Production
Early development (1982–1985)
Superbia began as an attempt by Larson to create a musical adaptation of the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four . He began writing it shortly after graduating from Adelphi University in 1982, recording a demo of the score by 1983 and hoping to have it open on Broadway by the year 1984 itself. [1] [3] : 41
With 1984, Larson condensed Orwell's novel into 60 pages across two acts, while his demo tape ran 45 minutes. The script focused on key scenes of Winston Smith meeting Julia and his torture in Room 101, with visuals used to flesh out details. Larson went so far as to sketch out basic stage design, including the idea of a two-way Telescreen framing the proscenium. Some songs from 1984 eventually found their way into Superbia, such as a song called "After the Revolution" which was rewritten into "Ever After." [3] : 42–43
However, Larson was unable to secure the rights to Nineteen Eighty-Four due to the upcoming film adaptation. Though disappointed at the time, he would later reflect that it was probably for the best: with the exception of a few songs, the score was more traditional musical theater than the pop-rock sound he was looking for, and his lack of experience showed in songs laden with repetitive music and exposition. [3] : 42–43 [7] He also realized the traditional method of recording demos with just piano and vocals would not work for the level of complexity he was trying to achieve, which would be reflected in his later attempts to create more complex demos for all of his musicals. Nevertheless, he felt it was an important step in his career because it was his first serious attempt at writing a full-length musical. [3] : 42
1984 becomes Superbia
Larson still wanted to create a dystopian science fiction musical using his intended cross-genre musical style. Taking the advice of one of his professors, he kept the material from this failed musical adaptation, eventually coming up with his own world during a visit to the nightclub Area in late 1984: Larson pictured the venue as though it were a massive space satellite where "the coolest of the cool" were sheltered from the grit of the outside world. Larson began writing the new show, Superbia, in earnest in 1985. [3] : 44–46 Using what he learned from 1984, Larson's demos reflect an effort to more clearly demonstrate what he wanted the songs to sound like. He began composing on a 50 key Casio keyboard, and by 1987 he was composing on a full Yamaha DX7. Many of his custom synth patches were designed by friend Steve Skinner, who would later arrange the orchestrations for Rent . Where possible, Larson would record demos in a rented studio space, using his digital arrangements to create a more advanced sound. Several of Larson's friends contributed vocals to these demos, including future Broadway stars Marin Mazzie and Roger Bart. [2] [3] : 59–60
The Superbia workshops (1985–1991)
Songs from Superbia were first presented at the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop from November to December 1985, beginning the six-year workshop development of the musical. During this process, Larson received feedback from panels of various musical theater composers and writers, including his idol and eventual mentor Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim and some of his fellow panelists were complimentary of Larson's ambitions and desire to write in a new style, but others criticized the script's internal rules, complexity, and apparent weakness of its message. Larson presented more material at the Dramatists Guild in April 1986, where once again Sondheim was one of the few who praised the piece, although he noted the musical as written was too traditionally structured for what Larson was trying to do. [3] : 46–48 Larson verbally sparred with 1776 book writer and Dramatists Guild president Peter Stone during the presentation. Not only did Stone dislike the musical, he vocally disagreed with the political message Larson was trying to tell, claiming that the idea of media making people emotionally disconnected was ridiculous. Larson's attempts to push back were met by Stone angrily talking over both him and a member of the audience who came to Larson's defense. This argument between two different generations of musical theater writers proved prophetic for the kind of rejections Larson would receive. [10] : 24:50
Following the musical theater workshop presentations, Larson began putting on both private readings of the full musical, as well as public readings at Naked Angels and The Public Theater in 1987. [1] With Sondheim's help, Larson won the Richard Rodgers Development Grant for Superbia at the end of 1987, and used the money to fund a reading in December 1988 at Playwrights Horizons, produced by Ira Weitzman and directed by R. J. Cutler. [1] [11] The reading ended up being a disappointment for Larson, largely because he was unable to get a full rock band for his score, and was only allowed to have union performers, not the non-union actors whom he had written the show for. As a result, Larson's attempt at blending genres was lost in the single piano accompaniment, and the actors who were trained in more traditional musical theater were unable to perform the pop-rock vocals that the piece required. Sondheim, who had come to support his pupil, left after the first act. [3] : 53 As a direct response to this failed workshop, Larson's friend Victoria Leacock helped Larson produce a concert version of Superbia at the Village Gate on September 11, 1989. [1] Unlike the Playwrights Horizon workshop, this concert used a live band and the non-union actors Larson had wanted in his cast, including Bart and Timothy Britten Parker. The concert was one of only two times Superbia was performed with a full band. [3] : 53–54
Larson had an opportunity to develop and possibly stage Superbia in the United Kingdom when it was shortlisted for the Buxton Opera House's "Quest for New Musicals" competition. However he was unhappy with the contract for further consideration, which would have only guaranteed a workshop and limited his ability to pitch the show in New York. [3] : 55 Ultimately, he turned it down for the chance to do a second reading of Superbia at The Public Theater in December 1991. [1] J. Collis, author of the Larson oral history Boho Days: The Wider Works of Jonathan Larson, described not developing Superbia in the UK as "the biggest mistake Larson could have made." The second Public Theater reading ultimately did not go well: the reading was scheduled on the same day as the theater's Christmas party, which started right at intermission for Superbia. Larson's friend Paul Scott Goodman, who played the character Mick Knife in the reading, recalled that 25 people were in the audience for the start of the show, and at most 10 were back after intermission. [3] : 55–56 This was the final major presentation of Superbia's material in Larson's lifetime. [1]
Development stalls
Even after multiple workshops, Superbia was not ready for a full production. Larson was still unable to solve the story problems, and the show's content was too risky for Broadway producers and too technologically prohibitive for Off-Broadway theaters. [3] : 56, 61 Retrospective evaluations of the musical note even Broadway theaters at the time would have been unable to handle the rock-concert style sound design needed for Superbia. Larson himself was aware his style of music was largely beyond what contemporary theatrical sound designers were trained for, commenting on the eve of his death in 1996 that "I'm only as good as my soundboard operator." [3] : 62
Larson vented his frustrations over his stalled career in 1989 by writing a rock monologue titled 30/90, which depicted the aftermath of the failed Playwrights Horizons workshop. [12] This was revised into Boho Days, eventually becoming his musical Tick, Tick... Boom! which he performed at his later artistic home of New York Theatre Workshop in 1992 and 1993. [3] : 95–130 Though Sondheim was complimentary of Boho Days, he warned Larson to move on from Superbia, feeling his continued attachment to the piece was hindering Larson's career. [11] [3] : 129–130
Although Larson tried adapting the Superbia script into a screenplay in 1990 or 1991, this was just a writing exercise and ultimately went nowhere. [1] [3] : 62–63 Eventually, he chose to focus on Rent , which he spent the remainder of his life developing. He passed away from a sudden aortic aneurysm the night before Rent's first Off-Broadway preview in 1996, having never seen a full production of Superbia. [1]
