Anthony Deane Rapp is an American actor and singer who originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent. Following his original performance of the role in 1996, he reprised it in the film version of the show and the show's United States tour in 2009. He also performed Charlie Brown in the 1999 Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and originated the role of Lucas in the musical If/Then in 2014. Since 2017 he has played Commander Paul Stamets on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.

Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. Loosely based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, it tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village, in the thriving days of the bohemian culture of Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.