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.