Its been nearly 27 years or 14,191,200 minutes since Rent became a cultural phenomenon and endeared Anthony Rapp to a generation of theatergoers. Though Rapp had been acting since childhood, his stirring portrayal of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larsons 1996 musical was, by all accounts, a career-defining breakout.

Sadly, Larson died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm just one night before Rent premiered off-Broadway. The show, of course, later transferred to Broadway, where it became a smash hit and won a Pulitzer Prize . Behind the scenes, Rapp was not only mourning Larsons death but had also begun to grapple with his mothers terminal cancer diagnosis.

The juxtaposition of Rapps professional success and personal grief is explored in Without You , which opened Wednesday at New World Stages in New York. Adapted from the Chicago-born actors 2006 memoir , the one-man musical is a hybrid of a rock concert and a poignant monologue, performed on a minimalist set that evokes Manhattans East Village in the mid-1990s.