A bright, brilliant talent cut short by an aortic dissection, Jonathan Larson died thirty years ago on the eve of the first off-Broadway preview of his hit musical Rent. He was just 35, and doctors believe he had undiagnosed Marfan syndrome. The Southwark Playhouse in London is now playing host to The Jonathan Larson Project, a gorgeous collection of Larson's lesser-known, unfinished and previously unheard songs. The Marfan Trust went along and loved it.
On 29 April 1996, Rent opened on Broadway to immediate critical acclaim, eventually winning six Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tragically, its creator was not there to soak up the applause or revel in the praise. Nor could he step onto the stage months later to collect the awards that were so deserved.
During the final frenzied days of rehearsals for the off-Broadway previews in January 1996, Larson collapsed with severe chest pain, dizziness and shortness of breath. Taken to hospital by ambulance, a physician noted: "No cardiac disease ... just finished producing a play ... increased stress." His stomach was pumped, he was given charcoal tablets to absorb toxins and discharged home. Two days later, he returned to the emergency department complaining once again of chest pain. This time he was diagnosed with a viral syndrome and sent home in an "improved" condition.
Pale and visibly exhausted, Larson attended the first full dress rehearsal of Rent on 24 January, speaking to a journalist about the show's inspiration and long seven-year journey to the stage. He returned home that evening and, at 3.30 the following morning - the day of Rent's first off-Broadway preview - was found dead on the floor of his kitchen.
Born in New York in 1960, Jonathan Larson played the tuba as a child before studying acting and eventually turning his hand to composition. He wrote music for theatre, film and television, winning prestigious honours including the Richard Rodgers Production Award and the Stephen Sondheim Award. Yet commercial success remained tantalisingly out of reach.
His 1990 autobiographical musical Tick, Tick... Boom! captures the mounting impatience of its creator as he approaches his thirtieth birthday, juggling love, friendship and a job waiting tables in New York, all while pursuing artistic success before it is too late.. The show was recently adapted into an Oscar-nominated Netflix film starring Andrew Garfield.
Jonathan Larson finally stopped waiting tables during rehearsals for Rent. He never lived to witness the extraordinary success that followed. Variety said "no one else has shown such promise in restoring the theater’s preeminence as a source of popular music." It is thought that the aortic dissection which claimed his life was a manifestation of undiagnosed Marfan syndrome.
Thirty years on, The Jonathan Larson Project resurrects the unfinished and cut songs from Mr Larson's prodigious output, creating a gorgeous revue and ode to a man gone too soon. We went along on 5 August and loved the joyous exuberance that shone from a talent.
