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Anthony Rapp announces engagement to partner

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Ken Ithiphol and Anthony Rapp (Photo credit: Joseph Marzullo/WENN)

Out actor Anthony Rapp is marrying his boyfriend, and he wants everyone to know about it.

The 48-year old Rapp went on social media Sunday to tell fans and followers he had proposed to partner Ken Ithiphol, saying:

“So something happened tonight. I asked Ken if he would marry me and he said yes. I am so very happy and I’m so very thrilled to share this news.”

Photo via albinokid1026 on Instagram

The couple on Sunday both re-posted Instagram stories from others, showing the actor down on one knee proposing to his partner in front of friends at a Toronto party.

Ithiphol is a leadership coach, social researcher and advocate.

Rapp has been an actor since childhood, making his Broadway debut in 1981 in a short-lived musical called “The Little Prince and the Aviator,” based on the beloved children’s book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and his film debut with 1987’s “Adventures in Babysitting.” It was with the original production of “Rent” in 1994 that he first gained widespread recognition, creating the role of Mark in the now-iconic Jonathan Larsen musical and reprising the role in the 2005 film version. He has since appeared in numerous roles in theatre, television, and film, recently expanding his fanbase with the role of Lt. Commander Paul Stamet in the CBS All Access series, “Star Trek: Discovery,” in which his character, alongside fellow out actor Wilson Cruz, is half of the first gay couple in the “Star Trek” television franchise.

Rapp came out as queer in the mid-90s. At the time, he told Oasis magazine: “I don’t want to get into labels, but I’ve never labeled myself except to say I’m queer. The thing that’s been most important to me to be out about is that I have been in loving relationships with men … I haven’t said, ‘I am gay.’ Because the truth is that I’ve also been in love with women, although the truth is I do think I’m primarily homosexual.”

He made headlines when he revealed that he had been the recipient of unwanted sexual advances from actor Kevin Spacey at the age of 14, saying that he had attended a party at the home of the then 26-year-old Spacey. At the end of the evening, according to Rapp, the older actor, who was apparently drunk, picked him up and placed him on a bed, attempting to begin a sexual encounter. He had spoken about the incident in an Advocate magazine interview in 2001, but had at that time withheld Spacey’s name; inspired by the rise of the #MeToo movement, he came forward with the full story in 2017. Spacey claimed, on Twitter, not to have remembered the incident, but did not explicitly deny it, instead apologizing for “what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” At least 14 other men subsequently came forward with similar accusations against the older actor.

Rapp has credited activist/author Larry Kramer as an inspiration, saying in a 2018 interview on “The View” that he had worked with the activist on a play as a young man.

“[He] was a really powerful force to be around,” said Rapp, “so I always thought it was really important to live an open life.”

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Theater

An exciting revival of ‘Evita’ at Shakespeare Theatre

Out actor Caesar Samayoa on portraying iconic role of President Perón

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Caesar Samayoa (center) and the cast of ‘Evita’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company. (Photo by DJ Corey Photography) 

‘Evita’
Through Oct. 15
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Harman Hall
610 F St., N.W.
$35–$134
Shakespearetheatre.org

When Eva Perón died of cancer at 33 in 1952, the people’s reaction was so intense that Argentina literally ran out of cut flowers. Mourners were forced to fly in stems from neighboring countries, explains out actor Caesar Samayoa. 

For Samayoa, playing President Perón to Shireen Pimental’s First Lady Eva in director Sammi Cannold’s exciting revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita” at Shakespeare Theatre Company is a dream fulfilled. 

As a Guatemalan-American kid, he had a foot in two worlds. Samayoa lived and went to school in suburban Emerson, N.J. But he spent evenings working at his parents’ botanica in Spanish Harlem. 

During the drives back and forth in the family station wagon, he remembers listening to “Evita” on his cassette player: “It’s the first cast album I remember really hearing and understanding. I longed to be in the show.”

