Anthony Rapp

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Anthony Rapp

At the 2006 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Annual Grand Auctionn and Flea Market
Born Anthony Dean Rapp
October 26, 1971 (1971-10-26) (age 36)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Official website

Anthony Dean Rapp (born October 26, 1971) is an American stage and film actor best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996 and later for reprising the same role as Mark Cohen in the film version. He also performed the role of Charlie Brown in the 1999 Broadway revival of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Rapp was born in Chicago, the son of Mary, a nurse.[1] He attended high school at Joliet West High School in Joliet and theatre camp at the prestigious Michigan Interlochen Arts Academy. Rapp's brother is playwright, novelist, and filmmaker Adam Rapp. Rapp also has a sister, Anne, as well as a "little sister," Rachel, although she is actually a cousin of his who was taken in by his mother.

[edit] Career

Rapp first performed on Broadway in 1981 in 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.

Rapp has gone on to appear in several movies and Broadway shows, most notably as intellectuals. His notable work includes films Dazed and Confused, A Beautiful Mind, School Ties, Road Trip, the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation, An American Family, 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. 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.

In 2000, Rapp released a solo CD, entitled Look Around. He is represented as a keynote speaker by Greater Talent Network speakers bureau. Rapp returned to Rent on July 30 2007, for a six week run, along with original cast member Adam Pascal.[2] Rapp and Adam Pascal continued in their return to Broadway's Rent through Oct. 7 at the Nederlander Theatre.[3]

According to Playbill and Rapp's Myspace page, Rapp and Pascal will reprise their roles of Mark and Roger in a national tour of Rent on January 12-13 2009.[4]

[edit] Personal life

Rapp, a self-identified "queer," is an advocate in show business for LGBT rights.[5] He has three cats named Emma, Sebastian, and Spike.[6]

In 2006, Rapp released a memoir about his days in Rent, as well as his mother's struggle with cancer and his experiences growing up, entitled Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent, and re-released in paperback on October 31, 2006.[6]

He still remains close friends with many of his Rent castmates, such as Daphne Rubin-Vega, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Taye Diggs, and Jesse L. Martin.

[edit] Work

[edit] Theater

[edit] Television

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

[edit] Bibliography

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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Anthony Rapp Biography. filmreference (2008). Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
  2. ^ Brian Scott Lipton. "Pascal and Rapp Extend Rent Engagement Until October 7", TheaterMania, 21 August 2007. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. 
  3. ^ Kenneth Jones; Robert Simonson. "Pascal and Rapp, Bohemian Heroes for a New Generation of Rent-Heads, Extend to Oct. 7", Playbill, 21 August 2007. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. 
  4. ^ Kenneth Jones. "Playbill News: Pascal and Rapp Will Tour in Rent in 2009", Playbill, 28 Feb 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. 
  5. ^ Koymasky, Matt & Andrej (20 June 2003). Anthony Dean Rapp. The Living Room Biographies. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
  6. ^ a b Rapp, Anthony (2006). Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent. New York: Simon & Schuster, 309. ISBN 0743269764. 

[edit] External links

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