Southwark Playhouse Borough • 9th July - 22nd August

Musical theatre fans will no doubt recognise the name Jonathan Larson for being the incredibly talented American composer, lyricist and playwright behind the musicals RENT, and tick, tick… BOOM!. They might also be aware that Larson was a rare talent that died far too young at the age of 35 from an aortic dissection, tragically on the same day that RENT was scheduled to make its Off-Broadway debut. He would never live to see the true impact his work would have on the musical theatre landscape, but so prolific had he been up until his death that he also left behind an impressive body of previously unheard work, songs that had either been cut from his finished productions, written for uncompleted shows, or just created as standalone theatre songs. Now The Jonathan Larson Project, conceived by theatre historian Jennifer Ashley Pepper, has brought all this lost, forgotten and unreleased material together for a stand-alone show to celebrate the late composer and to share this treasure trove of rarities for old and new fans alike. For some it may even serve as an intriguing introduction to Larson’s work ahead of RENT’s return to the West End for it’s official 30th Anniversary production at the Duke of York’s Theatre (soon to be the Tom Stoppard Theatre), in September.

Given just how disparate the body of work that makes up the soundtrack to The Jonathan Larson Project is, I admit to having had my reservations about just how this musical’s Director, John Simpkin’s, was going to make a cohesive show out of material that spans an eleven year period, (1981 - 1992), there obviously being no book in existence from which to build a cohesive narrative from. However, this isn’t Simpkin’s first attempt at doing so as he had in fact directed the 2025 Off Broadway production, developing what had started life as a concert of the work in 2018 into a more fully-rounded show. Wisely, instead of crowbarring the songs into an imagined narrative he gives each one it’s own unique space and time to shine, the dramatic vignettes built around them almost playing like a live action music video that tell short, but compelling three-and-a-half minute stories. As a whole they can be said to lean in to the inner monologue of the man himself and, as an insight into the subject matter Larson had taken inspiration from at the time, they collectively become the musings of a struggling musician yet to have his big break.

The five-strong cast is an impressive line up of familiar faces from stage and screen, Max Harwood, (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Imelda Warren Green, (Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder), Marcus Collins, (X-Factor, Kinky Boots), Natalie Kassanga, (X factor, Moulin Rouge! The Musical) and Michael Mather, (Smoggie Queens, Wicked), each of who are given their own individual time to shine having showcased some impressively tight harmonies during the show’s full-cast opener ‘Greene Street’, a crowd-pleasing standalone theatre song Larson wrote when he was just 23 years old. Given these are billed as ‘outtakes’ and ‘lost’ songs, the first thing that struck me was the sheer quality of the songwriting on display here, and their revival for this project is more than warranted. The thrust-stage set is dressed like an urban New York studio space, the upright piano and numerous scattered boxes all getting rearranged between songs against a backdrop of two scaffold turrets on top of which sits the 5 strong band. A crumpled sheet hangs recessed between the scaffold structures on which is projected clips of Larson, newsreels, scene setters and short written introductions ahead of each song that contextualises where each sits within Larson’s canon of work.

Sadly, this is where things start to go adrift, as the projected images suffer from visibility issues for an estimated 25% of the audience who happened to be sitting on either side of the stage, their view obscured either partially or completely by the edges of the scaffold structure that the projected surface was nestled amongst. The initial craning of these unfortunate audience members necks, (mine included), soon gave way to a resignation that these insightful comments about the songs would remain unreadable, which, given the very nature of this production, was a major disadvantage not to mention disappointment, made all the more frustrating seeing as it could easily have been remedied by having the screen brought forward by a couple of metres, having no discernible impact on Nate Bertones otherwise impressively versatile set design, (which was itself beautifully lit throughout by Sam Biodolillo).

The second heartbreaking issue, (and I do mean heartbreaking, because there was just so much to love about this production) was unfortunately with regards to the sound quality when experienced from these same seats that flanked either side of the stage. Similar to the screen, it felt like the audio too was being directed with a heavy bias towards the front of the stage. Whilst this might possibly be partially to do with the venues own acoustics, (there is definitely an issue when you can actually here the sound of drumsticks hitting the soft rubber drum pads over the ‘amplified’ sound), I find it impossible to believe that the speakers couldn’t be better placed or directed so as to fill all four corners of the auditorium with equally well mixed sound, it instead having a quality that at times felt as if it was bleeding through the walls from a neighbouring building instead of emanating from the room we were actually in. It’s not that my ears didn’t eventually adjust to this very strange mix, (ironically, I seemed to be sat two seats away from the person mixing the audio live through software on his iPad), but unfortunately for me, and I am sure those in my direct vicinity, it prevented the show ever truly reaching the fully immersive potential I could see it would have otherwise easily done, especially given the quality of the performances on display. Imelda Warren Green managed to break through these problems with here larger than life rendition of ‘Hosing The Furniture’, but boy did she have to work hard for it, and deserved every moment of the roaring applause that followed, but too many other moments that should have connected were let down by these two avoidable issues which, unfortunately, when the songs and the stories behind them are at the very core of a production, it totally matters that their context can be read and the sound presents them in the quality they absolutely deserve to be heard in.

Whilst I can still whole-heartedly recommend this show, it comes with the caveat that you pick your seats wisely. There is definitely a five star show struggling to get out but, despite the best efforts of this incredible cast and creatives, the only way you’ll truly experience everything this show has to offer is if you sit front and centre to the stage. You have been warned.

★ ★ ★