As an undergrad, he transferred from Bucknell University where he studied Japanese international relations to a drama major at Ithica College. His first professional gig was in 1997 playing Juliet in Joe Calarco’s off-Broadway “Shakespeare’s R&J.” Lots of Broadway work followed including “Sister Act,” “The Pee-Wee Herman Show,” and most significantly, Samayoa says, “Come From Away,” a musical telling of the true story of airline passengers stranded in Gander, Newfoundland during 9/11. He played Kevin J. (one half of a gay couple) and Ali, a Muslim chef.  

He adds “Evita” has proved a powerful experience too: “We’re portraying a populist power couple that changed the trajectory of a country in a way most Americans can’t fully understand. And doing it in Washington surrounded by government and politics is extra exciting.” 

WASHINGTON BLADE: How do you tap into a real-life character like Perón?

CAESAR SAMAYOA: Fortunately, Sammi [Connald] and I work similarly. With real persons and situations, I immerse myself into history, almost to a ridiculous extent. 

First day in the rehearsal room, we were inundated with artifacts. Sammi has been to Argentina several times and interviewed heavily with people involved in Eva and Peron’s lives. Throughout the process we’d sit and talk about the real history that happened. We went down the rabbit hole.

Sammi’s interviews included time with Eva’s nurse who was at her bedside when she died. We watched videos of those interviews. They’ve been an integral part of our production. 

BLADE: Were you surprised by anything you learned?

SAMAYOA: Usually, Eva and Perón’s relationship is portrayed as purely transactional.  They wrote love letters and I had access to those. At their country home, they’d be in pajamas and walk on the beach; that part of their life was playful and informal. They were a political couple but they were deeply in love too. I latched on to that. 

BLADE: And anything about the man specifically? 

SAMAYOA:  Perón’s charisma was brought to the forefront. In shows I’ve done, some big names have attended. Obama. Clinton. Justin Trudeau came to “Come From Away.” Within seconds, the charisma makes you give into that person. I’ve tried to use that.  

BLADE: And the part? 

SAMAYOA: Perón is said to be underwritten. But I love his power and the songs he sings [“The Art of the Possible,” “She is a Diamond,” etc.]. I’m fully a baritone and to find that kind of role in a modern musical is nearly impossible. And in this rock opera, I can use it to the full extent and feel great about it.

BLADE: “Evita” is a co-production with A.R.T. Has it changed since premiering in Boston? 

SAMAYOA: Yes, it has. In fact, 48 hours before opening night in Washington, we made some changes and they’ve really landed. Without giving too much away, we gave it more gravity in reality of time as well as Eva’s sickness and the rapid deterioration. It’s given our second act a huge kind of engine that it didn’t have. 

BLADE: You’re married to talent agent Christopher Freer and you’re very open. Was it always that way for you?

SAMAYOA: When I started acting professionally, it was a very different industry. We were encouraged to stay in the closet or it will cast only in a certain part. There was truth in that. There still is some truth in that, but I refuse to go down that road. I can’t reach what I need to reach unless I’m my most honest self. I can’t do it any other way.

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Out & About

HRC’s National Dinner is back

LGBTQ rights organization’s annual gala features Rhimes, Waithe, Bomer

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Actor Matt Bomer will be honored at the HRC National Dinner.

The Human Rights Campaign will host its annual National Dinner on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

The dinner’s honorees include world-famous producers, actors and entertainers whose work spotlights the fight for civil rights and social justice, including Shonda Rhimes, Lena Waithe and Matt Bomer.

A new event, as part of the weekend, — the Equality Convention — will take place the night before the dinner on Friday, Oct. 13. The convention will showcase the power of the LGBTQ equality movement, feature influential political and cultural voices, and bring together volunteer and movement leaders from across the country to talk about the path ahead.
For more details about the weekend, visit HRC’s website.

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Out & About

MLK Library to spotlight queer Asian writer

Trung Nguyen’s ‘The Magic Fish’ explored

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The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library will host “A Conversation with Trung Nguyen, Novelist” on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.

Nguyen’s book, “The Magic Fish” explores the LGBTQ experience and dives deep into Asian heritage and culture. United States Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius will attend the event and introduce Nguyen.

Admission is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

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