In loving memory of Jonathan Larson

On the night before RENT’s Off-Broadway Premiere, Larson went home and put a kettle on to make a cup of tea. He would never get to drink it. The composer suddenly died of an aortic dissection. He was only 35 years old. The cause was undiagnosed Marfan syndrome. Larson had been suffering from severe chest pains and dizziness in the days prior, but neither X-rays nor electrocardiograms showed any signs of danger and he was misdiagnosed with either stress or the flu. The cast and creative team decided to perform the show on the day of his death with his family’s blessing.

Larson was on the cusp of a massive career breakthrough, as RENT would go on to be a huge success on Broadway, win a score of awards, among them several Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, and become a worldwide phenomenon. His natural talent was extraordinary and in his short composing time, Jonathan Larson changed the musical theatre landscape forever. After the first performance of RENT, following thunderous applause, someone in the audience broke the silence with, “thank you, Jonathan Larson.” Thank you, indeed.