In 1988, as a playwright he wanted to create "a musical based on
Puccini's
La Bohème, in which the luscious splendor of Puccini's world would be replaced with the coarseness and noise of modern
New York." In 1989 he began a collaboration with
Jonathan Larson, and provided lyrics for
Rent, "I Should Tell You", and "Santa Fe". In addition to
Rent, he has written many
one act plays including "Light Years (one-act)", "Reunions", "The News", "Little Duck",
Of Two Minds,
Night Rules, and
In the Middle of the Night, which were performed in
Ensemble Studio Theatre Marathons. His short plays have been published in six volumes of "Best American Short Plays" and collected in "Funny Shorts". Full-length plays by Aronson include "Light Years" which premiered at Playwrights Horizons, "The Art Room" which premiered at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre and Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, and "First Day of School" which premiered at 1812 Productions and SF Playhouse, and was named Best New Play for a medium-sized theater by the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle in 2009. He also wrote the book for the
musical Click Clack Moo, which was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Best New Musical, and wrote the libretto for
Flurry Tale with composer
Rusty Magee which premiered at Malmo Opera in Sweden under the name "Vinteryra". He has written for many popular children shows, such as
Postcards from Buster,
Codename: Kids Next Door,
Wonder Pets!,
The Upside Down Show,
The Backyardigans,
Courage the Cowardly Dog, and co-created
Peg + Cat along with
Jennifer Oxley. He was also a writer on
Beavis and Butthead. His writing for television has won him 5 Daytime Emmy Awards. ==Personal life==