I can only imagine what he'd be saying when the parents of people who were sleeping on the street bring me their kids to study. I teach master classes all over the country, and I carry and keep a picture of Jonathan everywhere I teach because I want him to see, and I want him to watch. One of my classes is in Matawan, NJ, and I'm on the shore, and I have my own studio in Neptune. She was one of the people I called when he died because I didn't know who else might know that they knew each other.įredi Walker-Browne, Joanne Jefferson I keep a picture of Jonathan - I have a classroom in one of the little schools I work in in New Jersey. In the little foyer of the New York Theatre Workshop, he had his little coffee cup, and we were just sort of talking, and he was feeling shy about that. And then he never really had the guts to tell her, and that was one of the last conversations he and I had… I talked about it in my book. We also talked about the fact like he had a crush on my friend that was an actress that I knew. He had just written a version of "What You Own," and he played it for me over the phone, and it was really exciting to be included in that. I'd learned after the fact that he did that all the time with all of his friends.
When I was on the set of "Twister" in Oklahoma, he called me up and played, really excitedly as he did. I've had friendly relationships with different writers, different moments…but it's a different thing to literally welcome us collectively and intentionally make sure that we knew that we were a part of his life - that this wasn't just a job. This is my home, and it's your home, and you are my friend." And, he gave a toast in which he said, "This is a show about my friends, about my life, and you are my friends." That alone… No writer has ever done that. We'll have drink and food and sit and commune and share. It was, "Welcome to my house for a peasant's feast.
Look for more Playbill coverage on Rent, as we celebrate the musical that changed the face of contemporary musical theatre all week.Īnthony Rapp, Mark Cohen just by virtue of the fact of him inviting us to his home and not in a formal way… It wasn't like showing up on your best behavior. Members from the cast now look back on their friend and collaborator. The official first preview then debuted on Jan. The cast mourned the loss of Larson (who died that morning of an aortic dissection) and read and sang through the show, breaking out into full staging during the musical's second act. That night, the show went on - although more privately than intended. Twenty years ago, the theatre world lost one of its greatest writers, Jonathan Larson, whose career was just about to take off - as his groundbreaking musical Rent had just finished its dress rehearsal and would finally premiere to the public at New York Theatre Workshop Jan.
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