by Anthony Rapp
Regardless, Rent has continued to profoundly alter and affect the quality of my life. And now my partner, Rodney, who never saw me play Mark Cohen and missed the initial wave of the show’s success, will experience that for the first time. He will bear witness to this new chapter of Rent in my life, and share in whatever new gifts it brings our way.
I do wonder if Mom, or some essence of Mom, is aware of this latest turn of events. I know she would be thrilled. And on the night of the world premiere of the film, at the incredible Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, as I’m watching myself onscreen in the darkness of the cinema, wishing she was there by my side, I will take comfort in this memory: standing on the stage of the Nederlander Theatre on opening night nine years ago, singing my heart out, and looking up to see the reflection of our hundreds of stage lights gleaming and shining off my mother’s proud and loving face.
Acknowledgments
This book was written over several years, in several cities, and required the patience and kindness and support of many.
For reading early chapters and offering invaluable insight and criticism, I thank Traci Wallack, Carrie Friedman, Laura Varoscak, Elizabeth “Butch” Walker, Melanie McBride, Melissa Anelli, Bill Jahnel, Laura Morris, Cybele Pascal, Shana Campbell-Jones, and Bruce C. Steele.
For meeting with a neophyte author like myself and encouraging me to believe I am a real writer, I thank David Black, Elaine Mark-son, Kip Kotzen, Beth Vesel, Mary Evans, and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh.
For offering safe, supportive spaces in which to write while I was staying in their homes, I thank David Román and Richard Meyer, Carolyn Lowen, Camryn Manheim, Patrick Fischler, and Felix Pire.
For inspiring me immeasurably throughout this process, I thank the best teacher I ever had, Sande Shurin.
For offering compassionate wisdom and loving-kindness when I needed it the most, I thank the staff of Friends In Deed, especially Cy O’Neal, Jon Read, Robin Magid, and their colleague Sharon Kleinberg.
For offering me incredible opportunities for growth over the years, I thank the men and women—especially Karen Bihari and Sandy Robbins—with whom I volunteered and participated in Landmark Education’s courses and programs. Collectively, they helped me locate within myself the courage to be true to who I am; they inspired me to expand my vision of what was possible for me in the world; and, most important, they urged me to then step out into the world and do everything in my power to make a difference where I could.
For providing more care to my mother during her illness than I was ever able to, I thank my family, especially my aunt Roberta and my sisters, Anne and Rachel.
For never giving up on me during this process, even when I couldn’t see my way through it, I thank my agent, Irene Skolnick.
For leading the way in living a life as an accomplished writer and for becoming one of my closest friends, I thank my brother, Adam.
For opening up my heart and showing me new hope in my life, I thank my partner, Rodney To.
For sharing themselves so fully on and offstage (and now on and offscreen), I thank the casts and crews of all the various incarnations of Rent with whom I have had the privilege to work.
For giving this book his generous blessing, I thank Jonathan’s father, Al Larson.
For seeing this book through to its completion with sensitivity, grace, and intelligence, I thank my editor, Terra Chalberg.
And finally, for asking me to write this book in the first place—thereby reawakening my long-dormant desire to be a writer—and embracing it even after my appointed task was long overdue, I thank Rob Weisbach, without whom this book truly would not have come into being.
About the Author
ANTHONY RAPP has been acting professionally since he was nine years old. He’s best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning landmark rock opera Rent, taking the show from off-Broadway to Broadway, Chicago, and London. He shared an OBIE Award with the rest of the original cast for his performance. He has appeared in numerous films, including Adventures in Babysitting, Dazed and Confused, the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind, and most recently, the film adaptation of Rent. In 2000, he released his debut album, Look Around. He lives in New York City with his partner, Rodney To, and their three cats, Emma, Sebastian, and Spike. This is his first book.