spotlight
Success stories for actors in the best of circumstances are a rarity, especially when you consider the number out there in the process of trying to “make it.” Even more rare, are the suc- cess stories of openly LGBT actors in the excruciatingly competitive world of theatre, film and television. Even rarer still, is success for a child actor as he or she navigates the difficult task of growing
up...Coupled with being LGBT. Child actors who face adult responsibilities and early exposure to adult themes, in their already blurred world of figuring out who they are. Elevating them to adult decisions they may not necessarily be prepared for. Anthony Rapp is a success story on all of those levels, maturing as he navigated
those potential pitfalls. As Rapp mentioned, he started early; “I have been performing since I was a little kid; I did my first show when I was six (The Wizard of Oz when at summer camp, where his mother was a nurse).” From there it was a steady march forward, climbing his ladder, through different shows as an amateur and then a professional actor before finishing high school. Michigan’s Interlochen Camp honed his skill for two years during high school and in between summers there, he refined those skills on Broadway doing a play called Precious Sons. Tutored by the likes of Ed Harris and Judith Ivy and directed by none other than Norman Renee, who went on to direct Longtime Companion and Prelude to a Kiss. “Precious Sons was a really intense play, as was working with those actors, so it
If/Then
makes two stops in Southern California, the first is at the San Diego Civic Theatre
in Downtown San Diego, from Tuesday, January 5 through Sunday, January 10
For tickets and more information, call 619.564.3000
or go to
broadwaysd.com. Next up is
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
in Costa Mesa from
Tuesday, January 19 through Sunday, January 24 .
was really one of my first deep acting classes,” Rapp says. Tender roots that began to strengthen and take hold in the deep, fertile loam necessary for an actor to draw on—not just for success—essentials needed to be exceptional at his craft. “When I went back to Interlochen the second summer, I had some of my first real, formal, deep acting classes. It was a very important step on the road to becoming a more seasoned, adult ac- tor. Even though I was still a teenager, it’s where I started really understanding more and more about what was going on. It wasn’t just about instinct anymore. I was starting to develop a technique.” It’s a technique that has served him well.
For tickets and more information, call 714.556.2787 or go to
scfta.org.
anthony rapp and adam pascal performing their original roles in RENT
20
RAGE monthly | JANUARY 2016
idina menzel and anthony rapp in if/then. photo by joan marcus
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