TIK TIK BOOM FILM MOVIE

The show is semi-autobiographical, written by playwright and composer, Jonathan Larson, who went on to write the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Rent. Tick, Tick… Boom! started out as a “rock monologue” (AKA a one-man rock musical) before being developed into a still small and equally bare-bones three-actor piece.

TIK TIK BOOM FILM MOVIE

In a movie world now run by special effects and Marvel, there is much to admire in simplicity.In many ways, Tick, Tick… Boom! is a musical for musical-lovers a story for theatre people. Other times, we all want to burst out into song together, find joy in intimate parties, or want to cry over the work to be done. Sometimes work sucks, and a diner customer starts to become too demanding. These are all scenarios that most people face in their everyday lives, and tick, tick…Boom! puts faces, images, scenes, and music to experiences most of its viewers have lived through already.

It reminds us of the intricacies of what it means to be connected to people, whether it’s fighting with a significant other over what the future holds, a friend who has moved on to greener pastures, or a dear friend or coworker coming down with a threatening illness.

Some may say Rent is now dated, a portrait of the 90s, but it serves as an accurate portrait of working-class people and quote-unquote subcultures, like LGBTQ+ communities, of that era.Īs a stage show, tick, tick…Boom! is an extreme show of vulnerability, especially when Jonathan himself performed it when he was alive. His writing and songs would not be the way they were if he did not borrow from his lived experience, which is what made them so great and stood the test of time. Larson was not well-known for any of his previous works, and tick, tick…Boom! sets the viewer up to realize who he is as a human being. As a figure, there is a clouded smokescreen over the success of Rent and Larson, even if one does not know his name specifically. There is something beautiful about the way art, literature, and movies can replicate real life and the experiences of individuals, and tick, tick…Boom! does an excellent job of just that. Larson passed away the night before his magnum opus opened on stage despite seeming healthy. While his work was indicative of the experiences and time Larson lived through, he would not live to see the day when it finally opened on Broadway. Granted, it was a good thing he did not do that: the world would not have ended up with a piece like Rent. This creates push-and-pulls for Larson as he grapples with the thought of giving up a life in the arts for comfort. He pursued a job in marketing and managed to work his way up the food chain, giving up his dreams of being an actor. To make things worse, his best friend, Michael, has decided to move out of their apartment into a nicer apartment. He is about to hit 30 years old and has nothing to show for his life as a musical theater artist or playwright. The film adaptation hits even harder as Garfield’s Jonathan, struggling with money, writer’s block, and personal relationships, finds out that everything is not going as planned.

In his 30s, working at a New York City diner and living in an apartment that was not the nicest, it seemed like pursuing an artistic life led to many losses. Tick, tick…Boom! was originally developed as a stage show for Larson, the main character of the movie, to describe the period of his life when he felt like he was not going to get anywhere.

Tik tik boom film