Jonathan Larson (1960–1996)

Larson also wrote “Rent”

The defining musical of the 90's!

As a friend of mine like to point out every time this play comes up... "GET A JOB!". That would solve sooo many problems in this play. I agree. But I still love the music. Maybe not the reasons behind them. But the songs are moving.

Yeah, I know it's a big hit on Broadway, but (old fogey warning here) just remember ratings are personal and subjective as well as objective assessments. I did not care for the subject matter or the musical idioms.
If you want to see a graphic presentation of the changes in our society, compare Oklahoma to Rent; OK doesn't shy away from hard subjects (sex and death included), but Rent has only one song that can be sung outside the show.