Anthony Rapp’s one-man show is coming to Off-Broadway this winter.
Without You, which is based on the actor’s New York Times best-selling memoir of the same name, will open at New World Stages on Jan. 25 for a limited engagement run through April 30. Previews will start Jan. 14.
Directed by Steven Maler with music direction by Daniel A. Weiss, the story begins with Rapp in 1994 at the age of 22, “out of money and working at a Starbucks, about to audition for a new musical by a young writer named Johnathan Larson,” according to the show description. Without You goes on to chronicle Rapp’s time in Rent and beyond, with an intimate exploration of the screen and stage actor’s “unimaginable real-life” during the early years of the Broadway hit.
The one-man show, which has previously played in cities such as Boston, Edinburgh, London and Toronto, will open 27 years to the day of Rent‘s first public performance at New York Theatre Workshop. It held its world premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in 2008, and in 2012, an album for the show was released.
The production features music from Larson’s Rent as well as original songs and compositions by Anthony Rapp, David Matos and Joe Pisapia. Orchestration, original compositions and musical direction are by Weiss, with additional arrangements by Tom Kitt.
Without You is produced by Lisa Dozier with Royal Family Productions, Ryohei Otani, Cue to Cue Productions, Brian J. Heck/Harish Karthikeyan and Charlotte Cohn. Chris Henry is the show’s creative producer Chris Henry with LDK Productions serving as the general manager. Without You’s full creative team will be announced later.
Rapp has worked on Broadway for decades and currently stars on Star Trek: Discovery. Last month, after filing a civil suit against actor Kevin Spacy alleging the former House of Cards star sexually abused him in the ’80s when Rapp was 14 and both were performers in the New York theater industry, a jury found Spacey not liable.
In a statement following the verdict, Rapp expressed that “bringing this lawsuit was always about shining a light, as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence.” He also pledged to “keep advocating for efforts to ensure that we can live and work in a world that is free from sexual violence of any kind.”