23-year-old pop sensation Reneé Rapp may have only recently exploded into the music scene with her debut album “Snow Angel,” but her seemingly meteoric rise to fame has been a long time coming.
Rapp’s first exposure to stardom began with her 2018 Jimmy Awards nomination. The Jimmies, referred to as “the Tony’s, for teenagers” by the New York Times, are considered a fast track to a theater career by aspiring performers. Rapp landed the nomination for her role as Sandra Bloom in her high school’s musical production of the 2003 movie “Big Fish.” Reneé was announced as the Best Female Performance winner after a masterful performance of Chaplin’s “It All Falls Down” for her final number. (The winner of Best Male Performance, Andrew Barth Feldman, went on to play the titular role in Broadway’s “Dear Evan Hansen,” and star in the comedy “No Hard Feelings,” opposite Jennifer Lawrence).
Like most Jimmy winners, Reneé Rapp set her sights on Broadway. By 2019, she had secured the role of Regina George in “Mean Girls: The Musical.” Tina Fey, creator of the 2004 film and musical adaptation, said in anticipation of Rapp’s debut: “I think [she] has everything it takes to thrill and terrify us all! I can’t wait to see her do this.” Although the show exited theaters in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rapp is set to reprise her role in the 2024 film adaptation of the musical.
In 2021, the Broadway star made her transition to television with HBO’s “The Sex Life of College Girls.” Rapp played Leighton Murray, a lesbian student who struggles to figure out her sexuality. During an interview with podcast runner Alex Cooper, Rapp discussed how her portrayal of Leighton has mirrored her own experience with her bisexuality. “To be honest, I feel like my genuine coming out to my family — close and extended — has been doing College Girls. Because now…part of me is on display in a very palatable way,” she said. Rapp’s quickly growing social media audience appreciated the actress’ vulnerability. When she put out her debut EP: “Everything to Everyone” in November 2022, her TikTok and Instagram fan bases helped to amass 22 million streams within the first week of release.
Less than a year later, Rapp was promoting her debut album “Snow Angel” which she released on August 18, 2023. “It’s just weird. I feel like a different person from when I wrote the EP to the album,” she said in an interview with Nylon Magazine.
Her success is even more pronounced this time around. “Snow Angel” received positive critical commentary, including a 4-star review from Rolling Stone that praised Rapp’s “larger-than-life emotions,” and “sumptuous sonics.”
Rapp is now performing at venues across the United States and Europe on her virtually sold-out “Snow Hard Feelings” tour. The shows will feature her producer and friend Alexander 23, as well as up-and-coming Filipino artist Towa Bird. The tour will make a stop at the Fillmore in Philadelphia on October 24th where fans will definitely scream the words to stand out singles like “Talk Too Much,” “Pretty Girls,” and the titular track “Snow Angel.”