Jonathan Larson | |
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| Born | Jonathan David Larson (1960-02-04)February 4, 1960 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 25, 1996(1996-01-25) (aged 35) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Education | Adelphi University (BFA) |
| Years active | 1982–1996 |
| Notable works |
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Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright, most famous for writing the musicalsRent andTick, Tick... Boom!, which explored the social issues ofmulticulturalism,substance use disorder, andhomophobia.
Larson had worked on both musicals throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s. After several years of workshopping,Rent began an off-Broadway run in early 1996, though Larson died from anaortic dissection the day before its first preview performance. The show went on to enjoy critical and commercial success, and transferred to Broadway that April, one of thelongest-running Broadway productions. Larson posthumously received threeTony Awards and thePulitzer Prize for Drama.Rent was also adapted intoa 2005 film.Tick, Tick... Boom! received an off-Broadway production in 2001, and was also adapted intoa 2021 film.
Jonathan David Larson was born on February 4, 1960, inMount Vernon, New York, to Nanette (née Notarius; 1927–2018)[1] and Allan Larson (1925–2021)[2] ofWhite Plains, New York.[3][4][5][6] His family was Jewish.[7] His grandfather, Bernard Isaac Lazarson, who was born in Russia, changed the family surname to Larson.[8] At an early age, Larson played the trumpet and tuba, sang in his school's choir, and took piano lessons. His early musical influences and his favorite rock musicians includedElton John,The Doors,The Who, andBilly Joel, as well as the classic composers of musical theatre, especiallyStephen Sondheim. He also lovedPete Townshend,The Police,Prince,Liz Phair, andThe Beatles.[9] Larson attendedWhite Plains High School, where he was also involved in acting, performing in lead roles in various productions, graduating in 1978.[10] He had a sister, Julie.
Larson attendedAdelphi University inGarden City, New York, with a four-year scholarship as an acting major, in addition to performing in numerous plays and musical theatre, graduating in 1982 with aBachelor of Fine Arts degree. Larson stopped acting to focus on compositions.[citation needed] During his college years, he began music composition, composing music first for small student productions, called cabarets, and later the score to a musical entitledThe Book of Good Love (Libro de Buen Amor), written by the department head, Jacques Burdick, who was also Larson's college mentor.[citation needed]
As a student at Adelphi University, Larson co-wroteSacrimmoralinority, aBrechtian-themed cabaret musical and his first musical, with David Glenn Armstrong.[citation needed] It was first staged at Adelphi University in the winter of 1981. After Larson and Armstrong graduated in 1982, they renamed itSaved! - An Immoral Musical on the Moral Majority. It played a four-week showcase run at Rusty's Storefront Blitz, a small theatre on 42nd Street in New York, Manhattan, and won both authors a writing award fromASCAP.[citation needed]
After graduating, Larson participated in asummer stock theatre program at theBarn Theatre inAugusta, Michigan, as a piano player, which resulted in his earning anEquity card for membership in theActors' Equity Association.[citation needed]
In 1983, Larson planned to write a musical adaptation ofGeorge Orwell's bookNineteen Eighty-Four, which he planned to get produced in the year 1984; however, the Orwell estate denied him permission. Larson then began the process of adapting his work on 1984 into a futuristic story of his own, titledSuperbia.[11]
Superbia won the Richard Rodgers Production Award and the Richard Rodgers Development Grant.[10] However, despite performances atPlaywrights Horizons and a rock concert version produced by Larson's close friend and producer Victoria Leacock at theVillage Gate in September 1989,Superbia never received a full production.[11]
In the 2001 three-person musical version of Larson's monologuetick, tick... BOOM!, the 11 o'clock number from an earlier version of Superbia, "Come to Your Senses", was included. Another song fromSuperbia ("LCD Readout") was included on the 2007 album "Jonathan Sings Larson". In 2019, the song "One of These Days", originally sung by Josh near the beginning of the early drafts ofSuperbia, was included on the album "The Jonathan Larson Project". On February 4, 2022, the abridged "Sextet Montage" was released on streaming platforms as a single.[12]
tick, tick... BOOM!, completed in 1991, was an autobiographical "rock monologue". This piece, written for only Larson with a piano and rock band, drew on his feelings of rejection caused by the disappointment ofSuperbia. The show was performed off-Broadway at the Village Gate inGreenwich Village, then at theSecond Stage Theater on theUpper West Side. Both of these productions were produced by Victoria Leacock.[citation needed] ProducerJeffrey Seller saw a reading ofBoho Days and expressed interest in producing Larson's musicals.
