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Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.
He is a graduate of St. John's Military Academy (Delafield, Wisconsin) and Clarke College (Dubuque, Iowa). At Clarke, he captained the varsity basketball team.
After college he moved to New York City's East Village, where he landed a day job in book publishing and wrote fiction and plays at night. He later completed a two-year playwriting fellowship at Juilliard School. His younger brother is actor-singer Anthony Rapp.
His play Red Light Winter received the Joseph Jefferson Award (Best New Work) in 2005 for its production at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. "Press Release" jeffawards.org, November 7, 2005 The play ran off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre from January 20, 2006 to June 25, 2006, directed by Rapp. The play was nominated for the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Play, and Rapp received the 2006 Obie Award, Special Citation. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2006.
Rapp directed a production of Los Angeles, by Julian Sheppard, in 2007 at the Flea Theatre. In 2011, Rapp's The Metal Children was given its regional debut by Swine Palace on Louisiana State University's campus.
He has said that the Edge Theater Company in New York City is his "artistic home": "Edge Theater changed my life back in 2003. They are my family."Rapp, Adam. "Adam Rapp: Finding My Theater Family" broadway.com, March 21, 2007
He made his Broadway theatre debut with his play The Sound Inside, which began playing at Studio 54 starting on September 14, 2019 (opening officially on October 17, 2019), starring Mary-Louise Parker.Clement, Olivia. "Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside, Starring Mary-Louise Parker, Begins on Broadway" Playbill, September 14, 2019 The play premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play at the 74th Tony Awards.
Rapp wrote on the book for , a re-imagination of the 1967 S. E. Hinton novel and the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation. Broadway theatre performances began on March 16, 2024, at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre in New York City. Rapp was nominated with his co-author Justin Levine for the 2024 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. The musical won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Musical.
In a conversation with fellow playwright Gina Gionfriddo published in The Brooklyn Rail, Rapp says: "When you see something powerfully acted on stage, it hits a nerve in the way music hits a nerve … Watching someone twelve feet from you falling in love or being abused … There’s something raw about that experience that you don’t get from film or TV."
His first adult novel, The Year of Endless Sorrows, was released in 2006.Gans, Andrew. "Rapp Discusses New Endless Sorrows Novel Jan. 22" Playbill, January 27, 2007 Rapp made his graphic novel debut with the release of Ball Peen Hammer in September 2009.Hogan, John. "The Art of the 'Ball Peen Hammer'" graphicnovelreporter.com, accessed November 11, 2015 His second graphic novel, Decelerate Blue, was published in February 2017.
While working on The L Word, Rapp left in the middle of the season to attend the Edinburgh Festival, where he directed his play, Finer Noble Gases, which won the Fringe First Award. He wrote for the 2010 season of HBO's In Treatment.
He was a member of the band Bottomside, which released the independent CD The Element Man in September 2004. He is a member of Less the Band, which released the album Bear in April 2006.
In 2021, he co-wrote the pilot episode "Cold Snap" for the Showtime special event series .
Teaching
He has taught at the Yale School of Drama.
Style
The majority of Rapp's plays feature small casts and are set in small spaces. Many characters in the plays are working class Americans. His plays often combine stories of Midwestern longing with the idea of finding escape in New York. He combines humor with gloom, preferring dark themes
Novels
Rapp's first young adult novel, Missing the Piano, was published in 1994. After writing his second book, The Buffalo Tree, which was published in 1997, Rapp was invited to be the first author in residence at Ridgewood High School. The Buffalo Tree was censored by the Muhlenberg School Board in Reading, Pennsylvania due to its themes, graphic language and sexual content. His 2003 novel 33 Snowfish was one of Young Adult Library Services Association's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults. He released Under the Wolf, Under the Dog in 2004.
Film, television and music
Rapp directed his first film, Winter Passing, with Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell in 2005 and was a creative consultant for the television show The L Word.Buckley, Michael. "STAGE TO SCREENS: Chatting with Playwright and Screenwriter Adam Rapp" Playbill, February 20, 2006
List of works
Theatre
Novels
Young adult novels
Screenwriter
Film director
Awards
Source: Gale
1995 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults Missing the Piano American Library Association, Best Books for Reluctant Readers citation 1997 National Playwrights Conference, Herbert & Patricia Brodkin Scholarship Trueblinka 1999 Princess Grace Fellowship "Award Winners Playwrighting" pgfusa.org, accessed October 18, 2019 2000 Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, Roger L. Stevens Award 2001 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights Nocturne 2004 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults 33 Snowfish Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Novel Under the Wolf, Under the Dog 2005 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Red Light Winter Obie Award Schneider Family Book Award, teen category Under the Wolf, Under the Dog 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play Essential Self-Defense 2010 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book Punkzilla 2012 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award 2020 Tony Award for Best Play The Sound Inside 2024 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Outsiders
External links
Categories: 1968 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Novelists, 21st-century American Novelists, American Male Novelists, Juilliard School Alumni, Musicians From Joliet, Illinois, Princess Grace Awards Winners, Writers From Joliet, Illinois, Film Directors From Illinois, 20th-century American Dramatists And Playwrights, American Male Dramatists And Playwrights, 21st-century American Dramatists And Playwrights, 20th-century American Male Writers, 21st-century American Male Writers, Novelists From Illinois, David Geffen School Of Drama At Yale University Faculty
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