We Begin
It took seven years to take Rent from its diea to its previews, and the thing to know about Jonathan Larson is that the week before the first preview at New York Theatre Workshop, when Jon felt the first thump of the aortic aneurysm that would carry him away, he was laughing. Silently. He was laughing on the inside. Director Michael Greif and the cast were rehearsing the song "What You Own" (the lyrics are about dying at the end of the millennium) when Jon collapsed at the back of the theatre and asked for an ambulance. Fearfully, he told his friends later that he couldn't believe that the last song he would hear was his own song about dying. The ambulance took him to the nearest hospital. He had eaten a turkey burger for lunch, and the doctors diagnosed food poisoning and pumped his stomach. Then he went home. A few days later, after another incident, doctors at a second hospital said Jon had the flu.
The night before Rent's first preview, January 25, 1996, Jon went to a dress rehearsal at New York Theater Workshop, where a crowd of friends and supporters was whooping and stamping their feet. He was interviewed by a reporter from The New York Times, who told him off the record that he thought the play a marvelous achievement. Then he went hom, put on some water for tea, and died. His roomate found him on the floor of the kitchen, beside his coat. Jon was 35 years old.
Jon told an interviewer once that, "in the theatre, the old thing about how you can make a killing but you can't make a living is absolutely true. I'm living proof of that."
You know what happened to the play next- you're part of it. The show has become one of the biggest things ever on Broadway. It's become the sort of thing a playwright dreams about in the middle of the night, and in the morning is embarrased at how wild his fantasies have run. Rent- Jon's first produced show- is like an athlee that has won the Rookie of the eyar award, a gold medal, the World Series, and the Most Valuable Player, alli n the same season. It collected the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, The Obie Award, the Tony Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.
Like all of you, it grieves me that Jonathan isn't here to enjoy this celebration, but I know he'd be pleased with how his legacy's been cared for. And I know he'd be thrilled to imagine the thousands of upcoming productions in high schools, colleges, regional theaters, community centers, summer camps and opera houses here and around the world for many decades to come. He would thrill to the millions who will get to glimpse his unique view of New York in the early 90's, and be moved by the struggles of the close friends that inspired him.
I know I speak for every musician, singer, actor, director, music director, choreographer, designer, stage manager, crew person, company manager, usher, press rep, marketer, general manager, producer and more when I assert that everyone who gets to work on Rent grows personally and artistically. Our hearts get bigger, more open. Our minds get sharper. We're better equipped to take care of our children and our parents and our friends and the world. We've learned to measure our lives in love, and take no joy or sorrow for granted.
Thank you Jonathan Larson for sharing your work with the world!
-Team Broadway Theatricals
