‘The Jonathan Larson Project’ World Premiere Musical Sets Cast: Taylor Iman Jones, Andy Mientus & More

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EXCLUSIVE: The Off Broadway world premiere of The Jonathan Larson Project, a new musical featuring dozens of unheard songs, unfinished and unproduced musicals and pop songs found in files and boxes of the late Rent composer, will star Adam Chanler-Berat, Taylor Iman Jones, Lauren Marcus, Andy Mientus and Jason Tam.

The casting was announced today by producers Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch and Marc Routh.

The new musical will begin previews on Friday, February 14, at the Orpheum Theatre in Larson’s beloved East Village, with an official opening on Monday, March 10. The Jonathan Larson Project is set for 16-week limited engagement.

Conceived by Jennifer Ashley Tepper and directed by John Simpkins, The Jonathan Larson Project features more than 20 previously unheard songs by the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning Rent and tick, tick… BOOM! writer. The new music was found among the hundreds of cassette tapes, scripts, music files and journals in Larson’s apartment after his shocking death from an aortic dissection at age 35 in 1996.

“The intention throughout our process has been to assemble a cast who in some way share similar experiences and passions around art, love, activism, and humanity to the ones Jonathan was articulating in his work,” said Simpkins in a statement. “I am excited and confident that these five bold and powerful artists will provide a window into the piece that both honors and enhances Larson’s legacy and also reflects a contemporary perspective on the material that can be in dialogue with our modern lives.”

The five-person cast includes:

Chanler-Berat, who originated roles on Broadway in Next to Normal, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Amelie, as well as starring in the 2018 Broadway revival of Shaw’s Saint Joan. Off-Broadway credits include Assassins and Fortress of Solitude, and he starred alongside Vince Vaughn in the Dreamworks film Delivery Man and has appeared on television in HBOmax’s Gossip Girl, Veep, and Elementary, among other credits;
Jones starred as Katherine Parr in Broadway’s Six, and in the musicals Head over Heels and Groundhog Day. Other credits include touring productions of Hamilton and American Idiot, and Off Broadway productions of The Lonely Few and Scotland, PA;
Marcus was in the original cast of Broadway’s Be More Chill, and in the Off Broadway productions of White Girl in Danger and Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter;
Mientus appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables and Spring Awakening, and in the national tour of Wicked. TV credits include Grendel, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings and Smash. He played the Pied Piper in CW’s The Flash;
Tam starred as the apostle Peter in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert, and in the Broadway productions of Be More Chill, If/Then, Lysistrata Jones and the revival of A Chorus Line. Off Broadway credits include The White Chip, The Ghost of John McCain and KPOP.

The Jonathan Larson Project will feature music supervision and orchestrations by Charlie Rosen and co-arrangements by Rosen and Natalie Tenenbaum, choreography by Byron Easley and music direction by Cynthia Meng.