Illustration by Emrakel Aman

After ending its Off-Broadway run in March 2025, The Jonathan Larson Project has been reimagined for UK audiences and is set to open in July for its London premiere at The Southwark Playhouse Borough.

The Jonathan Larson Project tells the story of a young man living in New York with dreams of changing the world, and it features some of the lesser-known music of Tony winning composer Jonathan Larson. 

Larson tragically passed away from an aortic dissection at the age of 35,  just hours before his debut musical RENT opened on Broadway. The Jonathan Larson Project’s London premiere marks 30 years since his death.In those 30 years, Larson’s legacy as a musical theatre change maker has been solidified.

Readers may be familiar with RENT, or at least the song ‘Seasons of Love’; which has become one of the most well-known numbers in the musical theatre canon since it was first heard by audiences in 1996, with 135 million streams on Spotify. RENT won three Tony awards, ran for 12 years on Broadway and was adapted for screen in 2005.

The impact and success of Larson’s work was unprecedented in the 90s as the music of RENT was completely unique to what was on Broadway at the time. It had a new pop-rock sound that contrasted with the likes of Sondheim. This contemporary style can be felt and heard in the music of many of Larson’s successors and has taken over the current musical theatre canon.

Jonathan Larson also broke boundaries by focusing on socially relevant themes in his work. Rent and Tick…Tick…Boom!  follow stories about the AIDs epidemic, multiculturalism and gentrification. He featured LGBTQ characters and characters of colour and gave them all compelling lives beyond their sexuality, gender identity or race.This is why Larson’s work still resonates with audiences today. He celebrated diverse stories and the process of creating.

The Jonathan Larson Grant was established in 1997 to invest in emerging composers and their work. This continues a lineage of mentorship, which began with the relationship between Larson and Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods, West Side Story) where Sondheim assisted Larson in getting his first agent. 

Today, several big-name composers refer to Larson as one of their inspirations. For example, Lin Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) says watching both RENT and Tick…Tick…Boom! inspired him to make the move from performing to writing and composing.

In an age of AI generated art, Larson’s work is a refreshing celebration of creativity and the act of creating. He gave voices to outcasts and marginalized communities, something which, 30 years on from his passing, is certainly worth remembering.

Tickets are already on sale on The Southwark Playhouse Borough’s website for the show’s run, from 9 July to 22 August.