Around 30 years after Rent first appeared in New York, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal brought an anniversary concert to the Athenaeum Center last Thursday night and delivered an electric evening built on shared experience and warm friendship. The material that launched their careers still heats up a room, and the Athenaeum’s audience response matched the temperature.
Their first set opened with U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name,” followed by Bowie’s “Starman,” and then moved on to a few less familiar selections. The mix gave both singers room to settle in and show off. Their voices met easily, mingling Pascal’s rock with Rapp’s stage charisma into a sharp cocktail—a product of years of performance and complete comfort with each other’s stage style.
The first set’s eventual shift into Rent material increased the energy. Pascal’s “One Song, Glory” came first, introduced with his story about needing a cheat sheet during early performanRapp- and Pascal
ces of Rent—secretly taped to the table where he sat because the lyrics refused to stick in his brain. He said that by the time the show reached Broadway he finally had them down, though he still slips now and then. There were no slips Thursday night, and the room responded immediately. "Light My Candle" closed the set, an audience favorite, with Rapp adding an unexpected streak of humor by taking the Mimi lines in a playful, lightly seductive way.
Pascal opened the second set with “Memory” from Cats, introducing it with his familiar aside that it’s “one of the best songs written for a musical from one of the worst musicals I have ever seen.” With the sheer size of his voice, Pascal cast it as a rock‑stadium anthem, but the unplugged version. Rapp followed with “Happiness” from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a role he took on after Rent, playing the title character. Though “Happiness” is typically a group number, he sang it solo, and his performance filled the stage even with no one else on it.
After a few more second‑act covers, Pascal and Rapp closed the show with what most had been waiting for: the Rent powerhouse “Seasons of Love.” The arrangement for two voices gives the song a more intimate shape. Their combined sound didn’t replicate the original ensemble version, but it still carried an overwhelming emotional weight.
The night also acknowledged the broader Rent legacy. Rapp and Pascal’s careers have taken them through Broadway, film, concerts, even Star Trek for Rapp). But they continue to “dance with the gal who brung ‘em”—Jonathan Larson’s enduring '90s reimagining of Puccini’s La Boheme.
When it premiered in the mid-'90s, it felt completely of-the-moment. Thirty years later, and with torch-bearers like Pascal and Rapp, it’s clear that it’s one for the ages.
Pascal and Rapp performed for one night only at the Athenaeum Center.
Did you enjoy this post? Please consider supporting Third Coast Review’s arts and culture coverage by making a donation. Choose the amount that works best for you, and know how much we appreciate your support!
