tick, tick...BOOM!

by Jonathan Larson

Presented June 2006 at the Paris Hill Academy and August 2006 at the Schoolhouse Center for the Arts

Sponsored by New Balance Foundation.

Directed by Linda Sturdivant.

Jonathan's 30th birthday is coming right up and he is doing some serious soul-searching.

Should he give up his dreams of becoming a musical theater composer and move to New England as his girlfriend Susan wishes? Or should he sell out and take a well-paying corporate job on Madison Avenue, leaving his bohemian lifestyle behind?

This autobiographical show by Jonathan Larson was written five years before his 1996 show RENT became the most significant musical of that decade. Larson was touted as the voice of a new generation of Broadway composers and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Tragically, Larson died suddenly of a heart condition the night before RENT opened in New York and he never did see his dream fulfilled.

Although RENT has themes of AIDS and drug use at its core, tick, tick…BOOM! does not focus on these subjects. There is one very brief scene where Jon learns that his best friend has been diagnosed as HIV-positive followed by a song that is Jon's heartfelt reaction to this news. The show is primarily about Jon turning 30 and wondering if he should give up his artistic dreams in favor of a more comfortable life. It's passionate, funny, entertaining, and quite uplifting.

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