Theater PIzzazz’s Ron Fassler recently had the pleasure of discussing The Jonathan Larson Project with cast member Taylor Iman Jones. Currently in previews at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue, its opening night is scheduled for March 10. An all-new musical revue, it includes dozens of seldom heard songs from the young composer of Rent, who died suddenly in 1996 at the age of thirty-five. These unfinished and unproduced musicals, and pop songs, were found in files and boxes and are surely of interest to Larson’s legion of fans the world over.
Taylor Iman Jones is a busy actor-singer-songwriter who has been seen in such Broadway musicals as Groundhog Day, Head Over Heels and Six: The Musical. Her extensive credits also include the Hamilton first national tour, The Who’s Tommy at The Kennedy Center, and as Andy Sachs in the world premiere of The Devil Wears Prada in Chicago. With an eye towards her current gig, she answered a number of questions directly related to Jonathan Larson and his Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.
Ron Fassler: What is your relationship to the work of Jonathan Larson? Can you recall when you first heard of him and how you responded to “Rent,” if indeed that was the first of his music you listened to.
Taylor Iman Jones: I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Larson as long as I’ve been a fan of musical theater. I started doing musical theater as a child and “Seasons of Love” was one of the first songs I ever learned. My mother happened to already have the double disc Rent CD, and I became obsessed immediately. Later on, just a few years out of high school, I was lucky enough to play Mimi in two different community theater productions of Rent. So, it’s safe to say that Jonathan Larson and his work are a huge part of my theatrical training and foundation.
RF: Expanding on that, did you ever see the original production of “Rent” as a teenager or young adult? Did it speak to you personally on any sort of level?
TIJ: Unfortunately, I was never able to see the original cast. But I did go to the movie theater alone when they played the Final Broadway cast, and had one of the best times of my life. Seeing it on that scale was so magical to me and the closest to seeing it live on Broadway as I could get.
RF: How do you approach doing a show like The Jonathan Larson Project which rely on the songs to tell the story as opposed to a singular character in a through-line piece?
TIJ: Every song in our show was written with characters in mind, so I approach each number as if it’s its own mini-musical. And a couple of them are in direct dialogue with the audience and, with those, I do my absolute best to be a vessel and honor Jonathan’s music and lyrics.
RF: As a songwriter yourself, what do you think made Jonathan Larson such a unique musician and lyricist?
TIJ: Jonathan has an incredible ability to write as if he’s talking directly to the listener. He is always advocating for the voiceless. And he had an overflowing amount of material and patience and belief in himself.
RF: As an interpreter of other artists music, what do you see as the challenges for making the songs in this project work for you?
TIJ: Luckily, I feel like the music is so easy to connect to. I think the most challenging part is not having Jonathan with us and being able to collaborate in person, but he is heavily in our hearts and on our minds with every decision we make.
RF: How do you approach a song when you are learning it as an actor to perform it in a dramatic setting onstage, like The Jonathan Larson Project, as opposed to when singing in a cabaret setting?
TIJ: Doing a show on a scale like this as opposed to a cabaret gives us the opportunity to fully realize the potential of these songs. Even though the songs stand on their own, in our off-Broadway show we have a full set, lights, costumes, choreography, and a full band that allows the performers to truly live in the fantasy of each number. So, when approaching this material for this project there’s a much more collaborative approach—and it’s a lot more fun.
RF: Lastly, what would you like people to take away from coming to see The Jonathan Larson Project?
TIJ: I hope people feel empowered, and entertained, and most of all more in love with Jonathan Larson’s work. It’s been such an incredible opportunity to discover more and more material from his archives, to see how relevant he continues to be, and I’m so excited for audiences of all types to have that same experience.
Production photos by Joan Marcus.
Headline photo courtesy of The Jonathan Larson Project.
