(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- George Street Playhouse continues its 50th anniversary season with a fantastic production of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick… BOOM! There are many universal themes in theatre, but one that holds true for many is the theme of this wonderful play - the way we feel the impending deadline we’ve given ourselves to succeed in life.
tick, tick… BOOM! is the story of Jonathan Larson as he works on his musical, Superbia. Daniel Marconi is brilliant as Jonathan, a playwright attempting to write his generation’s defining musical. The songs in his head are rock and roll based instead of traditional show tunes, which makes finding a producer extremely difficult. He doesn’t want to just write a great musical, he wants to change musical theater itself.
Set in New York City in 1990, Jonathan has a workshop for his musical Superbia and his agent has promised that some very interesting people will be in attendance. He needs the workshop to be successful as his girlfriend Susan (played by Cathryn Wake) wants them to leave the city for New England to lead a more normal life and his friend Michael (played by John Yi) is pressuring him to enter the workforce and join his company. Making things worse is the fact that his 30th birthday is rapidly approaching; hence, the ticking bomb he hears in his head each day. And suddenly the idea of owning a BMW and a dishwasher are quite appealing to him.
Both Wake and Yi play a number of side characters throughout the play. The two are hilarious as Jonathan’s agent and his father. While both are very good in their main characters, it’s the side characters that form an important part of why the play works so well.
One of my favorite aspects of the musical is how the play runs at a rather frantic pace - the set serves as everything from Jonathan’s apartment to the diner when he works; there’s Michael’s car and the office where Michael works; and the theater where Superbia has its workshop. Tiny changes keep everything moving quickly. The ferocious pace perfectly matches the deadline pressure Jonathan faces before his birthday.
The production is directed by David Saint, George Street Playhouse’s Artistic Director, who has a very personal connection to the play and its playwright. Saint worked alongside Larson for years on tick, tick… BOOM! and RENT and was a close friend of his. Prior to the opening, Saint was understandably emotional as he spoke of his late friend and the development of the play. Larson tragically died the day before the first Off-Broadway preview performance of RENT at the age of 35. Seeing tick, tick… BOOM! is a reminder of his genius.
The mixture of songs in this play is what I love. It’s like running through the channels on a car stereo and coming across every type of rock and roll song. You can just imagine the wonderful music playing in Larson’s head. He didn’t commit to one musical style - he wanted to own them all. And when he has two or three of the actors singing simultaneously, he does. The songs become layered in a way that's absolutely mesmerizing.
And the musicians providing the live sound on stage are absolutely terrific. This is one area in which the difference between George Street’s old home and its new one at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center stands out. The acoustics in the venue are tremendous here. Sound becomes the fourth cast member and is allowed to shine. Credit goes to Sound Designer, Dan Moses Schreier, for an outstanding job.
In 2004, George Street Playhouse first performed tick, tick… BOOM! and it was one of the first plays I ever reviewed for Upstage Magazine. At the time, I was just a few years older than Jonathan’s character; still dreaming of writing the Great American Novel. I wondered how the play would hit me twenty years later now that I’m looking back at turning 30 rather than having recently been there; with the novel still banging around in my head rather than being sold in a bookstore…
This performance of tick, tick… BOOM! hit me just as hard and remains one of my favorite musicals of all-time. For me, it’s the memories of that clock ticking and waiting for the bomb to explode. You remember the pressures you placed upon yourself and can look back with a certain fondness and smile. In the end, life isn’t so much about succeeding as it is in trying to follow your dreams. The words of John Lennon were ringing in my ears as I left the theater - “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”
So whether you’re hearing that ticking in your head or those days are long gone, tick, tick… BOOM! is highly recommended.
tick, tick… BOOM! is presented by George Street Playhouse in the Arthur Laurents Theater at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (11 Livingston Avenue ) through May 19, 2024. Tickets and more information are available here.
All photos by T. Charles Erickson
