Reneé Rapp showed Austin what a soon-to-be icon looks like Monday night at Stubb's

When news broke this summer that the third installment of HBO Max's "Sex Lives of College Girls" would be Reneé Rapp's last season on the show, everyone pointed to interviews with the star where she talked about wanting acting to further her music career.

"(I thought), I can do music on the side, like, I can just hustle. And now I’ve just kept acting, because it keeps supporting the music," Rapp told Variety in November 2022.

Listen, we couldn't be more grateful that her plan is working. Rapp brought her "Snow Hard Feelings" Tour to Stubb's on Monday night and it had us wondering why her worldwide fame is taking so long. The 23-year-old's voice is unreal, and coupled with a stage presence that should take far longer to hone than her young age, we felt like we were watching the beginning of something. And we never want it to end.

Theater nerds will need no introduction to Rapp, but for the unaware: Rapp played Regina George in "Mean Girls" the musical and will reprise the role in a feature film. If you've been a fan for even longer, you'll remember Rapp's Instagram videos in which she sang Beyoncé songs and you wondered, "Who is this?" Her voice can absolutely hang with the legends of Broadway and it makes her pop music stunning.

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The sold-out show featured Rapp's debut album "Snow Angel" and was her third stop on the tour. (Dallas and Houston were the first cities on the schedule, so you're out of chances to see her in Texas.) She performed for about an hour after openers Alexander 23 and Towa Bird. Rapp is what we can describe only as "quietly huge." She's not as known as her peers Olivia Rodrigo or Billie Eilish, but most of the shows on her tour are sold out, she packed one of Austin's last-stops-before-huge-venues like the Moody Center and the crowd was loud, loud, loud.

The crowd also knew every word, which is impressive considering the Austin show marked just one month since her album came out. Or maybe it's expected when you're an artist like Rapp. We promise to start studying!

We ate up "23," a song on growing up and feeling weird: "But tomorrow I turn 23/ And it feels like everyone hates me/ So, how old do you have to be/ To live so young and careless?" She reminded us of that certain kind of pain that is running into your ex in your hometown in "So What Now": "Should we talk?/ If we run into each other on the street/ Should I keep walking?/ So, what now?/ Do you tell your friends/ That things ended well?"

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Rapp hit high note after high note. Each time we tried to match her, our voices just gave out. (It's still really impressive even if there's a reason this writer chose to major in journalism and not voice.) Rapp sings the kind of notes that make you wince as she approaches them for fear they won't go through. But she was smooth, powerful and sturdy all night. We'll be thinking of every riff until we get to see her again.

Broadway stars rarely get to be pop stars. Do you know Lea Michele's "Louder" or Idina Menzel's "Drama Queen" or Ben Platt's "Reverie" by heart? Did you know they even had those albums? It takes a lot for a showtune-bred artist to break through, which should change if Rapp has taught us anything. It says a lot about Rapp that she's broken through so quickly.

Rapp closed out the night with "In The Kitchen" and "Snow Angel." We imagine if Beyoncé was born in 2000 like Rapp, "In The Kitchen" is the song she'd be performing right now, which is truly the biggest compliment this writer could offer. The voice and the lyrics reminded us of Beyoncé's "Resentment" anthem where the artist sings about her partner cheating on her.

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Rapp sings about heartbreak in "In The Kitchen": "So I'll dance with your ghost in the living room/ And I'll play the piano alone/ But I'm too scared to delete all our videos/ 'Cause it's real once everyone knows/ Could've at least shown me some decency/ Done me a favor and packed up your clothes/ Falling in love, no, it ain't for the weak/ So don't try this at home."

Rapp closed out the night with an earth-bending performance of "Snow Angel." The song camouflages itself as a slow one, but it rises and rises into a fiery rock performance. We wanted it to go on forever. We know Rapp's pop career will.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Reneé Rapp's Austin show at Stubb's proved artist is here to stay