REVIEW: ‘The Jonathan Larson Project’ is a fitting tribute to a beloved composer
Photo: The Jonathan Larson Project features, from left, Jason Tam, Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus and Adam Chanler-Berat. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by press rep with permission.
NEW YORK — When audience members enter the Orpheum Theatre on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for a performance of The Jonathan Larson Project, they are hit with a time-travel feeling, as if they’ve gone back in time 30-40 years, when the neighborhood was less gentrified and artists were creating in any space available. This was the New York of Jonathan Larson, the legendary creator of RENT, which is undoubtedly one of the most important musicals to ever hit the stage.
Larson’s life was tragically cut too short, right before previews began for RENT, which first premiered around the corner from the Orpheum at the New York Theatre Workshop. What Larson left behind, in addition to RENT and his other well-known work tick, tick… BOOM!, were individual songs for a variety of shows, cabarets and concerts. The Jonathan Larson Project, which plays the Orpheum Theatre through Sunday, March 30, gathers these bits and pieces into one 90-minute celebration showcasing the genius of Larson.
The five-person cast consists of Adam Chanler-Berat, Taylor Iman Jones, Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus and Jason Tam. Together they energetically perform a couple dozen songs, many of them quite funny and exuberant, and a few of them heartbreaking and poignant. They never stop to tell the story of Larson’s life; instead, audience members piece together the narrative with helpful screens that are strategically located around the Orpheum’s stage. There is an opening monologue that fills in details on Larson’s untimely death, but other than that, the songs take over the show, and their power remains in the spotlight.
The song cycle began as a concert presentation several years ago, courtesy of Jennifer Ashley Tepper, who conceived the musical. They have clearly added a lot of theatrical flourishes as the piece was developed for a proper off-Broadway run. John Simpkins should be credited for bringing the concept to a larger space, which is decked out with bohemian credibility, almost as if a performance of RENT were about to start. There’s a movable staircase that allows the singers to ascend the heights of the Orpheum, an unusually skinny yet high theater that was the former home of STOMP for decades. Other times the cast members add a few costume accoutrement to help build a character for a particular song or sequence.
The cast is uniformly excellent in how they interpret these tunes. Chanler-Berat is a beloved Broadway actor who is solid in his several musical numbers. If there’s ever a revival of Larson’s tick, tick… BOOM!, he would be a good bet for the deliverer of that musical monologue. Jones is powerful in voice and has some of the best numbers of the evening, shaking the walls of the Orpheum with her impressive vocal range. Marcus, Mientus and Tam each has time to shine in the spotlight with songs that balance between hilarious and touching, and the duet and group numbers are particularly enjoyable. A lot is accomplished from a relatively small cast, who is aided by a stellar band that sits just out of eyesight at the back of the stage.
The Jonathan Larson Project perfectly displays Larson’s skills as a composer and lyricist. His songs are catchy and difficult to forget. They straddle the line between simple and complex, with mini-stories to be told and choruses that prove addictive. “Greene Street” is a clever opener to the musical. “Out of My Dreams” is a rare pop song that Larson wrote and is given an excellent, rousing interpretation. Several of the tunes are also socially conscious, and the messages still hold up today. This is most evident in “White Male World.” There are even a couple songs cut from Larson’s other musicals, and “Find the Key” is an excellent example of a B-side that may not have worked in tick, tick… BOOM! but certainly has value here.
With this show, theatergoers can travel back in time to a New York City that was a little grungier and a whole lot more bohemian, to a Lower East Side that adopted and developed artists who wanted to create something new, and a man who left behind a treasure trove of work and was taken too soon from the world of theater. The Jonathan Larson Project, with only a few more days left, is an off-Broadway highlight of 2025.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Jonathan Larson Project, with music and lyrics by Larson, was conceived by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and directed by John Simpkins. Starring Adam Chanler-Berat, Taylor Iman Jones, Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus and Jason Tam. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission. Until Sunday, March 30, at the Orpheum Theatre in Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
