Porchlight in Concert Follies
Anthony Rapp is an actor, best known for his Broadway roles in RENT, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and If/Then, as well as TV's Star Trek: Discovery.
He'll be performing the role of 'Benjamin Stone' in Porchlight in Concert Follies at the Studebaker Theater on April 25 and 26, 2026.
To watch the interview with Anthony Rapp, click the play button below (or click here to open the video player in a new tab/window).
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To listen to the interview, click the play button below (or click here to open the audio player in a new tab/window).
Porchlight in Concert Follies will have three performances only, at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Ill. on April 25 & 26, 2026.
More information can be found on the Porchlight Music Theatre website. Tickets are sold through the Studebaker Theater's box office.
Mike Reflects
The first full-length musical I recall going to see as a kid was a community theatre production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
In order to make sure I'd be able to sit through it, my parents got a copy of the 1999 cast recording from the library.
That album was the first recording to feature the song that quickly became my favorite from the show (and, in fact, was one of the big moments my dad described to me ahead of time to get me excited for it): Glee Club Rehearsal.
Like, I think, most people, I'd grown up with Peanuts.
My uncle would always send me Snoopy cards for my birthday, I had a Peanuts pennant hanging on my bedroom wall, and I even had a "Joe Cool" sweatshirt. My dad also had paperback copies of Peanuts compilations that I read until they literally fell apart.
The silliness of that track embodied what Peanuts was to me, at the time and now. And, like I mentioned to Anthony during the interview, since the 1999 cast recording was my introduction to that song (and the others), it continues to hold a special place in my heart.
And I'm not alone in that.
A few weeks ago, B.D. Wong (best known for his roles in Law & Order: SVU and the Jurassic Park franchise) was a guest at C2E2 in Chicago, with a few other guests from Jurassic Park.
While I didn't get the opportunity to meet him myself, I did see someone who had him sign a Playbill from that 1999 production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, in which he played Linus.
I'm not at all surprised that most of the recognition Anthony gets from his Broadway work is for RENT (and for good reason!), I am a bit surprised that he doesn't get more accolades for this show.
Just as Betsy Morgan will always be my ‘Ariel', Anthony will always be my ‘Charlie Brown'.