2/19/2024 0 Comments Jonathan larson movieBut hindsight is 20/20-we can certainly thank him now for his work in shaping the musical theater we see today. The film shows that this is exactly why Larson’s show was never picked up-very few people had the vision to get behind his concepts. To create a show that combined the traditional tunes of musicals with the energy of rock was certainly groundbreaking. But during Larson’s time, he was deeply underappreciated. This is a common descriptor among the kinds of shows that get produced in today’s musical theater industry. One large example of this would be a production put on just a few shows after “RENT”-that of “Next to Normal” from the mind of Tom Kitt, another show proclaimed to be a rock musical. But much more broadly, it’s easy to see the continued influence that Larson has had on the kinds of shows we put on here. Most directly, “RENT” was put on by our musical theater group, the CWRU Footlighters, in April 2011. This impact has certainly found its way to Case Western Reserve University as well. On the morning of “RENT”’s off-Broadway premiere, the composer tragically passed due to an aortic dissection-he would never get to see the full success of the show and its lasting impact on the musical theater industry. However, like many other artists, Larson’s fame only came after his death. Tragically, nobody ever ends up actually biting the bullet and producing his show, leading the real-life Larson to dive into the work that would eventually actually make him famous-“tick, tick… BOOM!” and, of course, “RENT,” as the epilogue of the film’s commentary notes. Larson navigates these stressors whilst the reality of the AIDS epidemic hangs in the air, affecting many of his close friends. His girlfriend Susan wants him to give up his scrimping lifestyle, though, as she has been offered a long-term position in the Berkshires and asks Jonathan to accompany her. His lack of success might be short-lived, however, with his upcoming work, “SUPERBIA,” a futuristic, genre-defying piece that has been in the works for eight years. The great Broadway composers who came before him, like the legendary Stephen Sondheim, had found great success well before this age, according to Larson. The film itself depicts the week or so of the composer’s life before his 30th birthday. This skepticism of his qualifications, along with other starry additions to the cast such as Vanessa Hudgens and Bradley Whitford, only drew more viewers in, making the movie a great success when it released in theaters and on Netflix in November 2021. Many felt that this was coming from left field-though he has a rich theatrical background, having recently won a Tony Award, Garfield had never been seen in a musical before. However, when this movie was announced to be produced by Netflix with the famed, fan-favorite Lin-Manuel Miranda as its director (with Miranda also making a quick cameo in the film), more people than ever knew about “tick, tick… BOOM!” Talk about the movie grew when its leading man was chosen: Andrew Garfield. A cult classic, “tick, tick… BOOM!” is a semi-autobiographical testimonial to what it takes to be a starving artist, with Larson typifying this portrait. Before this year, even those who would consider themselves musical connoisseurs of the most obscure Broadway shows knew very little about “tick, tick… BOOM!”-other than the fact that it was one of the only other major shows that the “RENT” creator ever wrote. Unless they’re a major theater nerd or have fallen in love with the radical rock revolution that is “RENT,” a reference to Larson is likely to draw a blank for most. Jonathan Larson isn’t a name that a lot of people have heard of.
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