NYC Theater Trip 2023: "Without You" at New World Stages

Show*: 2

Title: Without You

Location: New World Stages

Written By: Anthony Rapp with music by Jonathan Larson

Summary: A solo show by RENT's original Mark that continues the musical's themes of grief, love, loss, and healing.

Highlights: Anthony's 2006 memoir Without You chronicles the beginnings of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical as well as Anthony’s personal life during that time. Living with his playwright brother Adam in a small East Village apartment, they were, like the characters in RENT, trying to make it as artists in NYC. Meanwhile their mother was fighting her own battle with cancer back in their hometown just outside Chicago, and they were flying back and forth to visit her until her death during RENT's original run. Anthony adapted his book into this piece that combines storytelling, music, and photos. He plays all of the characters in the story, many with that familiar Midwestern twang. The show is a beautiful tribute to his mother, who supported his career from childhood despite her own struggles. Anthony sings multiple songs from RENT, including some that Mark doesn't sing ("One Song Glory" and the title song "Without You"). It's always a thrill to hear this music that I fell in love with 27 years ago from one of those original voices (which BTW sounds better than ever). Anthony also co-wrote a few original songs that aptly express the various stages of this journey, with David Matos, Joe Pisapia, and Daniel A. Wiess. The latter leads the awesome five-piece onstage band, as well as music directing and orchestrating. Next to Normal composer Tom Kitt provided some arrangements, making these very familiar songs sound new and interesting. The story moves briskly over 90 minutes (condensing the book, which I'm currently re-reading), and the staging has Anthony moving around the stage with a table and a few mismatched chairs in front of a brick wall, reminiscent of RENT's original set design (direction by Steven Maler, scenic and lighting design by Eric Southern).

As readers of this blog know, RENT has always held a special place in my heart, but now, 27 years after first encountering it, I'm at an age where I have experienced grief and loss. And I see my own life stretching out longer behind me than ahead of me, making this show even more meaningful. The stories around RENT (Jonathan's untimely death, Anthony's loss of his mother, and our own stories) make its themes even richer and more resonant. No day but today, indeed. Thank you Jonathan Larson, and thank you Anthony Rapp for continuing his work and his legacy.

*Once again, I'm using an abbreviated Fringe-style summary for my NYC 2023 trip, since I am in the greatest city in the world with much more exciting things to do than write! Click here to see all of my Broadway-related blog posts. 

"Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp: Acoustically Speaking" at the Ordway

Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp in Acoustically Speaking
(photo courtesy of the Ordway)

When someone asks me what my favorite musical is, my usual answer is: there are many musicals that I love, but only one whose lyrics are permanently tattooed on my body. That would be RENT: "no day but today." It's hard to say exactly why RENT has meant so much to me over the last 22 years. Growing up in suburban Minnesota, I didn't know much about Broadway, except for what I saw on the Tony Awards show. When RENT swept the Tonys in 1996 and went on to become a cultural phenomenon that year (think: Hamilton), I was in my early 20s, living on my own for the first time, trying to figure out this thing called life, much like the characters in the musical. For that and many other reasons, I really connected with it, and I fell in love with RENT - my first musical theater love.

"If/Then" on tour at the Orpheum Theatre

I saw the new original musical If/Then on Broadway two years ago, written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (who also wrote Next to Normal), directed by Michael Greif (who also directed RENT), and reuniting RENT's original Maureen and Mark, Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp. While it doesn't match the brilliance of the Pulitzer Prize winners Next to Normal and RENT (both tough acts to follow), it is wonderful to see a new, original, ambitious, modern, grown-up musical on Broadway. Seeing it on tour last night (sans Idina but still starring the wonderful Anthony), I find I enjoyed it even more the second time around. Exploring intriguing themes of fate, chance, and choice, it's about how one seemingly insignificant choice can change our lives in ways we can never comprehend. And while it can be fun, or devastating, to wonder "What If?" as this musical does, at the end of the day we are where we are in life for whatever culmination of reasons. This is the life we have to live, and the characters in this musical, despite their flaws, do it to the fullest. The messages "no day but today" from RENT and "the price of love is loss, but still we pay, we love anyway" from Next to Normal are both present in this exciting new work.

"If/Then" at Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway

Original RENT cast members Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp reunite in a new original musical on Broadway? I'm in! Written by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, the creators of the brilliant musical Next to Normal, If/Then stars Idina as a woman who moves back to NYC after a divorce to start a new life with old friends and new. The Sliding Doors-esque plot follows her on two different paths, each resulting from a different choice made on her first day in the city. Two different realities unfold, both filled with love and heartbreak. It's a more traditional musical than Next to Normal and doesn't come close to the same brilliance (but what could, I don't envy them having to follow the success of their Pulitzer Prize winner), but it's entertaining with a well-constructed story, thought-provoking themes of chance and fate, and a score I want to listen to again. It's so refreshing to see a new original musical when so much of Broadway is revivals, jukebox musicals, and movie adaptations (I saw six musicals during my week in NYC and this was the only new original musical), and an absolute joy to see a woman at the top of her craft.

Elizabeth is a city planner who has spent the last twelve years in Phoenix in an unhappy marriage. The two divergent paths find her teaching, marrying a soldier, and starting a family in one (where she's called Liz) and forging a successful career redesigning NYC, flirting with her married boss, and getting involved with her bisexual ex-boyfriend in the other (known as Beth). While the story elements are less than original (surprise pregnancy, husband going off to war), at least they're arranged in a clever and unique way. And it's an interesting thought - how different your life would be if you had made one small choice differently (as Moritz Stiefel says - all I had to do was say yes). In the end I'm not sure which reality wins out, but Elizabeth is a woman who is going to come out on top with a little help from her beautifully diverse group of friends.

The story seamlessly flows back and forth between the two realities, sometimes within the same scene, with little confusion. A quick wardrobe change and her friends calling her by two different nicknames helps. The set is incredibly technical, with stairs and balconies moving in and around, creating many different spaces in NYC, which functions as another character in the story. I really enjoyed the modern pop/rock/musical theater score, mixing poignant ballads with funny up tempo numbers, and am looking forward to the cast recording being released this summer.

Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp reunite in If/Then

It's no accident Idina was part of two of the biggest musical theater phenomenon of the past twenty years - RENT and Wicked. She is a true one-of-a-kind talent and deserves to be famous for more than having her name grotesquely mispronounced. My theater buddy and I were sitting in the very last row of the theater (having snagged the last two tickets on our last available night) and I'm certain Idina's voice would have easily reached us without the aid of amplification. Her voice is a force of nature, and lucky for us, she chooses to use it "For Good." It's particularly lovely to see her reunited with her RENT co-star Anthony Rapp almost twenty years later, who is charming and funny as her best friend/ex-boyfriend, and gets a few great songs of his own.

While I unfortunately can't say that If/Then is a fantastic new musical (it's a little too precious and movie-of-the-week), it is a good one, with compelling characters, a catchy score, and a fantastic cast led by Idina the Great. It's definitely worth checking out on your next trip to NYC.

Idina Menzel quickly and efficiently signed every
Playbill she could get her hands on