After Larson's death, Victoria Leacock and Robyn Goodman, with the permission of the Larson family, brought in playwright David Auburn to go through Larson’s five versions of the rock monologue, and expand it for three actors. Stephen Oremus was hired to orchestrate and be the musical director, as he had already been working on the tour ofRENT. The stage version premiered off-Broadway in 2001 and starredRaúl Esparza as Larson, a performance for which he earned anObie Award. It has since been produced on a West End theatre.
Afilm adaptation oftick, tick... BOOM!, directed byLin-Manuel Miranda and starringAndrew Garfield (in anAcademy Award nominated performance) as Larson, with a rewritten script bySteven Levenson was released onNetflix on November 12, 2021.
In 1989, Larson began collaborating with playwright Billy Aronson on a musical updating Giacomo Puccini'sLaBohème to take place in contemporary New York City.[13] Larson conceived the title,Rent, and re-centered the narrative in the East Village, reflecting the lives of artists and young people in the shadow of the AIDS epidemic.
The show underwent significant development at the New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), starting with staged readings in 1993 and culminating in a three-week studio production in late 1994. Producer Jeffrey Seller became a crucial champion during this period. Tragically, Larson died from an aortic dissection on January 25, 1996, the morning ofRent's first off-Broadway preview performance at NYTW.
The show proceeded, garnering immense critical and popular success, and transferred to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996.[14]Rent became a cultural phenomenon, winning numerous prestigious awards, including a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Drama[15] and several Tony Awards for Larson.[16]
In the days precedingRent's first previews in January 1996, Larson began experiencing pain in his chest and back, fever, dizziness, and shortness of breath. He was assessed atCabrini Medical Center on January 21 and atSt. Vincent's Hospital on January 23, but doctors found nothing of concern in X-rays orelectrocardiograms (ECGs), and variously attributed his symptoms to stress, food poisoning, or a virus; a note from one doctor on an ECG speculated about a possiblemyocardial infarction, but the matter was not further pursued.[3][17] Larson continued to complain of severe and persistent pain and discomfort throughout this period.[17]
At around 12:30 a.m. on January 25, 1996, the scheduled day of the first preview performance, Larson returned to his apartment from a production meeting, and collapsed in the kitchen.[17] At around 3 a.m.,[a] his body was discovered by his roommate, who called emergency services and attempted CPR.[3] Police arrived and pronounced Larson dead at the scene, aged 35.[3] The cause of death was found to be anaortic dissection.[17] A court found that Larson had been misdiagnosed by doctors at both hospitals he had visited.[18] Amedical malpractice lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. TheNew York State Department of Health launched an investigation and concluded that it is possible he could have lived if the aortic dissection had been properly diagnosed and treated withcardiac surgery.[19][20] Cabrini Medical Center and St. Vincent's Hospital were fined $10,000 and $6,000, respectively.[3]
Larson may have had an undiagnosed case ofMarfan syndrome, which increases the risk of aortic dissection; the possibility was publicly promoted by theNational Marfan Foundation to raise awareness about the condition, at the urging of the New York State Health Department.[21]
Rent played on Broadway at theNederlander Theatre from its debut in April 1996 until September 7, 2008.[22] It is the12th longest running show in Broadway history. In addition, it has toured throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, China, Singapore, Philippines, Mexico, Germany, Poland, and throughout Europe, as well as in other locations. Afilm version ofRent was released in 2005.
