Beloved singer, actress, and online personality Renee Rapp has finally gotten her flowers, literally. She posted a tear-filled video last week receiving flowers from the legendary artist Beyonce. I couldn’t help but tear up with her after all these years of watching her late-night TikTok covers of Love on Top.
I was there when her Instagram handle was an inside joke instead of her name. Now, to preface, I took a long look in the mirror and swore off being a pretentious theater kid after Glee went off Netflix. Regardless, I’ll be singing “We Told You So” about Renee Rapp’s popularity all the way to her sophomore album drop.
I still have the playbill hanging from the time I saw her starring as Regina George in Mean Girls the Musical. The playbill is practically a victory trophy at this rate. Picture me rustling around a crowded Times Square in winter weather to see Rapp hit an E5 in a Playboy bunny costume. Now picture me fighting in a concert ticket queue against people who don’t know stage left from stage right. I could’ve joined the gatekeeper hive mind, but I will never be complaining about Broadway performers being recognized outside of New York.
Musical theater fans have known about her greatness for years. It’s not that now we have to share her. It’s that now we get to share her. She’s the high school senior who won a prestigious musical theater award and had her solo go viral. She’s the inspiring starlet who made her Broadway debut at nineteen. She’s the relatable twenty-year-old on TikTok who’s filming her midnight karaoke in her kitchen. She’s the former bisexual-identifying, now lesbian icon who brought her unapologetic pride into all her roles. The locals’ jaws would be dropped if they were on Twitter the day that she held a “Regina George was a lesbian” sign at one of her shows. Lives were changed in those seconds.
I’m ecstatic that the rest of the world is catching on. Broadway stars go through transformative mental and physical feats to deliver top performances. They show off immense talent if they’re only given greater opportunities within the industry. Let’s hope Rapp’s rise to fame is a start.