Reviews are coming in for Anthony Rapp's autobiographical solo show Without You, which opened Off-Broadway at New World Stages' Stage 5 January 25, coinciding with the 27th anniversary of the first public performance of Rent at New York Theatre Workshop. Previews began January 14 for the run which is set to continue through April 30.
Based on his best-selling memoir of the same name, Without You picks up as Rapp, broke and working at Starbucks, gets an audition for a new rock opera, going on to tell the story of the early days of the landmark musical. The show features music from Jonathan Larson's Rent along with original songs by Anthony Rapp, David Matos, Joe Pisapia, and Daniel A. Weiss; and additional arrangements by Tom Kitt.
Read the reviews here.
Citi Tour (Brian Scott Lipton)
New York Stage Review (David Finkle)
New York Stage Review (Frank Scheck)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
New York Theatre Guide (Gillian Russo)
New York Times (Elisabeth Vincentelli)*
Theater Pizzazz (Samuel L. Leiter)
*This review requires creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this page as reviews come in.
Steven Maler helms the production with Weiss serving as music director and providing orchestrations. The creative team also includes scenic and lighting designer Eric Southern, costume designer Angela Vesco, sound designer Brian Ronan, and projection designer David Bengali. Denise Savas is production stage manager.
Lisa Dozier with Royal Family Productions, Cue to Cue Productions, Ryohei Otani/Motoko Kimura, Brian J. Heck/Harish Karthikeyan, Jason Turchin/Shimmy Braun, Charlotte Cohn, Abigail E. Disney, and Kim Vasquez are producing, along with creative producer Chris Henry. LDK Productions' Lisa Dozier and Michael Shannon are general managers.
Without You played a world premiere engagement at Pittsburgh's City Theatre in 2008. In the years since, the show has played Boston, Edinburgh Fringe, London, and more. The Off-Broadway bow follows earlier NYC engagements at Joe's Pub and Royal Family Performing Arts Space, the latter in 2022. An album of the show was released by PS Classics in 2012.
Visit WithoutYouMusical.com.
