From left: Adam Chanler-Berat, Lauren Marcus, Taylor Iman Jones, Jason Tam, and Andy Mientus star in The Jonathan Larson Project at the Orpheum Theatre.
The Jonathan Larson Project arrives Off-Broadway like a breath of fresh air. Conceived by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and directed by John Simpkins, this musical memorial presents all those unheard pop songs and numbers from unfinished musicals that were left behind when Larson, the beloved creator of Rent, died suddenly at the age of 35 of an aortic dissection.
Jones and Mientus perform in one of the vignettes set in a New York City downtown bar. Photographs by Joan Marcus.
This 90-minute revue is heaven-sent for those fans who thrilled to the dynamic sounds and sights of his ground-breaking 1996 musical. While nothing in The Jonathan Larson Project approaches that masterpiece, one still gets the same driving energy in the music and that rough-around-the-edges look in the 20 sketches comprising this show.
The pre-show is a bit of a tearjerker. Entering the theater, one sees a spotlight on an empty piano at center stage. A video montage (by Alex Basco Koch) from international productions of Rent segues into archival footage that includes a tour of Larson’s apartment, news of his death at the start of Rent at the New York Theatre Workshop, and perhaps most poignantly, Larson’s sister Julie accepting the posthumous Tony Award on his behalf.
The show proper is less sentimental and more intent on exploring Larson’s never-before-heard work and its dominant themes: the struggles of artists, the destruction of the environment, the challenges of relationships, and the two-facedness of political leaders.
Although all the songs in The Jonathan Larson Project were written in the 1980s and 1990s, the world of the show is the present day and is set in multiple places. The most recurring location is the environment of a New York City downtown bar. Michael Schweikardt’s bohemian-like set features an old spinet, bar table and chairs, and bar unit with stools. On an elevated upstage platform is a five-member band.
Tepper wisely lets Larson’s work stand on its own. There’s no narration to explain the underlying meaning of each song or scene: an insert in the program provides each song’s background.
First up is “Greene Street,” an ensemble number with a seize-the-day theme. At first blush, it seems like light fare. But, listening closer to its lyrics, one realizes it has psychological depth, focusing on the dilemma of a single person longing for a meaningful human connection in the big city. What truly sets this song apart is that it begins with an audio recording of Larson singing its first stanza:
Marcus and Tam perform in The Jonathan Larson Project, conceived by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and directed by John Simpkins.
I found the sun
On a midwinter day.
On a back street down in SoHo.
There was snow on the ground
Instinct told me to get out and search for a day.
As Larson’s voice fades out, the talented cast—Adam Chanler-Berat, Taylor Iman Jones, Jason Tam, Andy Mientus, and Lauren Marcus—chime in, offering their various impressions of “sitting on Greene Street” and “watching the world waltz by.” Indeed, the juxtaposition of Larson’s recorded voice and the actors singing live in this vignette make for a transcendent theatrical moment.
The show has other highpoints. Take “One of These Days,” a song that was cut from Larson’s futuristic musical Superbia but quite cleverly captures the reality of being an artist and suffering rejection (“I feel like a mountain climber without the peak”). Performed soulfully by Chanler-Berat, Marcus, Mientus, Jones, and Tam, it perfectly captures the resilience of an artist who has had a setback and must find the strength to move forward.
“The show is intent on exploring Larson’s never-before-heard work.”
Another number, “Valentine’s Day,” cut from Larson’s Prostate of the Union and Rent, was one of Larson’s favorite songs that the composer couldn’t make stick. Larson envisioned it at one point as being sung by the character Mimi in Rent as her backstory (“And I feel like a fool / But I like my men cruel / And I doubt I’ll be cool til I’m dead”). Fiercely performed by Andy with the rest of the cast as backup, it’s a number with razor-sharp edge.
There are only four solo numbers in the show. But “Rhapsody,” a standalone theater song that Larson wrote at age 23, is the one that best captures the difference between the haves and the have-nots. Performed with raw emotion by Chanler-Berat, the song is about a struggling artist tied to a “boring nothing job” who sees his idol George Gershwin as having it easier: (“I love ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ too / It’s just that he was rich when he wrote it”).
The Jonathan Larson Project is a rare opportunity for Larson fans, and completists, to see the visionary composer’s unproduced works performed by top-notch actors. Under Simpkins brisk direction, this show truly takes wing.
The Jonathan Larson Project plays at the Orpheum Theatre (126 Second Ave.) through June 1. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and at 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit thejonathanlarsonproject.com.
Book: Jennifer Ashley Tepper
Music & Lyrics: Jonathan Larson
Direction: John Simpkins
Scenic Design: Michael Schweikardt
Lighting Design: Adam Honoré
Sound Design: Justin Stasiw
Costume Design: Tracy Christensen
Choreography: Byron Easley
Projection Design: Alex Basco Koch
