Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp: Celebrating Friendship and History

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NEW YORK – Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp: Celebrating Friendship and History at 54 Below

If you are a fan of either Adam Pascal or Anthony Rapp or have seen the musical RENT more than once – this is a show intended for your very person. As it happens, I am 33% there. I am indeed a fan of Anthony Rapp for his television work in Star Trek Discovery, in which he played the first openly gay crew member, Lt. Commander Paul Stamets. I admired the writing on that show, and Rapp brought just the right amount of unpredictability to his role.

As for Mr. Pascal – I was not familiar with his work before this show.

And most importantly – I never saw Jonathan Larzon’s RENT. Both men were in the original cast. I didn’t see it downtown at New York Theatre Workshop, where it premiered in 1986. I didn’t see it when it moved up to Broadway that same year. I didn’t see it during its 12-year run that ended in 2008. I didn’t see the 2005 movie adaptation.

A scene from RENT from the Official Trailer, Stratford Festival 2023. Screen Capture by Edward Kliszus

Guilty as charged with no explanation.

But let me tell you—just about everyone in the rambunctious audience I joined last night saw one or more of these iterations. From the sound of their joyful sing-along efforts, these folks soared with pride as they joined in on all six of the songs Pascal and Rapp selected from the RENT score. There were a few other songs they grabbed onto as well.

Pascal and Rapp were prepared for this. Along with their musical director, Daniel Weiss (who played in the orchestra for RENT), Lee Moretti (guitar), Paul Gil (Bass), and Jerry Marotta (Drums), they created a trajectory that featured key musical phrases to alert the audience as to what was coming. This tight combo loves a good lead-in that will nearly set the audience ablaze.

Not only do they set us up and have a fabulous time doing it – they nearly blow us out of the room. I don’t know how or why it was decided that louder was good and loudest was best. The musical accompaniment (including Pascal’s guitar) was nothing short of hot and fierce. The volume was so loud that the lyrics were lost when Pascal and Rapp sang. The evening felt more like a rock concert – and 54 Below is not suited for that. There was no let up except for a sprinkling of songs (“I-95” [Collingwood and Schlessinger], “Solsbury Hill” [Peter Gabriel], and “Seasons of Love” [Jonathan Larson].) Each of these had snatches of lyrics that were understandable.

Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal on stage at 54 Below. Photo by Michael Allan Galvez

Like I said – I came into the theatre unarmed. I was frustrated to the extreme that I could not understand the lyrics. For the rest of the audience, however, this was not a problem because they knew the songs – or at least the chorus bits like …”525,600 minutes…” and were happy to sing along wherever they could fit in. All around me, folks were rocking out in their seats and bobbing their heads up, down, and to and fro. We sat next to a delightful couple from Ontario who had come into town for birthday celebrations. They knew RENT pretty much by heart. For them, this evening was awesome. No question. I have to say their joy WAS contagious.

Watching Pascal and Rapp reminded me of watching “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” back in the day. We sure did NOT know all the lyrics to that music, but that didn’t stop us from belting out, “Let’s Do the Time Warp Again” over and over and over.

A scene from the The Rocky Horror Picture Show trailer (1975). Screen capture by Edward Kliszus

Like I said, if you are already a fan of these gents or RENT, you will have a huge treat in store.