Jennifer Ashley Tepper's The Jonathan Larson Project will premiere Off-Broadway next month, and its leading players have been assembled! The show begins previews February 14, with opening night set for March 10 at the Orpheum Theatre.
Directed by John Simpkins, the project celebrates the dozens of seldom heard songs, unfinished and unproduced musicals, and pop songs found in files and boxes when the visionary writer of Rent died suddenly at the age of 35 in 1996. Conceived by Tepper, the project features more than 20 previously undiscovered songs by the Pulitzer and Tony winning writer.
The cast will feature Adam Chanler-Berat, Taylor Iman Jones, Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus, and Jason Tam. Both Marcus and Mientus have been with the project since its concert stage.
“The intention throughout our process has been to assemble a cast who in some way share similar experiences and passions around art, love, activism, and humanity to the ones Jonathan was articulating in his work,” said Simpkins. “I am excited and confident that these five bold and powerful artists will provide a window into the piece that both honors and enhances Larson’s legacy and also reflects a contemporary perspective on the material that can be in dialogue with our modern lives.
The Jonathan Larson Project contains songs from unproduced Larson shows, including 1984 and Superbia, as well as songs that were cut from Rent and tick, tick…BOOM!, songs written for theatrical revues and for the radio, and a variety of songs never publicly performed or recorded before The Jonathan Larson Project. The project was originally presented as a concert at 54 Below in Fall 2018 and was released as an album from Ghostlight Records in 2019.
“Jonathan Larson dreamed of revolutionizing musical theatre. Tragically, he wasn't around to see his wildest dreams come true, since he passed away unexpectedly at the age of 35, right before Rent hit,” said Tepper in a previous statement. “Over a decade ago, I began immersing myself in the hundreds of boxes that Jonathan Larson left behind when he died. The hours of cassette tapes of undiscovered songs, piles of scripts that had never been produced, and many personal letters, photos, journals, and more were endlessly inspiring.
“Jonathan's lost songs are political, personal, surprising, galvanizing, relevant, and tell a fascinating new story about a young man following his heart in New York City, trying to change the world. I felt strongly that there was a show to be made from Jonathan's work that had never been heard. I am so thrilled that after many years, The Jonathan Larson Project is finally making its full-scale debut as a stage musical.”
The Jonathan Larson Project will feature music supervision and orchestrations by Charlie Rosen and co-arrangements by Rosen and Natalie Tenenbaum, choreography by Byron Easley, and music direction by Cynthia Meng. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Rachel Hoffman, with general management by Evan Bernardin Productions.
For more information, visit TheJonathanLarsonProject.com.
