2008 Woodie Awards
Broadway star shares the 'Rapp' on 'RENT'
Erin Semagin Damio
Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: The Inside
Throughout his performance Saturday night at Blackman Auditorium, Anthony Rapp referenced other singers, like Elvis Costello and Michael Stipes from R.E.M., and expressed his admiration for them. At Blackman, though, Rapp was the idol in his own right who Northeastern students and locals had come to see.
Rapp, who is famous for originating the role of Mark in the Broadway show "RENT," came to Northeastern to perform some of the songs that have impacted him the most and tell stories about his life and career.
"I thought it was fabulous," said Collen McDonough, a freshman musical theatre major at Rhode Island College who came to Boston to see Rapp. "I was a fan of 'RENT' before anyway, so it was cool to see what was behind it."
Rapp opened the performance singing "Why" from "Tick Tick Boom," an autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson, who also wrote "RENT." He immediately segued into a cover of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, telling the audience afterward, "I liked that song before 'Grey's Anatomy.'"
Rapp developed an easy rapport with the audience, chatting and joking between songs and explaining the context of each song. The music was accompanied by either a single piano or acoustic guitar, played with Adam Bloom.
Jim Cayer traveled from Providence with his daughter to see the show.
"I hadn't seen him before and I was really impressed with Anthony's voice, and the way that he told the story was interesting," he said. "And his way of talking to his audience, you could feel him, you weren't just sitting there."
The cheers and applause in the packed auditorium grew louder as Rapp relayed the story of his audition for "RENT." He had been working at a Starbucks, which he described as a "nice smelling place to work," and looking for work as an actor.
"I ended up getting an audition for a studio production of a new rock opera, and that was called 'RENT,'" he said, adding that he wasn't crazy about the idea of a rock opera but auditioned anyway, singing R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion."
Rapp, who is famous for originating the role of Mark in the Broadway show "RENT," came to Northeastern to perform some of the songs that have impacted him the most and tell stories about his life and career.
"I thought it was fabulous," said Collen McDonough, a freshman musical theatre major at Rhode Island College who came to Boston to see Rapp. "I was a fan of 'RENT' before anyway, so it was cool to see what was behind it."
Rapp opened the performance singing "Why" from "Tick Tick Boom," an autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson, who also wrote "RENT." He immediately segued into a cover of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, telling the audience afterward, "I liked that song before 'Grey's Anatomy.'"
Rapp developed an easy rapport with the audience, chatting and joking between songs and explaining the context of each song. The music was accompanied by either a single piano or acoustic guitar, played with Adam Bloom.
Jim Cayer traveled from Providence with his daughter to see the show.
"I hadn't seen him before and I was really impressed with Anthony's voice, and the way that he told the story was interesting," he said. "And his way of talking to his audience, you could feel him, you weren't just sitting there."
The cheers and applause in the packed auditorium grew louder as Rapp relayed the story of his audition for "RENT." He had been working at a Starbucks, which he described as a "nice smelling place to work," and looking for work as an actor.
"I ended up getting an audition for a studio production of a new rock opera, and that was called 'RENT,'" he said, adding that he wasn't crazy about the idea of a rock opera but auditioned anyway, singing R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion."
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