Review: (Montreal) Tick, Tick...Boom!

Before Rent: Larson’s autobio Tick, Tick... BOOM!
A sharp cast and quartet sometimes strains, but otherwise hits the mark

by Sarah Deshaies

@sarahdeshaies

That ever-lasting question: to be a poor starving artist with a small shot at fame and riches, or to switch into a more lucrative, secure (and maybe heartless) profession.

Jonathan Larson, known best for rock opera Rent, was deliberating this very question as a young, struggling composer living in Manhattan in the ‘90s. Tick, Tick… BOOM! happened along before Larson became known for composing and writing Rent, the modern incarnation of La Bohème, as lived by boho artists scraping by in Alphabet City. Before Rent won a Pulitzer, a Tony and grossed hundreds of millions at the box office.

And as Larson tragically died of aortic dissection the night before Rent’s Off Broadway premiere in 1996, Tick, Tick… BOOM! is a lasting self-portrait of a struggling artist, a snapshot of his life when success was only a tantalizing glimmer in the future. Before the riches and fame did not quite arrive. For Rent fans, it’s a must-see peek into Larson’s psyche.

The Question... Jon Corkal on directing Tick, Tick...Boom!

When Something...Clicks!
by Estelle Rosen

Jon Corkal was raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and although a relatively late-joiner to the theatre world, he immediately fell in love with it. Tick, Tick…Boom! may be his first venture in creative direction, but he has been involved in numerous productions (in varying roles) in the past few years.  Some of his performance credits include West Side Story, Company, Sweeney Todd, and Anything Goes, as well as musical direction for The Certainly Not Sullivan Cabaret and Party Worth Crashing: A Concert (Asst. MD).  He has done both creative and musical direction for Tuesday Night Café’s (TNC)  upcoming production of Tick, Tick…Boom!, premiering October 16, 2013  at TNC Theatre.

CHARPO: There are several issues and reasons that would make Tick, Tick…BOOM an interesting consideration to open Tuesday Night Café (TNC) 2013-2014 season, not the least of which that it was written by Jonathan Larson. Tell us why this play was selected for TNC? 

CORKAL: Oddly enough, it wasn’t until quite recently that I was even first introduced to Tick, Tick…Boom!  I remember when I was told that it was written by Jonathan Larson, I thought I knew exactly what to expect: a show with a lot of energy that was likely too corny for its own good (I mean, what better product of the 90s was there than over-the-top cheesiness?). But in reading the script and listening to the score, I found something that just…clicked.  And it was more than just sharing the same name.

Review: (Toronto) Tick, Tick...Boom!

Ken Chamberland, Parris Greaves (photo: Vincent Perri)

Tick, Tick... Boom! goes off... eventually.
Jonathan Larson’s ‘other’ musical delivers on modest ambitions, even if it takes its time getting started.
by Christian Baines

There are few real-life musical theatre stories more tragic than Jonathan Larson’s. At least... stories about successful composers. His breakout hit Rent spoke to a generation of theatregoers – and in later years, let’s face it, hipsters. Though it proved Broadway musicals could both be critical darlings and box office gold, even in the 90’s, Larson would not live to enjoy its success, tragically passing away the night before Rent’s first Off-Broadway performance.

The show’s success however did open a crack in the window of opportunity for Larson’s other, lesser known musical, Tick, Tick... Boom!, which in a masterstroke of inventiveness follows a young musical theatre composer named Jon (Parris Greaves), who is turning 30 and still not self-sustaining in his artistic career.

Write what you know, they say.