His lack of success might be short-lived, however, with his upcoming work, “SUPERBIA,” a futuristic, genre-defying piece that has been in the works for eight years. The great Broadway composers who came before him, like the legendary Stephen Sondheim, had found great success well before this age, according to Larson. The film itself depicts the week or so of the composer’s life before his 30th birthday. This skepticism of his qualifications, along with other starry additions to the cast such as Vanessa Hudgens and Bradley Whitford, only drew more viewers in, making the movie a great success when it released in theaters and on Netflix in November 2021. Many felt that this was coming from left field-though he has a rich theatrical background, having recently won a Tony Award, Garfield had never been seen in a musical before. However, when this movie was announced to be produced by Netflix with the famed, fan-favorite Lin-Manuel Miranda as its director (with Miranda also making a quick cameo in the film), more people than ever knew about “tick, tick… BOOM!” Talk about the movie grew when its leading man was chosen: Andrew Garfield. A cult classic, “tick, tick… BOOM!” is a semi-autobiographical testimonial to what it takes to be a starving artist, with Larson typifying this portrait. Before this year, even those who would consider themselves musical connoisseurs of the most obscure Broadway shows knew very little about “tick, tick… BOOM!”-other than the fact that it was one of the only other major shows that the “RENT” creator ever wrote. Unless they’re a major theater nerd or have fallen in love with the radical rock revolution that is “RENT,” a reference to Larson is likely to draw a blank for most.

Jonathan Larson isn’t a name that a lot of people have heard of.

Musicals by jonathan larson