Without You

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to see Anthony Rapp's one-man-show, Without You. I couldn't blog about it then, because I was waiting to surprise my sister with his autograph, but now I can.

Without You played a limited engagement at Pittsburgh's City Theatre from August 28 thru September 21, 2008. The show was written and performed by Anthony, and based on his memoir, Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent.


I went to see it with my mom, and we had great seats (as you can see from the picture above).

As it begins, Anthony is on his way to audition for RENT, and, as it ends, Anthony has experienced RENT's success along with the loss of a few loved ones. As Anthony acts all this out, he infuses the pages of his book with songs from RENT and some original songs of his own.

Now, let me assure you, it is a very emotional show and my mom cried through most of it, but it's also an uplifting one. I really enjoyed it, and I hope that one day it makes its way to New York City!

After the show, I got to meet Anthony (for the second time) and have him sign my copy of his book. He was shy and sweet, very like Mark Cohen.


I asked him about RENT closing. He said it wouldn't fully hit him until he was walking down 7th Avenue and saw the Nederlander Theatre, empty. But, as all RENTheads know, the Nederlander will never be without RENT, or, at least, RENThead graffiti by the stage door walls.