Opinion: Why Jonathan Larson had such an extraordinary impact on theatre

The composer's legacy is evident not just in the West End revival of RENT and celebration The Jonathan Larson Project, but in numerous other musicals.

Summary

• Composer Jonathan Larson premiered his musical RENT 30 years ago and also tragically died aged 35
• His legacy is evident in the contemporary sound of musical theatre
• Larson also told modern stories drawn from life and tackled urgent issues

It is 30 years since rock musical RENT made its explosive Broadway debut – and also since its genius creator, Jonathan Larson, tragically died at the age of just 35. The range of his work and his prodigious creativity are brilliantly commemorated in the show The Jonathan Larson Project at Southwark Playhouse, while the milestone anniversary of RENT is being marked with a major West End revival.

But Larson also lives on through the work he influenced, and how he reshaped musical theatre as a thriving contemporary art form featuring different voices and styles, and inspiring new audiences. Thirty years on, his legacy is certainly assured.

Book RENT tickets and The Jonathan Larson Project tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Musical theatre can embrace a modern sound

While Larson wasn’t the first composer to write a musical with a rock score (Andrew Lloyd Webber is among his predecessors, with shows like Jesus Christ Superstar), his work was extraordinary in revitalising the form with an urgently contemporary sound. RENT, a modern reworking of Puccini’s opera La bohème, is so unmistakably 1990s: it’s alt-rock, grunge and punk-pop, alongside purposeful glimpses of tango and gospel. “No day but today” goes one lyric from the show – and RENT sounds like today.

That was a seismic change from musical theatre at the time, and it electrified audiences – especially young audiences, who connected deeply with the pulse-pounding score. Nowadays, we’re used to musicals with a pop or rock sound, reflecting our tastes beyond the theatre: everything from SIX and Hamilton to Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, American Idiot, and Dear Evan Hansen.

As RENT returns to the West End, it’s amazing how modern and authentic it still sounds. Larson’s artistic revolution is also ongoing, helping to ensure that musical theatre has the freedom to explore numerous different genres, the creative space to grow, and, crucially, that it connects with each new generation of theatregoers.

Contemporary stories can be told on stage

We might not have Lin-Manuel Miranda’s incredible, multi-award-winning musicals if it weren’t for Larson. Miranda has recalled how his mind was blown by RENT (which he first saw when he was 17) because it spoke to him so directly, and made him realise that you could tell a contemporary and personal story in a stage musical. Two years later, he started writing In the Heights, which also features a community battling gentrification and a modern score, and is partly drawn from Miranda’s own experience.

Both tick, tick…BOOM! and RENT are drawn from life. The former features a very direct analogue for Larson: the aspiring composer Jon, who is pondering his difficult career choice and the sacrifices required to pursue his dream. The latter has a looser self-portrait (the documentary filmmaker Mark) and is partly inspired by Larson’s own life in New York's East Village, his group of bohemian artist friends, and the struggles of people he knew in the LGBTQ+ community, including the devastation of AIDS.

So many musicals have since told contemporary stories, from Miranda’s In the Heights to Fun Home, A Strange Loop, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, The Last Five Years, and The Little Big Things. That has helped musical theatre to continue to feel relevant to audiences, expand the types of stories we tell, and centre this art form in vital conversations about the way we live now.

Musicals should platform diverse characters and performers

Larson’s RENT didn’t just sound modern: it featured characters who reflected modern society, and who were grappling with very modern issues. That felt incredibly radical to audiences in 1996, and is still a vital facet of this show within today’s theatre landscape and our wider society, since many of those issues are still extremely pertinent.

RENT’s characters cover a wide range of sexualities, gender identities, racial backgrounds, and socioeconomic circumstances – everyone from young drag queen Angel to queer performance artist Maureen. It’s remarkable in the breadth and depth of its representation. The show also tackles everything from gentrification, poverty, and homelessness to addiction, gender expression, struggling artists, found family, and political protest. It is, at heart, about young people wanting to change the world, which is why it still strikes such a powerful chord.

This facet of Larson's legacy is present in the similarly impactful musicals which likewise feature characters who aren’t always given fair representation on stage, and productions that platform exciting artists reflecting a similar diversity. We can see elements of that in everything from In the Heights and Fun Home to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, as well as improvements in diverse casting across numerous shows.

Musical theatre is stronger for such inclusion – more dynamic, wide-ranging, empathetic, and creatively turbo-charged – and it connects even more with audiences, especially those who haven’t felt represented on stage before. That is one of the many gifts which Larson left to us, and to theatre.

Book RENT tickets and The Jonathan Larson Project tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Main photo credit: The Jonathan Larson Project (Photo by Danny Kaan). Inset: RENT (Photos by Pamela Raith, Ray Mickshaw/FOX, courtesy of the film)