Feature

Writer. Rocker. Lesbianism Consultant.

With a new play set to open Off Broadway, Adam Rapp makes notes on his ridiculously varied résumé.

By Boris Kachka
Published Mar 25, 2007

(Photo: Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan)

1. “I had a bad reputation, and my father’s second wife convinced him to send me to military school. I was cast away from my dad’s life. It actually did straighten me out, but I would never send my own kid there.”

2. “Why even have a committee if there’s going to be a veto? Well, no one won the year Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? got nominated, so I’m in good company.”

3. “I have a Roundabout commission, and I want to write something that really shows [Anthony] off. He did a lot for me when I came out here. He got me interested in theater, so I owe him a lot.”

4. "My books have been very controversial for young adults, but I never thought I was writing for kids. My protagonists were younger just because a lot haunts me about that time.”

5. “I felt that I could have a little more latitude with adult books. I wasn’t being pressured by my editor to cut as much, and I could be more literary. I’ve already written another one. It’s a little darker than the first one, and a lot shorter.”

6. “They called me out of nowhere. I don’t even watch TV. They wanted the prestige of a playwright. I had a great time learning about being a lesbian. But I won’t live in L.A. I really don’t like it.”

7. “It’s always been a really important part of my life, but we don’t have any big aspirations. We have three working actors in the band, and we haven’t rehearsed in a month. There’s no better collaboration I’ve ever had. It’s so nice not to have to direct.”