Larson wanted to set it on the bohemian Lower East Side. Aronson wanted the show to take place on the yuppie Upper West Side. But Larson and Aronson’s visions didn’t mesh. One was a modern adaptation of Puccini’s “La Boheme.” He’d written three songs, including the title song, “Rent,” with his collaborator, Billy Aronson. Larson wrote “Tick, Tick … Boom!” after two other shows he’d been working on fell apart. He died in 1996 at 35 from an aortic dissection caused by Marfan Syndrome, a genetic condition that affects the body’s connective tissue. Sadly, Larson isn’t around to see it, nor did he get to experience the well-received off-Broadway production that opened in 2001.

Now, more than three decades later, “Tick, Tick … Boom!’ is a movie, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield. Larson begin writing the autobiographical “Tick, Tick … Boom!” in 1989. Andrew Garfield (right) as Jonathan Larson (left) in the movie version of “Tick, Tick … Boom!” Netflix His 30th birthday was coming up in 1990, but he was still working as a waiter at the Moondance Diner in Soho. Larson had written some impressive scores, and had received a few prestigious grants and awards, but nothing he did went anywhere. He wanted to write rock musicals that dealt with contemporary issues at a moment when pop operas from Britain - “Cats,” “Les Miserables,” “The Phantom of the Opera” - dominated Broadway. And how you spend it matters.”Īt the same time, Larson was struggling with his stalled career aspirations.

“He realized that you don’t know how much time you have. “Matt’s diagnosis shocked him,” Victoria Leacock, a close friend of Larson’s from college, told The Post. Now it was threatening someone he’d known most of his life. Working in the theater, Larson knew several people who had AIDS. In the late 1980s, Larson learned that Matt O’Grady, his best friend from childhood, had contracted HIV. “Tick, Tick … Boom!” - an early musical by Jonathan Larson, who created “Rent” - was born of sadness, anger and frustration. Here’s what you need to know about Broadway’s “New York, New York” cast We found tickets for ‘Hamilton’ on Broadway. Lin-Manuel Miranda attends Yankees-Twins game to watch cousin play ‘New York, New York’ review: Broadway musical can’t make it here, anywhere

Rent by Jonathan Larson