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A review by harukacrush
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent by Anthony Rapp
5.0
The only way out is through.
Rent fundamentally changed my brain chemistry at the tender age of 15. As a young, queer theater enthusiast, this musical was ESSENTIAL to my survival growing up in a suburban conservative environment. I can still remember the excitement of being on stage as our musical theater class performed Seasons of Love for our school and how much I just wanted to keep singing that song over and over. (Followed by crushing disappointment when it was deemed "inappropriate" to perform the whole thing for the school, so we had to perform Evita instead).
I remember dragging my unsuspecting mother to a live show when it was in town and having an absolute blast while also taking moments to watch her face carefully for any reactions to the LGBTQ+ representation, hoping that I could fulfill my yearning to reveal my bisexuality to her, but becoming immediately discouraged when she pronounced that the show was "weird and horrible" and had "too many gay people in it".
I still cry when I listen to these songs and every time I watch the movie.
Always drawn to a good memoir, I love to step into another's shoes and live their experiences. Anthony Rapp's Without You is no exception. I especially appreciate the rawness that is expressed throughout this book, whether its about grief, overwhelming feelings, sexuality, shame, or guilt. The honesty with which Anthony expresses himself even not in his finest moments is both captivating and invigorating.
Everyone's grief looks different but I felt like Anthony's was very close to my own.
Rent fundamentally changed my brain chemistry at the tender age of 15. As a young, queer theater enthusiast, this musical was ESSENTIAL to my survival growing up in a suburban conservative environment. I can still remember the excitement of being on stage as our musical theater class performed Seasons of Love for our school and how much I just wanted to keep singing that song over and over. (Followed by crushing disappointment when it was deemed "inappropriate" to perform the whole thing for the school, so we had to perform Evita instead).
I remember dragging my unsuspecting mother to a live show when it was in town and having an absolute blast while also taking moments to watch her face carefully for any reactions to the LGBTQ+ representation, hoping that I could fulfill my yearning to reveal my bisexuality to her, but becoming immediately discouraged when she pronounced that the show was "weird and horrible" and had "too many gay people in it".
I still cry when I listen to these songs and every time I watch the movie.
Always drawn to a good memoir, I love to step into another's shoes and live their experiences. Anthony Rapp's Without You is no exception. I especially appreciate the rawness that is expressed throughout this book, whether its about grief, overwhelming feelings, sexuality, shame, or guilt. The honesty with which Anthony expresses himself even not in his finest moments is both captivating and invigorating.
Everyone's grief looks different but I felt like Anthony's was very close to my own.