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Rent Composer Jonathan Larson Being Celebrated on Two Stages
February 23, 2025, 8:45.06 pm ET

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Photo: Jonathan Larson

One of musical theater’s true geniuses, composer-lyricist Jonathan Larson, who died suddenly at the age of 35 in 1996, is being celebrated on two NYC stages.

The world premiere new musical “The Jonathan Larson Project” has recently begun its 16-week engagement Orpheum Theatre (126 Second Avenue.) Conceived by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and directed by John Simpkins, the 90-minute show features more than 20 undiscovered, unheard, and unfinished songs by the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning writer. The five-person cast features Broadway stars Adam Chanler-Berat, Taylor Iman Jones, Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus and Jason Tam.

Meanwhile, James Nicola, the award-winning former artistic director of New York Theater Workshop -- where Rent was workshopped -- leads the powerful Lyrics & Lyricists show “Louder Than Words: The Songs and Legacy of Jonathan Larson,” playing March 1-3 at the 92NY (1395 Lexington Avenue). Nicola will share the stories only he can tell, while a cast of five (led by Adam Kantor and L. Morgan Lee) performs songs from “Rent,” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!” among others. Special guests will also appear at each show, include Tony Award winners Michael R. Jackson and Shaina Taub.



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