THE JONATHAN LARSON PROJECT

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“a tender tribute from a world still not over his loss”

After its acclaimed Off-Broadway debut, ‘The Jonathan Larson Project’ arrives in London during the 30th anniversary year of Larson’s untimely death. Offering a rare glimpse into Larson’s early creative process, it celebrates his genius with sharp staging and a knockout cast.

This piece honours Larson’s life and legacy, opening with intimate videos and photos from his personal archive that immediately pull us into his world. From there, we move through songs from his earliest – and sometimes previously unperformed – projects before raising an affectionate final toast.

Shaping this collection of standalone works and offcuts into a cohesive whole is no mean feat, and Jennifer Ashley Tepper’s conception pulls it together with clarity and affection. Larson’s music and lyrics are presented as intended – ‘not a word has been changed’, the freesheet promises. The breadth of material shows off his range – who knew Larson wrote pop songs? – letting us peer deeper into his wickedly witty, politically restless mind. Standouts include ‘Hosing the Furniture’, a musically intricate breakdown earning the Stephen Sondheim Award; ‘Valentine’s Day’, an abusive love vignette featuring in early versions of ‘Rent’; and ‘Love Heals’, a soaring tribute to a friend lost to AIDS. It’s fascinating to see Larson’s early artistic voice, with hints of ‘Superbia’ and ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ in places. While you can see why some pieces were ultimately cut, the evening flows with surprising ease.

John Simpkins’ vibrant direction brings the collection to life. The revue like frame – with voiceover intro and contextualising captions – may feel simple, but the pacing is sharp and every number unique. Some songs are stripped back, others burst into full staging. ‘The Vision Thing’ drops us straight into a satirical musical skewering the circus of presidential campaigning. Elsewhere, we channel late 80s/early 90s pop with a slick music video that wouldn’t be out of place on MTV. It’s surprisingly cohesive – a clear testament to Simpkins’ assured direction.

Musical supervisor and director Livi Van Warmelo, with assistant Tom Renwick, captures the songs’ intricate architecture and deep emotion. The arrangements are adapted beautifully and the band – van Warmelo, Renwick, Tom Green, Aidan Platts and Tom Daley – shine with pulse and polish.

Taylor Walker’s choreography channels the late 80s/early 90s, pulling from hip hop, voguing, and contemporary musical theatre, showing a full range of colours in this tight, fast moving evening.

The design is strong overall. Alistair Penman’s mix feels muffled early on, with full band moments swallowing the cast’s resonance and lyrics. But when things pare back, both cast and band shine. Alex Basco Koch’s video design blends personal images with atmospheric visuals of New York skylines, abstract textures, even a tanker crashing on a reef. Captions provide helpful context, even if they flick past a touch too quickly. Nate Bertone’s set channels Rent’s urban industrial grit with scaffolding, ladders, shifting furniture, a roaming piano. The on stage scaffolds are a striking choice, though block the video’s smaller screen. Sam Biondolillo’s lighting is gorgeous – sometimes stripped back, sometimes gloriously maximalist, but never missing a storytelling beat. Jean Gray’s costumes evocatively channel the 1990s with denim, leather jackets and newsboy caps, before shifting into genre specific looks for each number.

The stellar cast delivers across the board, even if the sound occasionally underserves them. Max Harwood, Imelda Warren Green, Michael Mather, Natalie Kassanga and Marcus Collins slip fluidly between 90s artists and Larson’s characters, offering a vivid spectrum of moods and archetypes. Each brings a distinct vocal colour – warm, agile, rich, or electric – that lights up the material. Though it’s hard to name a single standout in a company this strong, each has their own standout moment. Warren Green’s attack and rock belt nearly stops the show; Mather leans into the grunge and emotional grit of ‘Valentine’s Day’; Kassanga adds velvety depth; Harwood brings jaded optimism and lightning-fast runs; and Collins delivers astonishing mix belt power.

‘The Jonathan Larson Project’ feels like a tender tribute from a world still not over his loss. Fans will love this rare, intimate window into Larson’s oeuvre, filling some of the creative space left by his untimely death, while still speaking to anyone interested in artistic evolution.

THE JONATHAN LARSON PROJECT

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 13th July 2026

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Danny Kaan

KeyPhrase

★★★★

“Neil Hurst and Jodie Prenger’s writing is wild and lewd but is equally sharp, and intelligently plays with words”

If you’ve been in the news this year, or are a showbiz personality of any sort, or even merely a major player in a current West End musical, you should be advised to steer clear of “A Very Very Bad Cinderella”. Unless you’re some sort of masochist. None of the above escapes the scattershot onslaught of bawdy jokes and devil-may-care references that are loaded into this most unseasonal of seasonal pantomimes. Thrown out into the audience like sweets, not everyone will catch the in-jokes, and a great many go over our heads.

The musical theatre world is well and truly ransacked. The main casualty that lies in its wake is political correctness. Despite the obligatory use of a snow machine at this time of year, this is not a show for snowflakes. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and the audience are invited (no – make that ‘forced’) to follow suit. To say that this is an ‘alternative’ take on ‘Cinderella’ is a bit of an understatement. Okay, it’s hanging onto the basic plotline for dear life, and the stock characters are there – we have Cinderella, of course, and Buttons and Prince Charming. But gone are the Disney, cutesy names for the ‘Ugly Sisters’; instead, we have Fanny and Vajayjay. You can see where this is going now?

May Tether plays Cinderella, and like the show’s title itself, is channelling a certain other Cinderella who also acquired the prefix ‘bad’. The whole show is a parody, and Tether lampoons with affection and with tongue in cheek. Although the script advocates that tongues are destined for rather more unsavoury parts of the anatomy. Yes, it is that sort of show. That is not a dig, however. Neil Hurst and Jodie Prenger’s writing is wild and lewd but is equally sharp, and intelligently plays with words. We are occasionally reminded of the likes of the Two Ronnies, for example, particularly during a very clever soliloquy in which the titles of every well-known musical are strung together to form a witty and breathless anecdote.

Keanna Bloomfield switches between Buttons and Prince Charming, drawing attention to the writers’ neglect in allowing for costume changes. Budgetary constraints and the producers’ limitations and lack of foresight are also frequently shared with the audience. Maybe spread a little too thin, but the comedy is thickened if you are acquainted with the behind-the-scenes machinations of theatre in all its variety. Genres are crossed with gay abandon as the ‘Ugly Sisters’ lead us headlong into the world of Cabaret and Drag. A captivating duo they are the wicked Queens of the night. Veronica Green’s Fanny is deliciously spicy (I never, ever thought I’d be writing that in a review). Matched by Imelda Warren-Green’s pouting, sourpuss Vajayjay (come on now, concentrate!), the self-declared ‘fab-u-lous’ pair are a comic act that draw the biggest laughs. If the show were to be streamed for general release you wouldn’t catch much of what is said due to the number of censoring beeps required.

There is a narrative thread, just in case we can’t keep up, provided by an uncredited, on-screen presence whose deadpan delivery alludes to the show being ‘very very bad’ indeed. Yes – it is ‘bad’ and ‘wicked’ and ‘sick’. But these are all huge compliments if you’re referring to the urban dictionary. It is a very very fun night out. Prepare to be offended and delighted in equal measure. Oh, and be wary of where you sit, unless the idea of wearing a face mask pulled out from Fanny’s undergarments appeals to you. There – that should get you scrolling for the booking page if nothing else.

Tag Archives: Imelda Warren-Green

THE JONATHAN LARSON PROJECT

★★★★

Southwark Playhouse Borough

THE JONATHAN LARSON PROJECT

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“a tender tribute from a world still not over his loss”