In a Way, He’s Subletting the Life of ‘Rent’s’ Creator

The late Jonathan Larson had memorable eyes and curly hair, two things he shared in common with Raul Esparza, the actor who portrays the playwright-songwriter in the semiautobiographical “tick, tick . . . BOOM!” at off-Broadway’s Jane Street Theatre.

The rock musical, from Larson’s trunk of unproduced work, had been abandoned after he began concentrating on “Rent,” a more ambitious project that would win the Pulitzer and Tony awards. Those awards, of course, came after Larson’s untimely death--which is why lines uttered by Esparza such as “I only have so much time to spend and I don’t want to waste it” are particularly poignant to those who know Larson’s story, and recall his fear of turning 30 before achieving any significant accomplishment.

Esparza, who recently passed that milestone, was aware of these circumstances. He is a fan of “Rent,” and even knew several people in the original cast--although not Daphne Rubin-Vega, one of the stars of “Rent” whom he would meet when they were both cast in “The Rocky Horror Show.” That show, in which he played the creepy Riff Raff, executor of “The Time Warp,” brought him back to New York (he’d gone to college at NYU), after more than half a dozen years performing with Chicago theater companies. He’d also toured the country as Che in the 20th-anniversary national road production of “Evita.”

Since moving to New York, Esparza, who grew up in Miami and is married to his high school sweetheart, has been successful in more than just his professional life. He’s found a comfortable vintage apartment--which he’s filled with mementos of his past and present--smack in the middle of the theater district, where he talked to Newsday’s Blake Green. The long-sleeve, patterned gray shirt he was wearing had been Larson’s, a sentimental gift to Esparza from Victoria Leacock, a friend of the playwright’s and one of the show’s producers.

Question: How did you happen to switch from “The Rocky Horror Show” (which is still running on Broadway) to “tick, tick . . . BOOM!”?

Answer: I’d intended to stay with “Rocky” for a year, but I decided to take a chance with something else; it was a creative decision. Playing Riff Raff eight times a week wasn’t easy. It was a new experience for me to be in a show in which the audience interacts. It can be frustrating because sometimes they seem to control the performance. I liked the experience, but sometimes it’s not really theater.

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Q: Is this something unique to “Rocky Horror”?

A: The other night when Jonathan [who is the narrator of “tick, tick . . . BOOM!”] said, “Hi, I’m Jonathan,” a couple of people in the audience yelled back, “Hi!” I was kind of annoyed.

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Q: Did you have any concerns about playing Jonathan?

A: A couple. I was worried people would expect me to imitate Jonathan--which they didn’t. I was afraid there might be some sort of backlash, that it would be judged in comparison to “Rent.” But everyone seems to be taking it on its own merits, as a beautiful piece of writing. And there was the security thing--I’d be leaving a Broadway show for a smaller paycheck. But actors really don’t make much money anyway, so we have to take chances.

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Q: You’ve indicated that your family has been very supportive of your career choice. But they initially weren’t happy when you got the role of Che in “Evita.” Why?

A: My grandfather, whose name was also Raul, and my father both knew Che. [Esparza was born in the United States, but his family are refugees from Castro’s Cuba.] A lot of Cubans had faith in Castro and they felt betrayed. They see Che as a murderer, a criminal. My mother said she’d never come to see me as Che. But, of course she did, about 14 times. I tried to keep him [his character] closer to the real Che; I played him as a troubled fanatic, less like the hero he was originally portrayed in the show.”

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Q: In “tick, tick . . . BOOM!” your Jonathan seems to be pretty neurotic. Are you neurotic?

A: I think I probably am. I obsess about things a lot, want things to be black or white when they’re really gray. But he was more nervous and driven than I am--that ticking he hears I never heard before turning 30. I think I was lucky; I keep pinching myself that my first job in New York was on Broadway. Riff Raff is kind of iconic.

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Q: Would you say the same thing about Jonathan?

A: When I was auditioning, I looked out and saw people crying. Suddenly I became aware that Jonathan was a real person, not just a character. The script really moved me; I’ve said some of those same words before myself.