Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal on ‘Rent’ and Reuniting on Stage
variety.comRebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal know they’re inextricably linked as Mark Cohen and Roger Davis, the characters they played in the original Broadway cast of “Rent.” Their status as one of musical theater’s most recognizable duos was part of the inspiration for their latest collaboration, “Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp: Celebrating Friendship & History,” a 10-night residency that’s running at midtown Manhattan’s 54 Below through Aug.
17. “Everyone knows us as Roger and Mark. This seemed like a natural progression to our friendship and working relationship,” says Pascal, 53.
Rapp, 52, notes that while the two have headline other concerts in the 28 years since “Rent” opened on Broadway, “this is the first time we’re on stage the whole time together.” In addition to several songs from “Rent” — “Light My Candle,” “What You Own” and “Seasons of Love” among them — they perform music that inspired them while they were 20somethings in the late Jonathan Larson’s rock opera about young, broke artists struggling to survive in Manhattan’s East Village under the shadow of the HIV/AIDS crisis. “Under Pressure” by Queen, “I-95” by Fountains of Wayne and “Say Hello 2 Heaven” by Temple of the Dog are also on the set list. “We didn’t want to do too many songs from ‘Rent,'” says Pascal. “It was almost 30 years ago.
We have other things we’d like to perform.” Rapp and Pascal spoke to Variety after a recent show about reuniting on stage, the ill-fated 2005 “Rent” movie (which starred most of the original cast), as well as their optimism and disillusionment with the state of Broadway. How did this show come about? Pascal: I would venture to say there’s no male duo from Broadway more recognizable than he.
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