RIVERHEAD, NY — Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp are set to take the stage at The Suffolk in Riverhead Sunday night with their new show “Celebrating 30 Years of Friendship & Rent.”

And, after 30 years of shared memories, laughter and loss, the bonds that exist between the pair are very real — and forever, Pascal said in an interview with Patch.

The show itself is a musical tour de force, featuring a full band as both Rapp and Pascal perform — for the first time, both are on the stage together for the entire length of the evening, he said.

The duo will showcase music that has meaning for them both, as well as songs from “Rent,” where Pascal’s character of Roger and Rapp’s Mark have become iconic, leaving a rich legacy not just in Broadway history but in the hearts of fans who’ve taken the music and the show’s powerful message of hope and love and woven it into the fabric of their very lives.

“Rent,” by Jonathan Larson, became an international phenomenon after its Off-Broadway beginnings.

And for the cast, the show has shaped lives and j0urneys and everything that came after.

Tony Award nominee Pascal is also known for his leading roles on Broadway in shows including “Aida”, “Memphis”, “Something Rotten!”, and “Disaster!” He most recently toured the country starring in “Pretty Woman”.

Rapp just completed an acclaimed run of his original show “Without You” — which offers a heartaching look into the loss of his mother at the same time “Rent” was soaring into the theatrical stratosphere — and is known for starring in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” and “If/Then” as well as appearing as Commander Paul Stamets in the hit television series “Star Trek: Discovery.”

Speaking with Patch, Pascal said returning to a Long Island stage is, literally, coming home. Although he spent his early childhood in the Bronx, his family moved to Long Island, where he grew up in Woodbury and Syosset; he now lives in Huntington.

Looking back, he laughed: “It was a really fun and unsupervised childhood. That’s how kids of our generation grew up. Although it sounds like a cliche, it was a much simpler time. I had a lot of fun, growing up on Long Island, with tons of freedom. It was great.”

From the beginning, the siren song of music called to Pascal. “My first connection with, and memory of music, comes from when I was living in the Bronx. We had a record player and I had this 45 of the Bay City Rollers.”

The Bay City Rollers, Barry Manilow albums, his parents’ records, including Simon & Garfunkel and the cast album of “A Chorus Line” — the music found its way into Pascal’s heart and took root, blossoming into his life’s dream.

From the first, he had a clear and burning vision, to play music with rock bands. He got his first gig at 12, almost 13, at Rumrunner’s in Oyster Bay.

“I grew up playing the clubs out here,” Pascal said. “Sparks in Deer Park, Industry, Spit, Sundance — none of these places are even there now. But we never had any fans, so although my memories of those days are fun, they’re also a little bittersweet,” he said, a smile in his voice.

When he envisioned his future, it was always music that that forged the way forward, Pascal said. “Being in a band, that’s all I ever dreamed of. It guided me all through my youth, my identity. It was always, ‘Oh, he’s the singer guy in a band.’ It was really that way, until it wasn’t — until ‘Rent’ happened.”

Describing how his “Rent” audition came to be, Pascal said he grew up down the street from Idina Menzel, who also starred in the show as the character Maureen.

“We were friends since we were little kids. She and her boyfriend called me and she said she was doing this show, and they were looking for someone, to cast this particular role and circumstantially, it sounded like me, a singer in a rock band. It seemed interesting, and she was in it, so I thought, ‘Let me try this,’” Pascal said.

From the first, there was magic.

Loosely based on the opera La Boheme, the show follows a group of struggling young New York City artists faced with the looming fear and dread of the HIV/AIDs crisis, the weight of addiction — the threads of crippling despair laced with the fierce redemptive power of love, only and always, love.

Coming together for rehearsals, their lives about to change with “Rent’s” unrivaled success, the actors were all excited to be working with one another, Pascal said. “It was an instant talent crush that everyone had on each other,” he said. “And it quickly grew into this family.”

But what was infused with hope and optimism was soon blanketed by grief as Jonathan Larson, their gifted creator, composer, lyricist, playright — the burning force behind “Rent”— died tragically of an aortic dissection on January 25, 1996, at just 35, one day before the first Off-Broadway preview performance of “Rent.”

“I think why we’re bonded, the whole experience, was really built around the show itself — around coping and loving through loss,” Pascal said. “We had to perform that show every night while going through that same thing, losing that person who wrote the show.”

