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.