No day but today: A brief overview on Johnathan Larson.

         

                No day but today: A brief overview on Johnathan Larson.

                      Johnathan Larson created groundbreaking stuff.

     He single-handedly recreated Broadway for young adults by writing musicals for that audience. He even inspired the young Lin-Manuel Miranda, who went on to create In the Heights and Hamilton, both of which are generation-defying musicals. 

           Johnathan always had a musical life. He was born in 1960, on February fourth. When he was in school, he sang in the choir and played piano. His musical influences included Elton John, The Who, Billy Joel, and Stephen Sundheim (The guy who helped make West Side Story)  

        Skipping ahead to 1983, we meet Johnathan while he is trying to write a new musical... 'Superbia.' It didn't land. It was apparently, it was "Too expensive for Off-Broadway, too weird for Broadway." (Although, it sounds pretty epic in my opinion. It's a sci-fi thing. and I don't know how to explain it well.)

         

        Skipping again to 1991, after having several of his musicals rejected, Johnathan finished his musical 'Tick...Tick... BOOM!', an autobiographic musical told from the point of view of a young artist (Named Johnathan), on the verge of turning 30. (Personal note: One of my favorite musicals, it's extremely well done.)

        Skipping one last time to 1996, the year the big guy came out: Rent. 

            Rent was his last musical. He died the day after the last dress rehearsal, at age 35. He died from an aortic dissection from (believed to be) undiagnosed Marfan Syndrome. He was having dizziness, chest pain, and shortness of breath for several days. He went to the emergency room twice, and both times they found nothing. They just said it was both stress and influenza. It was ten days before his 36th birthday, on January 25th, 1996. 

            His story is a sad one, but one that (thankfully) lives on today through new recreations of his musicals. (The latest being Tick...Tick...BOOM! Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.) He died young, but he did so much within his short life. He literally changed Broadway for the better. Without Rent and Tick...Tick... BOOM!, we wouldn't have Hamilton or In The Heights. Let's just take a moment to thank him, can we?