If you love theater, or RENT, or Stephen Sondheim, or Lin-Manuel Miranda you will most likely adore tick, tick...BOOM! You will most likely know that Jonathan Larson - who created RENT - died on the morning of its first preview. that tick, tick...BOOM! was another musical he performed as a rock monologue. After his death, the book of the musical was rewritten by David Auburn, and subsequently produced with small cast.
Autobiographical, tick, tick...BOOM! follows a struggling artist who aspired to create a great Broadway musical. Anyone who has artistic aspirations or inclinations, will appreciate it a lot.
Now, Miranda’s directorial debut is a slam dance powerhouse that explodes off the scene, Andrew Garfield providing terrific singing and acting skills as Larsen. He is surrounded by a glorious cast who fully populate the underbelly of New York in the 90’s, a bohemian period in which getting by as an artist meant long hours working in a dinner.
The music for Larson’s show never rises to the greatness of the score of RENT, and you may not come away from your experience with the film humming any of the songs. “Sunday,” Larseon’s homage to Stephen Sondheim’s classic song from the musical SUNDAY ON THE PARK WITH GEORGE, is populated with a cast of Broadway superstars, and is already considered a classic in Miranda’s hands.
It is Garfield’s performance that will remain with you, as his energy thrums and burns with the desire to create, only thwarted by money, and ultimately, time. I image people who love musicals will find themselves drawn to tick, tick…BOOM! again and again.