Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
#1Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:12pm
I'm arguing with a friend about the cause of Jonathan Larson's death, which was of an aortic aneurysm. Thank goodness, she's figured that out, but she is still convinced that he had AIDS, or was at least HIV positive.
I'm not that clear on the matter, and I couldn't find anything about it on the internet. Could someone help me out here?
Thanks in advance.
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Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#2re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:17pmNo, he didn't have AIDS that we know of. They made it explicitly clear in his bio in the RENT program that he died of an aortic aneurysm.
#2re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:17pm
This is the first time ever that I've heard that suggested.
Has your friend explained why she is "convinced"? What "convinced" her?
I'm "convinced" your friend has a problem.
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PastorErnst
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#3re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:20pmI'm pretty sure they made it a point on the DVD that he had Marfan syndrome and not HIV or AIDS.
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#4re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:20pm
Larson never had HIV or AIDS. There were a lot of people who thought that due to the fact that that is talked about in Rent. Another rumor was that he got AIDS because he was gay. Once again neither of which are true statements. In fact, Susan in Tick...Tick...Boom was based on one of his real life girlfriends and the story line in Rent where Maureen left Mark for a woman was also based out of Larson's life.
I remember reading somewhere online that the girlfriend who was the basis of Susan in Tick...Tick..Boom and the girlfriend who was the basis of Maureen were in real life, one in the same. I could be wrong however.
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#5re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:22pmNope. An undetected aortic aneurysm.
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#6re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:24pm
"Has your friend explained why she is "convinced"?"
She says it's in her RENT book that it says he had HIV. But I agree with everyone here. I'm just trying to prove her wrong.
My blog- http://okayentertainment.blogspot.com/
#7re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:26pm
This is the first time ever that I've heard that suggested.
Really? It's a pretty widespread -- albeit completely incorrect -- assumption.
I remember reading somewhere online that the girlfriend who was the basis of Susan in Tick...Tick..Boom and the girlfriend who was the basis of Maureen were in real life, one in the same. I could be wrong however.
Susan in tick, Tick...BOOM! is not meant to be based on any one particular girlfriend, but rather an amalgam of different people. So basically the reverse of what you said.
AndAllThatJazz22
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/08
#8re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:28pmIt does say in the 'RENT book' that he attended several HIV/Aids support group meetings, but he went to them with his friend who has HIV. It was at those meetings that he heard the words "I'm not worried about the pain and I think I can handle the suffering, but will I loose my dignity?".
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#9re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:34pm
She says it's in her RENT book that it says he had HIV.
Well, then your friend either needs to actually read the book, or get some reading comprehension skills, because nowhere in that book does it say he had HIV. You know, because he didn't.
#10re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 9:57pm
Just confirming what everyone else has said, no, Johnathan Larson did not have HIV. Maybe your friend mistook the fact that he attended HIV/AIDS support meetings (this was mentioned by AndAllThatJazz) and thought that meant he had it. But he went with his friend, who was HIV-positive.
Hope that cleared things up.
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#11re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 9:58pmDid it occur to you or your friend that she might be an idiot?
#12re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 10:41pm
Knowing that Larson passed right before the success of RENT hit and the material of the musical, I was under the same impression as your friend until reading this thread.
I don't think that makes me or your friend an "idiot," but I for one would not have argued one point verse the other without researching a little.
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#13re: Jonathan Larson had AIDS? No. Right?
Posted: 7/1/09 at 11:42pmIf she is looking for proof that you can't necessarily find, tell her to find the place in the book where it says that.
"That's what writers do. We cut ourselves open and just bleed all over the page."
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#14Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 9:41am
Jonathan Larson died of an aortic aneurism from an undiagnosed case of Marfan Syndrome which is a genetic disorder affecting the connective tissue of the body.
His best friend since high school is hiv+. Jonathan was the first person he told. Jonathan went with him to many support meetings.
Their relationship is the one dramatized in "Tick Tick Boom".
I know his friend who is still quite healthy and a competitive swimmer.
I think I wrote all this out just to be able to change the thread title.
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larry64
Stand-by Joined: 3/3/06
#15Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 3:43pmWhy would you post something like this?
#16Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 4:50pm
I no it's beena nswered but no he did not have AIDS.
Also many people don't realize that he also wasn't gay.
TalkinLoud
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/3/09
#17Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 4:54pm
I've actually always had people tell me that he was gay and died of AIDS. It's a pretty widespread assumption/rumor.
Thank you very much for setting the record straight!
#18Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 5:04pm
I've actually always had people tell me that he was gay and died of AIDS. It's a pretty widespread assumption/rumor.
Considering the history of AIDS/HIV and gay characters in plays and/or musicals up to that point, it wouldn't be a huge leap to make that assumption. It was difficult to find gay-related theatre from the mid-80s to the mid-to-late 90s that didn't have someone with HIV or dying of AIDS. Considering the amount of gay characters and characters with HIV in Rent, it's not illogical to make the assumption the author closely identified with the work, but it's pretty foolish to pass it along as truth without making an effort into doing any verifiable research.
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#19Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 5:18pm
Believe it or not, in my Theatre History part 2 class we had a question on a test that said "This writer of RENT died of AIDS the day before the show open.
I corrected my instructor!
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#20Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 7:34pm
Jonathan Larson = Mark Cohen.
Mark goes to an AIDS support meeting, too.
zamedy
Broadway Star Joined: 6/27/07
#21Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/2/09 at 9:55pm
What an incensitive title and an all-around horrible post.
A new low.
#23Jonathan Larson did not have hiv.
Posted: 7/3/09 at 7:23amThe most worrying thing about this is that one of the lecturers at my college (who teaches Musical Theatre for a living) told his class that Jonathan Larson died of AIDS. That was the first and untill now only time I'd heard that rumour.
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