The experience changed them all in an intense way just as the show succeeded in creating Broadway history — resulting in a closeness that has never faded. “The experience of going through that with each other was incredibly galvanizing,” creating lifelong friendships and ties still strong, even after 30 years. All have largely remained in the business, Pascal said. “We all care about each other, and check in with each other,” he said.

“Rent” itself touched a universal chord at a time when people were struggling to navigate their way through the darkness of the AIDS epidemic, a drug scourge that left lives broken and dreams destroyed.

It was the ray of hope, of love, that was “Rent”, that propelled the show to such international success, Pascal said. “That’s exactly why it was so successful,” he said. “You can’t plan that. The material, the subject matter, was certainly there, but there was no way to tell how something like that was going to affect an audience. Everything Jonathan Larson, in his wildest dreams, though it would do, it did, for people.”

If he could speak to Larson one more time, Pascal said he would tell him, “You were right. Congratulations, you did it! You deserve it.”

Pascal saw the show through a new lens last summer, when he directed a production of “Rent” for Five Towns College, through a collaboration with the From Stage to Screen Performing Arts Academy in Huntington. Pascal put together a cast of 25 — the original show had a cast of 15 — through an open casting call.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” he said. “It was a wonderful production and one that the audience loved, and I’m super proud of that.”

One thing that differed from seeing the show performed so many years ago, was that “Rent” is now firmly embedded in the cultural landscape forever. “Now, everyone knows the show, now everyone sings the songs, is waiting for their favorite song and their favorite moments,” Pascal said. “It was a much different audience than the original audiences who came for the first time, not knowing anything about the show.”

Reflecting on his prolific career, Pascal said another show that had a profound impact was “Cabaret”; the 2014 production was a revival helmed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, which opened at Studio 54. Pascal said he had long been enamored with the production and with Alan Cumming’s performance as the master of ceremonies, and was thrilled to be asked to come onboard as the last emcee before the show closed.

“It was just amazing,” he said. “I was terrified. Up until that point, I had only done ‘Rent’ and ‘Aida’, leading man roles. I was just playing a guy in a circumstance. This was very different. This was a performance unlike I had done before. Every number was fully choreographed. I was physically very exposed.” There was a lengthy improvisation scene during the second act that involved the audience, he said.

But, while the experience was daunting, Pascal said: “I was so drawn to it. The fact that I did it, and succeeded, and had the time of my life, made me see, ‘This is what I want everything to feel like.’ That show, more than anything, is why I am still here, doing this.”

Performing comedy in shows including “Something Rotten!” and “Disaster!” was also rewarding, Pascal said. “Getting to do the comedies has been reinvigorating to me, in my life and in my desires for my career,” he said. “If I had my druthers, I would continue to stay in that lane.”

Humor has always infused Pascal’s life. “I’ve always been drawn to comedy,” he said. “I had comedy records growing up — I had Steve Martin albums, National Lampoon albums, George Carlin albums, Eddie Murphy albums. ‘SNL’ has been a huge part of my life since the first season; I remember watching it as a little kid in the Bronx. I love to laugh and be around people that are laughing.”

But despite the rich careers the “Rent” cast has gone on to lead, whenever they come together on a stage, there is a shimmering spark that ignites, a glitter that enchants, despite the decades and distance all have traversed over 30 years.

When asked why he believes that bond is still so visceral, Pascal reflected: “I think it goes back to the genuine affection we all have for each other. And because we don’t see each other often, when we do, we’re affectionate toward each other, and I think that comes across. It’s like watching a family reunion— of a bunch of people that love each other.”

Pascal and Rapp have performed together for many years, and are thrilled to share the stage once again in this most recent iteration of their tour, performing music “from the time when we were listening to it, and affected by it, when we met in the mid-90s.”

The show also features storytelling, laughter, and shared memories. “We both do a lot of chatting to the audience,” Pascal said. “We like to connect with the audience on that level. It’s not just about the music. We try to give them an intimate look into us.”

He and Rapp have “genuine affection and love and respect for each other,” Pascal said. “We make each other laugh.”

The two realized early on that they had an onstage appeal together as a duo that went beyond “Rent”, he said.

“Obviously, the connection begins with ‘Rent’ but we realized we could still go out and do other things and we wanted to continue to do that; it’s a fun part of our career.”

Now that Rapp has two small children, their talk sometimes centers on parenting; Pascal has two sons and understands well the “balancing act” involved with having both a career and a family.

Fatherhood has colored every corner of Pascal’s world. “For me, it became about creating good human beings and not hiding my own failings from them,” he said. “Both of my sons are absolutely awesome human beings and I’m so proud of who they are. One of the reasons we’ve stayed so close is I’ve always put my family priorities first.”

