Tick, Tick … Boom!  – Compromise or Continue

Jun 11, 2024 by

By Sue Weston and Susan Rosenbluth, Two Sues on the Aisle

In its own way, Tick, Tick… Boom!, the late-Jonathan Larson’s semi-fictionalized autobiographical rock musical, is a paean to the role of Jewish writers and composers on Broadway. It begins with a Jewish not-yet-thirty composer and writer, increasingly aware of the passage of time as he seeks success in a highly competitive field, and ends with the mention of praise from Stephen Sondheim, the most iconic of Broadway writers and composers who also just happened to be Jewish—and was, not so coincidentally, the real Jonathan Larson’s hero and role model.

No wonder  Tick, Tick… Boom!’s Act I finale, “Sunday” is based on the similarly placed piece from Sondheim’s musical, Sunday in the Park with George. It was obviously conceived as a humorous homage to Sondheim.

 In the current production of Tick, Tick…Boom! at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, Jon, played by the very talented Daniel Marconi, struggles to create a successful musical before his 30th birthday, only a week away. He misses the deadline.

The Dilemma

Set in New York City in 1990, the story gives us a talented, determined creative type, steeped in achieving the American dream of success (however that is defined). He, therefore, must contend with two opposing forces: His desire to compose for a living and his knowledge that it’s not the most reliable way to support a wife and children, which he also wants.

The show takes its title from the anxiety the protagonist experiences while working on his sci-fi operetta, Superbia, the actual name of an unproduced musical the real Larson worked on for six years, based on George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

As in real life,  Tick, Tick… Boom!’s protagonist has gained recognition as an up-and-coming talent, but that’s not enough to ensure the success of this current endeavor. His dancer girlfriend, Susan (Cathryn Wake) decides to take a teaching position away from New York; his best friend, Michael (John Yi) has abandoned his acting career in favor of financial success as a marketing professional—and is encouraging Larson to follow suit.

What To Do?

The decision taken by the play’s Jon is the same seized by the real one, and if fate in the form of an aneurysm had not intervened, Tick, Tick… Boom! would be a happy reminder that, when possible, sticking to one’s dreams may be worth the sacrifice, or at least finding a compromise the individual can live with is.

The real-life Jonathan Larson never had to relinquish his dream. Even while working on Superbia, he began creating a musical inspired by Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème, in which the Bohemian lives of young creative-types in nineteenth-century Paris were placed with those of late-twentieth century Lower East Side New York. The heroine would die not of tuberculosis but AIDS.

Larson died the day before Rent’s first preview performance, a week before his 36th birthday.

Cathryn Wake, Daniel Marconi, and John Yi

The production in New Brunswick moves quickly across time and succeeds in making the audience grateful Larson did not compromise. We know what the play’s protagonist created next; we can only imagine what the real one would have.

Because providing inspiration for anyone who has a dream is worth encouraging, Two Sue’s on the Aisle gives this production of Tick, Tick… Boom! five challahs. It is worth buying five challahs rather than making them in order to see this show.

 

Next at the George Street Playhouse – The Arthur Laurents Theater

  • What the Constitution Means to Me – September 24 – October 13, 2024
  • Gene & Gilda – December 3 – 22, 2024
  • Small – January 21 – February 9
  • King James – March 18 – April 6

As always, The George Street Playhouse is an intimate venue to experience the wonder of live theater located conveniently in the heart of New Jersey.

******

Two Sues on the Aisle bases its ratings on how many challahs (1-5) it pays to buy (rather than make) to see the play, show, film, book, or exhibit being reviewed.

Tick, Tick .. Boom! received 4 Challahs

Run Time: One hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.

four challah rating

Four Challah Rating

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