DEɅN JOHNSON

We lost Jonathan Larson the man 30 years ago, but Jonathan Larson the artist is immortal. He’s all around us, reminding us “to give in to love, or live in fear.”

Light a candle for him. No Day But Today.

♥️♥️

Love, Grief, Hope, Hurt, Morality, Friendship, Growth, Fear. Larsons words tend to meet you exactly where you are, reinventing and reincarnating themselves consistently like a phoenix.

And yet, what he managed to say in a single musical and an autobiographical rock monologue has been enough to inspire an entire generation of dreamers. When writing this post I tried to think about which facets of life he spoke on most, but the honest answer is: all of it.

I think about Jonathan a lot. The impact his work, his words and his philosophy have had on me is immeasurable. I think about all the Larson musicals we never got to see. I think he would have had so much to say about the world over the last 30 years.

30 years “Without You” 🧵

Today is the 30th anniversary of Jonathan Larson’s tragic death. It’s also of course eve of the 30th anniversary of the first preview of his first ever fully produced musical, one that would go on to “wake up a generation” of lovers, dreamers and me.

Dear Ariana fans, this is a TERRIBLE musical and the writer is v v problematic and you should absolutely NOT buy tickets and if you accidentally do I will take them off you to save you from ridicule.

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So here's to you. Thank you for adding your light, your love, your humanity.
Let us keep strong in our belief in good. Let us celebrate our shared illumination. Most importantly...let us keep screaming light…

You also don't need permission to rest. if your light feels dimmed, take a moment to recharge. Be open to acts of light upon you and cheer on the others.

Don’t burnout, we need you ready for the long battle ahead.

I want you to know you can do this, but you don't need someone else's validation or permission to do what you know is right.

Light doesn't need instruction or authority to illuminate.

Know that your acts of light, big or small, are making a difference. Even if it feels like a void right now, don’t underestimate how far your light can travel.

A star can seem tiny from a distance but it will illuminate the sky of humanity.

So here’s to all who hold that love in their hearts and shine their light on the world. But who are those people?

Plot twist: If you've read this far, I’m probably talking about you.

I truly believe that for every voice of hatred being amplified by the media, there are a thousand voices of love and light. It can feel like you're screaming into the void at times. Like no one can hear you or see what you're seeing.

We need to celebrate those people.

✨✨✨✨

Here’s a 🧵 to toast those making the
world a little bit lighter right now.

It’s all a bit heavy, right now, isn't it?
relentless. unfathomable. anger. grief. worry and then... numb. Hard not to get caught in a slipstream of darkness, an abyss of doom.

I don’t think it’s acknowledged enough that Jennifer Saunders sang one of the greatest covers of all time tbh.

Went to cinema this week and the screen had a broken sound system but they just ran the film and expected viewers to be ok with it. This really hurts cinema. If theaters are to survive, they need to ensure the movie-viewing experience is better than people have access to at home.

I was today years old when I realised “Fiyero” rhymes with “scarecrow”.

Release the Frankenstein files!!

Plot twist when Netflix and Parmount stop fighting over Warner and realise they can be friends and make their own Law Firm.

There’s an absolute monster in the White House.

The story of a guy who grew up amongst humans, only to be bullied and eventually become a pot bellied outcast hell bent on punishing the world below with the help of his dog, only to be outwitted by a female child and some Christmas lights.

👀

Was struggling to work out how this song from the Lion King was related to “Fall” but then I remembered how he…

This is sensational work

This all traces back to the original incel, Jud Fry.

I rarely disagree with the Witch in Into The Woods but to be really honest, I do want your bread.

Some of y’all never watched “All Dogs Go To Heaven”, and it really shows…

Next time someone tells you “musicals are stupid, people don’t just randomly break out into song”, look at them like they’ve gone clinically insane and say “what do you mean they don’t?” and walk away like you’re really concerned.

Et tu, Elon?

Ellen and Donny breakup gonna get messy. Handbags at dawn.