Their family, like so many others, has endured struggles, including a divorce, Pascal said. “But my sons know that we still care about each other. They are older now, but the experience of all of this has helped them to learn about forgiveness and human failings, about trying to do better and learn from mistakes. Even though it was very painful at the time, it made them who they are, and made us so close.”

Honestly has always been paramount, Pascal said. “Growing up in my house — and this was very generational — I grew up in a house of secrets. And I didn’t want them to grow up like that.”

The experience of playing Roger in ‘Rent’ has forever changed the course of Pascal’s life. “I think ultimately the two of us sort of melded together. In a most interesting way, and, for lack of better adjectives, in a cosmic, meta way. The role of Roger and what his desires were — in his life and in the song ‘One Song, Glory’, what that song is saying, about his desire to leave an impact, and an artistic stamp on the world — the show achieved that. My being in the show achieved that for me; me singing that song achieved that for me. Me singing that song as, and for, Roger achieved that for him.”

Life and art intersected, Pascal believes. “The thing we shared the most — and I think I spent my entire life after, realizing how unproductive it was trying to grow out of it — is this ‘rock-and-roll rebel without a cause’ spirit that he had and that I have had. It’s a self-defeating characteristic of one’s personality to have that, but I think we both had. The character of Roger was too young and never had the opportunity to grow out of that.”

However, although Roger’s character grapples with the virus and an uncertain future, “What he does learn during course of the show is that life isn’t over. You can still love somebody and be loved — and that makes life worth living,” Pascal said.

In the end, it’s love that is everything, Pascal said.

Looking ahead to the next 30 years of his life, Pascal said: “I have a girlfriend I love very much, and I want to have a life with her. And I want a very specific kind of life. I want to be able to go to work and come home at night. I’ve only ever wanted to work, and then go home at night. What a wonderful luxury that is.”

Yet, that type of life, Pascal said, is very difficult to attain in show business. “I’ve traveled all over the world for my entire career and I don’t want to do that stuff anymore. I’m getting older and I want things to be simple. That’s my goal for the next 30 years.”

If his path veers from show business, Pascal said that would be okay, too. He said his favorite quote is a line Marlon Brando wrote, in his autobiography: “If a studio offered to pay me as much to sweep the floor as it did to act, I’d sweep the floor.”

Pascal added: “I relate to that so much.”

His sense of worth has never been found only in performing, Pascal said. “I never had that thing that a lot of people in show business and the arts do, where they have to be onstage and perform — they’ll do it anywhere, at any time, and make any sacrifice, because that’s their form of artistic expression and they need that and will always need that. And I don’t.”

He added: “I don’t mean to say I don’t love what I do — I really do. I’m just not motivated solely by that concept and I never was, even when I was playing in rock bands. I don’t have that burning desire to be onstage and perform. I can live without it. I actually consider myself lucky that I’ve always felt this way.”

There are people who have spent their whole lives striving, struggling, and who have never quite achieved their artistic goals, he said. “I can’t imagine being my age and having to continue that struggle, still wanting to taste it, wanting to know what that life feels like. I have had all of that and it’s been wonderful; it’s been great. I’ve experienced that and I’m so grateful — but I don’t need to keep experiencing it all.”

When asked the burning question “Rent” fans have been sharing, about a possible “Rent” 30-year reunion, Pascal said there are no concrete plans in place. “Nobody’s contacted me, I’ll say that,” he said.

With such a rich career and veritable life-changing moments comprising his path, Pascal described how he would measure the moments in his own life.

“To me, it’s always been the struggle, the pain, the difficulty — and then overcoming and leaarning from it and growing — that’s what life is all about. I’m a believer that we are all born into suffering as human beings. It’s a very Buddhist way of looking at it — that being human, life is about suffering and doing things to alleviate that. As opposed to life being about joy and happiness, but yet you’re plagued with suffering and so you are constantly trying to get back to that base state of joy and happiness. That’s not our base state, our base state is suffering.”

However, he said, “It’s what do we do to alleviate that — and what alleviates that is love. It’s human connection.”

True happiness is not found through materialistic experiences or career achievements, Pascal said. “It’s never that stuff, and anyone who’s super successful will tell you same thing. It’s about the human connections. It’s about love.”

“Celebrating 30 Years of Friendship & Rent” takes place at The Suffolk, located at 118 E. Main Street in Riverhead, on Sunday at 8 p.m. For tickets, click here.