Teresa Castracane
Any fan of musical theatre worth their salt knows the name Jonathan Larson. Larson wrote one of the most influential musicals of all time, Rent, which has had a life on Broadway, national tours, international productions, community theatre productions, a movie and a ‘live’ TV special. Sadly Larson passed away suddenly the day before Rent‘s first off-Broadway performance so he never go to experience its impact or enjoy the financial success and comfort it would have brought him (Larson’s loft where he died had no heat). That show has become his signature work so you may be forgiven if, until recently, you’ve not heard much about the show he created two years before Rent, a one-man show originally titled 30/90, then Boho Days, and eventually its final title tick, tick… BOOM! Larson had performed the show himself a few times but it wasn’t until after his death that the script was reworked into a three-person show that premiered off-Broadway in 2001, followed by a West End production which starred Neil Patrick Harris as Jon. A film adaptation was released in 2021 by Netflix with Andrew Garfield as Jon (earning an Oscar nomination). Now the Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage program is presenting an all-new adaptation of tick, tick… BOOM! with an expanded cast, a re-orchestrated score, and direction by Neil Patrick Harris.
The story itself is very autobiographical. The main character is Jon (later seen on a screen as Jonathan Larson), a struggling New York City playwright who has been working on a show titled Superbia, but hasn’t made any ground with getting it produced and hasn’t heard from his agent in six months. While Jon struggles with his career, his best friend and soon-to-be former roommate Michael decided to give up the life of a theatrical artists — the two grew up together and did plays in school — for a lucrative career in marketing, netting him a swank new apartment with all the amenities, a cushy salary and a BMW … and Michael is pressing Jon to just give up the starving artist bit and come to work with him. At the same time, Jon’s girlfriend Susan — who is planning Jon’s 30th birthday party which he is also agonizing over — wants to bring up a conversation about the two of them moving to New England. Jon argues that to be a writer he has to be in New York and if she wants to be a dancer she has to be in New York. Susan corrects him and says she is a dancer and she will still be a dancer in New England, and he will still be a writer. All of this pressure makes Jon feel like he’d be a sell out if he gave up his dream to work for ‘the man’, but can he keep doing what he’s doing at the age of 30 and survive?
Jon finally agrees to go to work with Michael one day to get his feet wet. Michael’s team is in the process of coming up for a name for a new fat substitute that has no effect on the human body (shades of Olestra) but he can’t take any of it seriously and is asked to leave (embarrassing Michael in the process). It gets worse when Susan announces she has taken a job as a dance teacher in New England and Michael drops a devastating bomb on him, but Jon also finally has a workshop scheduled for Superbia, and he has to see this through. Perhaps this will finally be the break he’s been waiting for. Perhaps his idol whose name he dare not speak but can whisper (Stephen Sondheim) might somehow see the show and be more pleased with it than he was with Jon’s earlier work that got him raked over the coals by his idol, Stephen Sondheim. Will Jon get his happy ending?
If you’ve seen the movie version of tick, tick… BOOM!, this production will be a very different experience as it hews closer to the original staged production but also expands on that with the addition of an ensemble outside of the three main characters. The original staging had the Michael and Susan actors playing all of the other roles as well, so now they get to just focus on their main roles (although Denée Benton does also play Karessa Johnson, one of the actors in the workshop production of Superbia). The addition of the ensemble also means they get to do a lot more with the staging as they are responsible for moving various set-pieces around as well. It all works very well and is probably less jarring — and confusing — for the audience. They also get to show off their fantastic voices as they add some back-up to many of the songs.
Teresa Castracane
The three leads are superb. Brandon Uranowitz is Jon (compare a photo of him next to one of Larson and it’s spooky how much they look alike). I don’t know much about the real Jonathan Larson outside of what I’ve read, so I don’t know his personality but Uranowitz really infuses a lot of Woody Allen-like neuroses into the character, also giving him a real New York feel, but also manages to make him relatable to anyone who’s ever had a dream, any dream, that they felt was going to be impossible to attain, no matter how much work they put into it, questioning if that dream was worth following. The show rests firmly on his shoulders so if he doesn’t connect with the audience, all is lost. Uranowitz does a fantastic job or balancing Jon out, never making his neurotic behavior off-putting, making us sympathize with him when he gets one piece of bad news after another (don’t worry though, the show is not a downer). He delivers Larson’s songs well and with the right amount of emotion when needed, particularly shining in the humorous ‘Sunday’ (set at his job at the Moondance Diner, and an homage to Sondheim) and the heart-wrenching ‘Why’. I don’t know what kind of research Uranowitz — who reminded me of the great Chip Zien (both actors appeared in productions of Falsettos as Mendel) — did into the real life Larson or how much of his performance is based on Larson or if the characterization is purely a creation of his and Harris, but he is fantastic.
Grey Henson (Mean Girls, Book of Mormon, Shucked) is wonderful as Michael, both the comic relief and the voice of reason. He brings a lot of light humor to the role, but he also shows us how much Michael truly cares for Jon. His number with Uranowitz as Michael shows off his new apartment to Jon (‘No More’) is a hoot, and Michael’s big solo ‘Real Life’ just stuns through the power of Henson’s voice. Really goosebumps inducing. It’s clear from some video early in the show that Michael is gay, but Henson never goes too far over the top with his performance which I appreciated. I missed him whenever he was off stage, so that tells you what a wonderful performance Henson gives when you want more.
Denée Benton has what is probably the hardest, most unforgiving role in the show as Susan because she is always pushing Jon to just leave his dream behind and start a new life elsewhere. With her, of course. Susan could have been a one-note character but Benton gives Susan some complexity — she loves Jon, she wants him to succeed, she doesn’t want him to waste his or her life chasing a dream — so that the audience doesn’t dislike her. We also get to see her more playful side in the number with Jon, ‘Green Green Dress’, and the ‘Therapy’ song is another amazing duet with Jon and Susan on the phone with each other. One the flip side, Benton is totally playful as Karessa, especially when she bumps into Jon at a bodega and they sing about their love of Twinkies (‘Sugar’), and then she stops the show with her majestic, magnificent voice on the song ‘Come to Your Senses’ literally stops the show. Breathtaking, simply breathtaking. A little historic note — the song is performed during the workshop of Superbia, and is actually a song from the real 1984 Jonathan Larson musical of the same name which was never fully produced beyond some performances at Playwrights Horizons and a rock concert version.
Teresa Castracane
The direction by Neil Patrick Harris keeps the show ticking along with the assistance of the scenic design (Paul Tate Depoo III), the skilled lighting design (Cory Pattak), and the amazing video and projections (Nathan Scheuer) all working together seamlessly to make the show a visual experience as well as an aural experience with the top-notch sound design (Haley Parcher). Harris has a history with this show, and he obviously had a vision for it as well, helping Larson’s original concept breath and sing with the addition of the ensemble. His eye for casting his leads was impeccable, his creativity on full display through the work of his technical crew, his passion for the project fully ingrained in his leads. The various parts of the show come together, everyone working as one to show their passion for the project as well, succeeding magnificently. Last May, Broadway Center Stage presented a new production of Monty Python’s Spamalot which then went to Broadway. If there is any justice in this world, Harris’ vision of Larson’s tick, tick… BOOM! will get that same privilege.
tick, tick… BOOM! runs about 90 minutes with no intermission. The show runs through February 4, 2024 at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre in Washington DC.
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
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