A & E

For performer and playwright Anthony Rapp, the time he spent with the musical "Rent" was filled with elation and despair, sadness and triumph.

Rapp created the role of Mark Cohen for Jonathan Larson's wildly successful, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical. He followed the project from its beginnings as a workshop production at the New York Theatre Ensemble through its staging as a triumphant off-Broadway musical and speedy transfer to Broadway blockbuster and then to film.

At the same time, he was dealing with the unexpected loss of "Rent" creator Larson, who died the night before its final off-Broadway rehearsal, as well as his mother's lingering fight with and death from cancer.

His experiences are the focus of "Without You," a highly emotional and personal solo-performer musical now having its world premiere at City Theatre.

Adapted from his published memoir "Love, Loss and the Musical 'Rent'," the show incorporates snippets of songs from the iconic musical as well as some additional songs written by John Keany, David Matos, REM, Joe Pisapia and Rapp himself.

Backing him up is a four-piece rock band composed of guitarist Matos, keyboard performer Paul Cunningham, bassist Dan Tomko and drummer A.T. Vish.

Those who remember Rapp for his City Theatre performance in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" will see that, even when playing himself, he continues to be an engaging and energetic singer.

He tells his story with a simple, direct and compelling delivery style. At 36, he still appears boyishly young and emotionally vulnerable.

Set designer Tony Ferrieri, costume designer Angela Vesco and lighting designer Andrew David Ostrowski provide Rapp with subtle but strong support, creating a playing area that's accommodating without being obtrusive, and supplying real-world, low-key costume choices.

The show's intimate nature is well supported by filling half of City Theatre's mainstage with small two-person tables that lend the feel of a cabaret theater.

"Without You" is still a work-in-progress and, at just over an hour-and-a-half without intermission, it could benefit from the pruning and refining that can take place only after a show has been performed for an audience.

It's clear that his year of trauma and triumph still affects Rapp. Some of his own songs are filled with raw and personal emotions. At this stage, they seem small and singular when juxtaposed with the excerpts from Larson's more universally appealing score, which has had a longer and more intensive refining process.

Rapp gives us small vignettes of Larson that make him into a real and concrete person and helps to show us who we lost.

But much as we understand, feel for and empathize with Rapp's anguish as his mother declines and succumbs to cancer, we know her only in her frail and final days. We need to more clearly see the vital, healthy person that Rapp knew.

That "Without You" already has a firm foundation and resonates with audiences was made clear by the immediate, sustained standing ovation it received on press night. It also has the potential to become even better.

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