The Jonathan Larson Project

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 2/15/25 at 11:48am

Did anyone out there catch the first preview?  Curious to hear feedback about this - great cast!

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 2/15/25 at 11:59am

Yeah likewise. I’m curious and I know it’s a weird question but does it have a plot? Is it a story step to JL’s songs. I always try and see something off broadway when I’m in the city and this has me intrigued. 

[Kad]

Posted: 2/15/25 at 1:12pm

I'll be seeing it next Tuesday and report back. My impression is that it's something like Marry Me a Little- a very loose story told through these songs. There doesn't seem to be a credited book writer.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/15/25 at 1:46pm

post on another site:

"My two cents: It’s 90 mins with no intermission (I love the no intermission at shorter shows). It begins with an homage to RENT & Jonathan that instantly pulled me in. The first 30 mins was packed with Larson’s signature wit, charm, and raw emotion.

The middle 30 mins, however, lost a bit of momentum for me. Perhaps the song choice/pace. 🤷‍♂️ It was rough going I thought.

Thankfully, the production found its footing again during the final 25 mins with an absolutely stunning and emotionally charged closing. It was so well done and perfect.

For RENT fans, this show is filled with subtle (and not-so-subtle) RENT-uendos that spark instant nostalgia of my RENThead glory days.

Understudy Jessie Hooker-Bailey was a standout, delivering a breathtaking performance that earned the biggest applause of the night. Lauren Marcus was equally incredible.

If RENT was ever a part of your life, then this is a must-see."

Updated On: 2/15/25 at 01:46 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/15/25 at 6:39pm

Taylor Iman Jones was out of the show Friday the 14th.   Any word on her return to the Saturday show or shows?

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 2/16/25 at 9:19am

From the looks of the cast board in the lobby, last night Jason Tam, Andy Mientus and Lauren Marcus were all out (Taylor was back).  Hope the flu hasn’t taken residence at the Orpheum with such a small cast. 

[Mr. Musical]

Posted: 2/16/25 at 9:34am

OuttaTowner said: "From the looks of the cast board in the lobby, last night Jason Tam, Andy Mientus and Lauren Marcus were all out (Taylor was back). Hope the flu hasn’t taken residence at the Orpheum with such a small cast."

That’s the opposite of what the cast was last night. Taylor & Adam were out. Everyone else was in. Jessie and Gil Bailey were fantastic!

[ashley0139]

Posted: 2/17/25 at 10:10pm

Saw this tonight and have to say I absolutely loved every minute. I would consider it a song cycle, it reminded me of Songs for a New World. Beautiful unheard music from Jonathan. A mix of pop, rock, theatrical, and very emotional. Also makes you think about when he wrote these songs and how absolutely relevant they are today. It’s shocking.

oh and everyone was in tonight and everyone was spectacular, especially Taylor iman jones and Jason tam. Standouts.

absolutely agree it is a must see for any Jonathan Larson fans. 

Updated On: 2/17/25 at 10:10 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 2/19/25 at 10:23am

I saw this last night. I’ll preface my thoughts by saying I’m not really the ideal audience for this, as I’m not a big fan of song cycles or revues, nor am I totally onboard with the devout mythologizing of Jonathan Larson.

The show is collection of songs Larson wrote for various purposes: cabarets, contests, pop songs, revues, minor musicals, etc. from his early 20s to early 30s. There are single cut songs from tick tick boom, Superbia, and 1984, but that’s really all representing his major musical projects. There’s a comprehensive note included in the program breaking down the history of each song, which is super helpful. 
 

There’s no real plot- a framing device of friends getting together is introduced at the start but then abruptly gets dropped after about twenty minutes and is never revisited. I think the ordering of the songs is a bit incoherent, giving the show a jerky kind of flow. For example, we move from what seems to be a slice of life of friends in modern NY into a lengthy sequence of Larson’s political satire, with no real segue or transition. This sequence is probably the show’s weakest- while it’s good that Larson’s politics are put forward, and some of his work in that area is certainly prescient and remains timely, these songs are just not great. They’re clapter-inducing, and putting them back to back is kind of exhausting. After this sequence, we abruptly move back to the more character-driven songs, and then into a saccharine finale. It’s just kind of a jagged show in its construction. The show shines when the performers are given the opportunity to use the songs to create insightful, specific characterization. 
 

And the performers are all wonderful. The voices, the energy, the commitment all elevate the material. Andy Mientus stood out to me the most, as he seemed to have the most clearly defined track and he gets some of the strongest songs in the show. Taylor Iman Jones brings down the house with her vocals, unsurprisingly, but I do wish she had a real 11 o’clock barn burner to showcase her talent. Adam Chandler Berat seems to be styled like Larson and the show gestures toward him being a stand-in for him, but that never really gets explored. Lauren Marcus gets a more comedic track and is very funny with her numbers. Jason Tam sounds wonderful but his track is the least defined and lacks strong showcase moments, which is a shame! 
 

The production looks great- there’s some beautiful stage imagery and lighting, the staging is consistently inventive, and the show clips along briskly.

The songs themselves are a real mixed bag here. Some are clearly the work of a very young talent and I would have to imagine an older Larson being a little embarrassed by them. There are some gems, but there’s a lot of just middling material and some really minor work that makes one question why you’d want to showcase it in a full production.  There isn’t a real coherent idea here- we aren’t tracking Larson’s growth as a talent before his premature death, or seeing how he developed his work. The show puts focus on his anti-capitalist and progressive politics, which is an interesting facet of who he was as an artist and person, but then it retreats (and, as I mentioned, I thought those songs are generally the weakest). It includes some fairly dark songs touching on themes of abuse, suicide, and fear, but then pulls back to the safety of anodyne songs about love healing. It opens and closes with video montages of Larson’s life, which I found to be a little cheaply sentimental. It just feels so reverent that it kind of obfuscates the real man.
 

So, yeah. Mixed feelings, overall. It’s a good production with great performances, and I suppose as a curio cabinet and testament to what we lost when he died, it works. But I can’t help but feel that we lost sight of Larson himself in the project to canonize him.