Taylor Iman Jones Illuminates the Depth of Jonathan Larson’s Legacy in New Theatrical Project

For its off-Broadway debut, “The Jonathan Larson Project” went back to its roots: the East Village. The new musical has officially opened at the Orpheum Theatre in New York, just a few blocks north of where Larson first staged his career-defining musical “Rent.” Although Larson died suddenly at the age of 35, on the eve of the show’s first off-Broadway performance, the writer left behind a cannon of creative output. Some of that lesser-known work arrives onstage courtesy of the “The Jonathan Larson Project.” The intimate — and at times nostalgic — production pays homage to Larson’s legacy, which was heavily influenced by his experience living in downtown New York. But while “The Jonathan Larson Project” tips its hat to Larson’s best known works, including “Tick, Tick…Boom!,” the intention was to showcase the writer’s range. “As much as he obviously loved writing musicals, he also wanted to write songs for the radio,” says Taylor Iman Jones, who stars as part of the five-person cast. Her first major solo in the show is a ’90s-coded pop number, performed as a music video shoot. “He had some songs labeled: ‘Whitney Houston songs,’ aspirationally,” she adds. “And so this is one that is written to be

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