Proof that even Jonathan Larson’s cutting-room floor is more electric than most writers’ final drafts.
With a major new production of Rent heading to the West End, the arrival of The Jonathan Larson Project at the Southwark Playhouse Borough couldn’t be better timed. For musical theatre devotees, this revue-style song cycle offers a rare, invaluable window into the creative mind of a man who permanently reshaped the landscape of modern musical theatre.
Do not expect a traditional book musical here. The show features no overarching narrative and zero dialogue, save for some deeply poignant news clippings detailing Larson’s tragic, untimely death just hours before the first preview of Rent. Instead, the evening operates as a highly stylized theatrical concert, presenting songs as if you have dropped mid-scene into a dozen different stories already in motion. While this lack of narrative tissue can take a few numbers to get used to, leaning into the show’s identity as a polished, high-energy revue is the key to unlocking its charm.
Directorially, the show is a whirlwind. The staging is remarkably clever and inventive, relying on an incredible array of moving set pieces constantly rearranged by the cast. At times, the staging crosses the line into the hyperactive, as if the production suffered from a frantic fear that a single moment of stillness might lose the audience. However, this restless energy generally works in the show’s favor, providing dynamic physical levels and keeping the momentum high.
The cast is universally excellent with Imelda Warren Green being an absolute highlight. She steals the spotlight with two starkly different numbers. She delivers a bizarre, hilarious, and brilliantly manic comedic performance on the eccentric track “Hosing the Furniture.” She also gives a charming, emotionally grounded performance for “Break Out the Booze.” These tracks are particularly thrilling because they sound so wildly different from the driving, angsty rock-pop we typically associate with Larson, injecting some much-needed variety into the setlist.
Because the creators were understandably limited to Larson’s unproduced, cut, or rediscovered archives, the material itself is a bit of a mixed bag. Without the curation Larson would have done himself, several songs start to sound a little samey, and it is occasionally obvious why certain numbers originally ended up on the cutting room floor. A few tracks suffer from clunky lyricism and a heavy dose of corny, late-80s/early-90s earnestness. Yet, for theatre history buffs, these flaws are precisely what make the show so fascinating. You can practically draw a straight line from these unpolished, earnest drafts to the highly acclaimed, sophisticated anthems he would later pen for Tick, Tick… Boom! and Rent.
To get the most out of The Jonathan Larson Project, a working knowledge of Larson’s later work is highly recommended. If you walked in cold, treating these as standalone songs by an anonymous writer, you’d likely think the composer had raw potential but hadn’t quite “arrived” yet. But with the context of where Larson’s journey ultimately ended, this show becomes a beautiful, vital piece of preservation. It is a thrilling, bittersweet look at a genius finding his voice.
The Jonathan Larson project is playing at the Southwark Playhouse Borough until 22nd August.