Jonathan Larson Poet, playwright, composer and librettist. Date of Birth: 04.02.1960 Country: USA

Biography of Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson was a poet, playwright, composer, and librettist. Born on February 4, 1960, in Mount Vernon, New York, his parents had no connection to musical theater but they loved musicals, so popular show tunes were constantly playing in their home. Larson started taking piano lessons while still in elementary school, where his ability to easily pick up melodies by ear was discovered. He also played in the school band, where he learned to play the trumpet, and performed in amateur theater, playing lead roles in classic musicals.
Early Life and Education

Jonathan Larson was born on February 4, 1960, in Mount Vernon, New York. His parents had no connection to musical theater but they loved musicals, so popular show tunes were constantly playing in their home. Larson started taking piano lessons while still in elementary school, where his ability to easily pick up melodies by ear was discovered. He also played in the school band, where he learned to play the trumpet, and performed in amateur theater, playing lead roles in classic musicals. In 1978, Larson enrolled in the conservatory at Adelphi University, where he graduated with honors in 1982 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. During his time at university, Larson and his classmates composed several political satirical sketches, known as "cabarets," which mocked Reaganomics, the new Christian right, and the mind-numbing influence of television. This was also the period when Larson worked on his first major composition – the musical "Libro de Buen Amor," with a libretto written by the academy director Jacques Burdick. Larson was heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Police, Prince, as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar." Larson's librettist inspirations included Bertolt Brecht, Peter Brook, and Stephen Sondheim. He corresponded with Sondheim, a prominent American playwright, poet, and composer, in the final year of his studies at the conservatory, and Mr. Sondheim became a mentor to the young author. In his first letter to Sondheim, Larson wrote that he had a dilemma: he loved acting and writing music but didn't know what to focus on. The living legend advised Jonathan to become a composer, as "there are plenty of unemployed actors, but there are no unemployed composers." Unfortunately, Larson's short life showed that unemployed composers do exist.
Early Career

After graduating from the conservatory, Larson rented a tiny one-room apartment without heating in Manhattan and began searching for work. He attended auditions, performed in a nightclub, and worked as a waiter at the "Moondance Diner" on weekends. Larson had no luck with theater. In 1982, he wrote a musical based on George Orwell's novel "1984" and sought permission from the author's heirs to stage it. When his request was denied, he reworked the plot and lyrics into an original musical called "SUPERBIA." The show told the story of a young man with a music box who unsuccessfully tries to awaken an emotionally hardened society. Larson worked on this musical for over five years. During this time, he was elected to the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Dramatists Guild, and won the first Richard Rodgers Grant. The money was used to distribute copies of the "SUPERBIA" score to dozens of regional theaters and organize a reading of the play at the "Playwrights Horizons" theater. However, a full production of "SUPERBIA" never materialized. Larson also struggled to stage his second play, "tick, tick… BOOM!," written in 1990. This autobiographical one-man show, for which, in Larson's own words, "no scenery, no costumes, no actors are needed. Just me, a piano, and a musical ensemble," was inspired by the work of Eric Bogosian and his own bitter life experiences.
Success with "RENT"

In 1989, playwright Billy Aronson approached Larson with a proposal to adapt Giacomo Puccini's opera "La Bohème" to the realities of contemporary New York City. Larson came up with the evocative title "RENT" and wrote three songs to Aronson's lyrics, but ultimately decided not to collaborate further. Only in 1991, after three of his friends were diagnosed with AIDS, did Larson remember Aronson's proposal. By that time, Aronson had lost interest in the project and gladly handed it over to Larson. The original libretto underwent significant changes, transforming the one-man show into a three-actor production with two men and one woman. Larson also made it more closely reflect his own life experiences. The musical was directed by Scott Schwartz, a young director. The Larson family established the Jonathan Larson Foundation with the proceeds from "RENT," aiming to support aspiring authors and actors.
Tragic Death and Legacy

On January 25, 1996, just days before his 36th birthday, Jonathan Larson unexpectedly passed away due to an undetected aortic aneurysm. His death occurred shortly after the final dress rehearsal of "RENT." Larson's parents agreed to hold the first preview performance of the musical as planned, on January 25, 1996, in his memory. The musical began with the song "Seasons of Love," and the first act consisted of actors simply sitting on tables, which were part of the set, while singing the songs. The second act proceeded as originally intended. On February 13, after two weeks of preview performances, "RENT" officially opened to critical acclaim. The show sold out quickly, prompting a move to a larger Broadway theater. The show premiered at the Nederlander Theatre on April 29. Since then, the musical has been running continuously. Over the past decade, "RENT" has been performed in several countries, embarked on four North American tours, and was adapted into a film in 2005. The show has won three Tony Awards for 1996, including Best Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The success of "RENT" also brought attention to Larson's other works. In 2001, aspiring producer Jeffrey Seller noticed "tick, tick... BOOM!" and staged an off-Broadway production. The original libretto underwent significant changes, transforming the one-man show into a three-actor production with two men and one woman. Larson's family established the Jonathan Larson Foundation with the proceeds from "RENT," aiming to support aspiring authors and actors. In October 2006, the Library of Congress accepted Larson's archive, which includes early drafts of all his works, demo recordings by Larson himself, and his letters to friends and patrons, for preservation.