Jonathan Larson
Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals Rent and Tick, Tick... Boom!, which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, substance use disorder, and homophobia. He received three posthumous Tony Awards and a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Rent.
For the American journalist, see Jonathan Larsen.
Jonathan Larson
Jonathan David Larson
February 4, 1960
White Plains, New York, U.S.
January 25, 1996
New York City, U.S.
- Composer
- lyricist
- playwright
1982–1996
- Rent (1996)
- Tick, Tick... Boom! (2001)
- Superbia (not officially published)
Early years[edit]
Larson was born in Mt. Vernon, New York to Nanette (née Notarius)[1] and Allan Larson[2] of White Plains, New York, on February 4, 1960.[3] His family was Jewish.[4] His grandfather, Bernard Isaac Lazarson, who was born in Russia, changed the family surname from Lazarson.[5] 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 included Elton John, The Doors, The Who, and Billy Joel, as well as the classic composers of musical theatre, especially Stephen Sondheim. He also loved Pete Townshend, The Police, Prince, Liz Phair, and The Beatles.[6] Larson attended White Plains High School, where he was also involved in acting, performing in lead roles in various productions, graduating in 1978.[7] He had a sister, Julie.
Larson attended Adelphi University in Garden 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 a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Larson stopped acting to focus on compositions. During his college years, he began music composition, composing music first for small student productions, called cabarets, and later the score to a musical entitled The Book of Good Love (Libro de Buen Amor), written by the department head, Jacques Burdick, who was also Larson's college mentor.
As a student at Adelphi University, Larson co-wrote Sacrimmoralinority, a Brechtian-themed cabaret musical and his first musical, with David Glenn Armstrong. It was first staged at Adelphi University in the winter of 1981. After Larson and Armstrong graduated in 1982, they renamed it Saved! - 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 from ASCAP.
After graduating, Larson participated in a summer stock theatre program at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan, as a piano player, which resulted in his earning an Equity card for membership in the Actors' Equity Association.
Death[edit]
Larson died at his home in the early morning of January 25, 1996, at age 35, the day before the first Off-Broadway preview performance of Rent. An autopsy determined Larson died from an aortic dissection.[20] His body was found on the kitchen floor by his roommate at 3AM.[15] Larson had been suffering severe chest pains, dizziness, and shortness of breath for several days before his death, but doctors at Cabrini Medical Center and St. Vincent's Hospital could not find signs of an aortic dissection even after conducting a chest X-ray and electrocardiogram, so his condition was misdiagnosed as influenza or stress.[20] A court found that Larson "was misdiagnosed at both hospitals"[19] and a medical malpractice lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. New York State medical investigators concluded that Larson may have lived if the aortic dissection had been properly diagnosed and treated with cardiac surgery.[21][22] It has been speculated that Larson had undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, a claim promoted by the National Marfan Foundation at the urging of the New York State Health Department.[23]
Personal life[edit]
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 of Rent.
Larson lived and died in a loft with no heat on the fifth floor of 508 Greenwich Street, on the corner of Greenwich Street and Spring Street in Lower Manhattan. He lived with various roommates over the years, including Greg Beals, a journalist for Newsweek magazine and the brother of actress Jennifer Beals. For a while, he and his roommates kept an illegal wood-burning stove because of lack of heat in their building.
From the spring of 1985, when he was 25 years old, until October 21, 1995, when he quit since Rent was being produced by the New York Theatre Workshop, Larson worked as a waiter at the Moondance Diner on the weekends and worked 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] At the diner, Larson met Jesse L. Martin, who was his waiting trainee and later performed the role of Tom Collins in the original cast of Larson's Rent.