spotlight: anthony rapp
York Musical Theatre Festival. I spent a lot of time with them and David Stone the producer and after the success of Next To Normal, David gathered us all together and said, “What would you like to do next? I think we should continue to work together.” He’d been in touch with Idina [Menzel] and that’s when they started developing If/Then and from the beginning, they wrote the part of Lucas for me. That explains a bit about why the part seems to really fit you like a glove. They actually did a couple readings with other
was a vacuum that no one knew existed and when you expose a vacuum to any kind of energy, it all rushes in to fill the void. Was that time period a part of your coming out process? I came out when I replaced John Cameron Mitchell in Larry Kramer’s play,
The Destiny of Me, which was kind of the autobiographical sequel to The Normal Heart. I was very galvanized, having worked with Larry Kramer. I thanked my then boyfriend in the bio and that was the way I came out. It wasn’t big fanfare and I wasn’t doing interviews, but it was now public record. A writer for Out Magazine, someone who has since become a friend, interviewed me after seeing me and reading the bio. That was the first time I sort of talked about it on a wider scale. Then, when RENT happened, it was another great moment to talk about those things. Though it’s very different now, I think it’s still so important to share coming out stories, because they might help those still struggling. There are still a lot of actors out there who are hung up about
the cast of if/then
actors, just to see if there was a better fit out there. I totally understand the motivation for that, to cast a wide net and make sure it’s right. I love them and love what they do and happily it came back my way. After all these years in this business, the thing that I want to most do, is to work on good material and to also work with great people that I love and trust… To have some say in that. I think that quality is reflected in general, by what’s coming out in the musical world. I find that resurgence exciting. Yes, I do too. I do think that RENT played a
THING THAT I WANT TO MOST DO, IS TO WORK ON GOOD
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS IN THIS BUSINESS, THE
being gay and I’m sure at least for some time that will remain the case. It’s a bit of a funny thing to me when they say, “I like to keep my private life, private,” because if you were straight, it wouldn’t be a concern. In our culture, for better or for worse, we are a bit “public figure-obsessed” and those figures have an opportunity to really shine a light on things. It’s certainly an opportunity, if not somewhat of a responsibility. Tell me a bit about the current tour of If/Then, how did you get involved in the production? I’ve been friends with Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkie for a long time. Tom does
a great deal of musical directing and teaching and he was involved in a reading of a musical version of The Wedding Banquet that Brian co-wrote and I did two readings for. Sometime around the summer of 2005, they did an early version of Next to Normal, which at the time was called Feeling Electric, at the New
THAT I LOVE AND TRUST…TO HAVE SOME SAY IN THAT.”
MATERIAL AND TO ALSO WORK WITH GREAT PEOPLE
huge part in that, as was Next to Normal, Spring Awakening, Once and American Idiot. Shows that feel like they’re not just about singing and doing kick lines…Not that there is anything at all wrong with that. People like to go to a theatre and feel that life is being reflected back at you. Discovering that the power of the medium, that the music itself can communicate the story on a whole other level. When it’s integrated with the real heart and soul of recognizable human beings, then people can relate.
For more of our interview with Anthony Rapp, go to
ragemonthly.com.
anthony rapp in if/then photo by joan marcus
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RAGE monthly | JANUARY 2016
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