After his death, Larson's family and friends started theJonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation to provide monetary grants to artists, especially musical theatre composers and writers, to support their creative work. The Jonathan Larson Grants are now administered by theAmerican Theatre Wing, thanks to an endowment funded by the Foundation and the Larson Family.[23]
Hissemi-autobiographical musicalTick, Tick... Boom! premieredoff-Broadway in May 2001, toured the United States in 2003, and premiered in London in May 2005. The show was later revived in London'sWest End in May 2009 and twice off-Broadway in June 2014 and October 2016.[24]
In December 2003, Larson's work was given to theLibrary of Congress. The collection includes numerous musicals, revues, cabarets, pop songs, dance and video projects – both produced and un-produced.[25]
Less than three years afterRent closed on Broadway, the show was revived off-Broadway at Stage 1 ofNew World Stages just outside theTheater District. The show was directed by Michael Greif, who had directed the original productions. The show began previews on July 14, 2011, and opened August 11, 2011.
From October 9 to 14, 2018,Feinstein's/54 Below presentedThe Jonathan Larson Project, a concert of several previously unheard songs by Larson. The show was conceived and directed by Jennifer Ashley Tepper. It starredGeorge Salazar,Lauren Marcus,Andy Mientus,Krysta Rodriguez, and Nick Blaemire. A CD of the show was released by Ghostlight Records in April 2019.[26][27] A full off-Broadway version of the project will open at theOrpheum Theatre on March 10, 2025, with previews set to begin February 14.[28]
Jonathan is portrayed by actorAndrew Garfield in the biographical musical dramaTick, Tick... Boom! which was released on the streaming serviceNetflix on November 19, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with high praise for directorLin-Manuel Miranda’s direction in his directorial debut, score, and musical sequences, and Garfield's performance garnering universal acclaim. It was named one of the best films of 2021 by theAmerican Film Institute, and earned Garfield theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy as well as Best Lead Actor nominations for theAcademy Award,Screen Actors Guild Award andCritics Choice Movie Award.
In memory of Larson, in 1996, the Larson family along with theJonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation established an award honoring emerging musical theater writers and composers.[29] In 2008, theAmerican Theatre Wing adopted and continued on the legacy through the Jonathan Larson Grants, an unrestricted cash gift to aid in the creative endeavors of the writers and promote their work.[23] Notable winners of the grant includeDave Malloy,Laurence O'Keefe,Nell Benjamin,Amanda Green,Joe Iconis,Pasek and Paul,Shaina Taub andMichael R. Jackson.
In college, Larson dated Victoria Leacock.[30] He also dated a dancer for four years who sometimes left him for other men, though she eventually left him for a woman. These experiences influenced the autobiographical aspects ofRent.
Larson lived and died in aloft with no heat on the fourth floor of 508 Greenwich Street, on the corner ofGreenwich Street andSpring Street inLower Manhattan. He lived with various roommates over the years, including Greg Beals, a journalist forNewsweek magazine and the brother of actressJennifer Beals. For a while, he and his roommates kept an illegalwood-burning stove because of lack of heat in their building.
From the spring of 1985, when he was 25 years old, Larson worked weekends as a waiter at theMoondance Diner, while working on composing and writing musicals during the week. Many people came to the diner to meet Larson. He was involved in writing the employee manual.[31]Jesse L. Martin worked as Larson's waiting trainee at the diner; Martin later performed the role of Tom Collins in the original cast ofRent. Larson quit the diner on October 21, 1995, asRent was being produced by theNew York Theatre Workshop.
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Pulitzer Prize | Drama | Rent | Won |
| Tony Award | Best Book of a Musical | Won | ||
| Best Musical | Won | |||
| Best Original Score | Won | |||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Won | ||
| Outstanding Music | Won | |||
| Outstanding Lyrics | Won | |||
| New York Drama Critics' Circle | Best Musical | Won | ||
| 2002 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Tick, Tick... Boom! | Nominated |
| Outstanding Music | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Lyrics | Nominated |
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