind (2001)
• Paradisco (2002)
• Open House (2004)
• Rent (2005)
• Winter Passing (2005)
• Danny Roane: First Time Director (2006)
• Scaring the Fish (2006)
• Blackbird (2007)
• Let Them Chirp Awhile (2007)
• The Other Woman (2009 film) (2011)

Discography

• Look Around (2000)

Autobiography

• Rapp, Anthony (2006). Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743269764. 

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