February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996
Jonathan Larson
The composer who gave Broadway a rock and roll heart. He wrote Rent, changed musical theater forever, and never lived to see opening night.
His story
Jonathan David Larson grew up in White Plains, New York, fell in love with music and theater early, and studied acting at Adelphi University on a drama scholarship. After graduation he traded acting for songwriting and moved to Greenwich Village with almost no money, waiting tables at the Moondance Diner in SoHo while writing musicals in every spare hour. One of his trainee waiters was a young Jesse L. Martin, who would later originate the role of Tom Collins in Rent.
For over a decade Larson wrote in near obscurity. His dystopian rock musical Superbia won a Richard Rodgers development grant but never got a full production. His autobiographical rock monologue about turning 30 became Tick, Tick... Boom!, which he performed himself at tiny downtown venues. The legendary Stephen Sondheim heard his work, became a mentor, and championed him when almost nobody else would.
Then came Rent. Built with playwright Billy Aronson from the bones of Puccini's La Boheme and Larson's own life in an unheated East Village loft, it followed a year in the life of young artists measuring their lives in love. After years of workshops, Rent was set to begin Off-Broadway previews in January 1996. On January 25, the day before the first preview, Jonathan Larson died suddenly of an aortic dissection. He was 35. The show went on anyway, transferred to Broadway that April, ran for 12 years, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and made him immortal.
Videos
Watch the work.
The trailer that introduced a new generation, and the songs the world sings back.
tick, tick...BOOM! · Official trailer
Netflix, 2021. Andrew Garfield plays Larson in Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut, telling the story of the years before Rent.
The original cast reunites
Idina Menzel and the original Broadway cast, singing Seasons of Love together again (2020).
La Vie Bohème
The full-company toast to the bohemian life, exactly as Larson wrote it: loud, joyful, defiant.
Seasons of Love, stripped down
Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, two original voices, no spectacle. Nearly 30 years later, it still lands.
The music
Press play.
Four essential Larson songs. Pick one, turn it up.
Now playing
Seasons of Love
Original Broadway cast recording, 1996. 525,600 minutes, measured in love.
In his own words
What Larson said.
"The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation."
Jonathan Larson
"No day but today."
From Rent, the line he lived by
"I want to be the sort of person who makes a difference in people's lives through music."
Jonathan Larson, on why he wrote
Inspiration
What he taught us.
Twelve years of obscurity, one night of tragedy, and a legacy that outlived him by decades. Here is what his life says.
Lesson 01
Write through the obscurity.
Larson waited tables for a decade while writing musicals nobody produced. He kept writing anyway. The work was the point before anyone was watching.
Lesson 02
Write what you know, then make it sing.
Rent came from his unheated loft, his friends, his neighborhood. He turned his actual life into art without sanding off the edges.
Lesson 03
Find your Sondheim.
One mentor who believes in you changes everything. Larson had Sondheim. Be worth believing in, and be the believer for someone else.
Lesson 04
Measure in love.
Seasons of Love asks how you measure a year. His answer: not in money or fame, in love. Put that on everything you make.
Lesson 05
No day but today.
He wrote the line, then lived the shortest version of it. Nobody is promised opening night. Do the thing now.
Lesson 06
The show goes on.
He died the night before previews. His friends performed anyway, and the work carried them all. Make things that outlive you.
Timeline
Thirty-five years.
Born February 4 in Mount Vernon, New York, and raised in White Plains. Music and theater from the start.
Graduates from Adelphi University, moves to Greenwich Village, starts waiting tables at the Moondance Diner and writing musicals at night.
Writes Superbia, a futuristic rock musical. It wins a Richard Rodgers grant but never gets a full production. He keeps going.
Performs his autobiographical rock monologue about turning 30. It becomes Tick, Tick... Boom!
Starts building Rent with Billy Aronson from La Boheme and his own East Village life. Workshops and readings through the early 90s.
January 25: dies of an aortic dissection at 35, the day before Rent's first preview. The show opens anyway, moves to Broadway in April, and runs 12 years.
Posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score.
Rent becomes a film, carrying his songs to a whole new audience.
Tick, Tick... Boom! becomes a Netflix film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with Andrew Garfield as Larson.
Images
Jonathan, on film.
The man, and the show that carried him.
His works
What he left us.
Three musicals, one legacy.
Rent
The rock musical that changed Broadway. Pulitzer Prize, 4 Tonys, 12 years on Broadway.
Read more →Tick, Tick... Boom!
His autobiographical rock monologue about turning 30. Now a Netflix film.
Read more →His full story
Superbia, Sesame Street songs, the Sondheim mentorship, and everything in between.
Read more →