Boho Days: A new book about Rent composer Jonathan Larson is released in October

20 Jul
2018
Posted in: Features
Author: Staff
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Boho Days - a new book about the works of the Late Jonathan Larson.

It's hard to argue that RENT isn't one of the most important pieces of Musical Theatre ever! But what about the man behind the masterpiece and what about his other work? While TICK, TICK...BOOM! has achieved moderate success, not a huge amount is known about the late Jonathan Larson's career beyond these two shows. Now, with the release of "Boho Days" this October, that's all about to change...

For the first time, a new book examines the complete output of Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning composer Jonathan Larson. “Boho Days: The Wider Works of Jonathan Larson,” written by J. Collis and authorized by the Larson estate, will be released in digital and print formats on October 16, 2018.

Covering Larson’s work from student cabarets at Adelphi University through RENT’s creative process, “Boho Days” tells the story of a young composer on the edge of a rapidly changing New York theatre scene. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with over 60 of Larson’s associates and collaborators, Collis’ book features discussion and analysis of major works such as Superbia, tick, tick… BOOM!, J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation, and RENT. “Boho Days” also addresses a number of lesser-known Larson works including his educational theatre compositions, a collaboration with National Lampoon, and the children’s video Away We Go!

“I initially wrote an article about Superbia,” said Collis, an alumnus of Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. “It became clear pretty quickly that there was so much more to write about, that nobody was writing about it, and that the first step would be to demystify the collection and let people know where to start.” The article, “Static on a Screen”, was published in Studies in Musical Theatre from Intellect Ltd., and a revised version featuring additional research is included in “Boho Days.”