Review: Lyrics & Lyricist's LOUDER THAN WORDS Honored Jonathan Larson at 92NY

The long-running Lyrics and Lyricists series at The 92nd Street Y, New York began decades ago, celebrating and exploring the works of the writers of the classic Golden Age Broadway writers. It still often favors a focus on them, but it sometimes thinks outside that box and comes up with a fine program that engenders appreciation and respect for the lyricist they choose to honor. The latest feather in the presenter’s cap (March 1 to 3) was one such instance, featuring lyricist/composer/bookwriter Jonathan Larson.  His musical Rent rocked the NYC musical theatre world – in more ways than one. Its bold rock music referenced, revamped, and revitalized the basic story of the opera La bohème, which had first graced a stage just about 100 years prior.  In a more perfect and fairer world, the praise and popularity of Rent would have been enjoyed by its creator and led to him writing more shows in years to come, but he sadly died at the age of 35 just before it opened. But the show went on to blockbuster success anyway, including a movie adaptation. His other material received renewed attention after RENT's success as well. The somewhat autobiographical musical Tick, Tick…Boom! is Larson's other most well-known show, with many revivals and its own screen adaptation. The Lyrics & Lyricists concert showcased five of its numbers and some history. It’s about a frustrated songwriter trying to make his mark with his contemporary-sounding songs, finding himself between rock and a hard place. 

The powerful presentation titled Louder Than Words: The Songs and Legacy of Jonathan Larson made the case for Rent as a play that benefited from revisions, demonstrating early drafts of some songs and how the changes made the lyrics more dramatically effective, more specific to the situations and the characters. The people depicted became more authentic as the writer got to know the real world of struggling young NYC people in the East Village and their situations, including drugs and AIDS. With 15 of its songs presented, Rent was the main event, unsurprisingly, as its material – often belted and blasted by five powerhouse actor-singers with connections to Larson’s work that included being cast in his two big musicals and/or being fans who attended them and were captivated.  The audience was guided through history by James C. Nicola, the Artistic Director and host who was the artistic director of New York Theater Workshop – the East Village Theatre where Rent began and grew. He spoke emotionally and very fondly of the rugged musical that began downtown and moved to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre for 5,123 performances. Its current tenant is the musical Redwood, starring Idina Menzel, who made her Broadway debut as a leading character in Rent.

Projections included some filmed footage and photos, song lyrics to follow along with, and evocative depictions of city streets and tenements –grunge and all. The Larson material was sung by Olivia Abi Assi, L Morgan Lee, DeMone Seraphin, Keaton Whittaker and Adam Kantor (who had the role of Mark in the final company of Rent on Broadway back in 2008 and has also been in Tick, Tick…Boom!)  Basically, songs were done in character, angst and flirtations and laments and all — acting the scenarios, rather than as stand-alone songs retrofitted and sung in any new context or standing “outside” the songs. It worked well, all loyalties to the original intentions. The audience got some sense of who these performers are beyond that by letting each briefly speak about their first exposure to the material and theatre. .    

The band, led by sterling pianist/ music director Jacinth Greywoode, was often on fire, although occasionally the balance on the more “kicking” pieces overpowered the vocals, making it a challenge to catch all the lyrics. 

The “Legacy” part of the concert’s title referred to, among other things, the fact that some of the royalties controlled by the late Larson’s estate has been dedicated to giving grants to up-and-coming theatre writers, brought on after intermission to talk and offer samples of their songs. This was a smart move— bringing attention to the grants and also allowing for more musical variety than an all-Larson night would have. Each of the three concerts had its own special guests in these spots. I attended the opening night (Saturday, March 1) when songwriter/performer Grace McLean intrigued with her performance enhanced by the use of the vocoder’s electronic layering of sounds as she presented a selection from her musical In the Green. Collaborators Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs chatted about their recent off-Broadway musicalization of the film Teeth, sharing a vocal on “Modest Is Hottest” from the score. 

After the bows and thanks, the company closed the evening with Rent’s most well-known and upbeat song, “Seasons of Love,” about measuring a year in its events adding up to “525,600 minutes … 525,600 moments so dear.”

The other musicians were Aaron Heick on saxophones and woodwinds, Tia Allen, on violin and viola, Sherrod Barnes and Jonathan Linden on guitar, George Farmer on bass and Ashley Baier on drums.

Elizabeth Addison was credited as the writer for the well-paced program directed by Michael Breslin. New Yorkers can find more Jonathan Larson material off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre with the production of The Jonathan Larson Project.

---

At the end of the month, 92NY will host a return to vintage musicals in the spotlight – for a kids-and-family target audience when the recently initiated Lyrics and Lyricists JUNIOR series looks at the giants of musical theatre Rodgers & Hammerstein. And on the last night of May and on June 1 and 2, the regular L&L season turns to another prolific team: Kander and Ebb.

Production photos by Richard Termine

To post a comment, you must register and login.