This afternoon, we drove down to the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood to see tick… tick… BOOM!, which was a local mounting of the Rubicon Theatre Production. For those unfamilar with the show, it is a show that Jonathan Larson wrote before Rent. It tells the story of Jonathan as he was approaching his 30th birthday and trying to decide what to do with his life. He was just getting to the point of workshopping Superbia, his closest friend and roommate was urging him to enter the marketing biz, as theatre wasn’t panning out, and his girlfriend was urging him to make a committment and move to New England. All of these pressures was forcing him to question his life. As he writes: “Into my hands now / The ball is passed / I want the spoils / But not too fast / The world is calling / It’s now or Neverland / Why can’t I stay a child forever?”.
The above is why the loss of Jonathan Larson was such a great loss. Here is a man who wrote such wonderful lyrics (such as the title of this post) that capture the essence of an idea or thought, without being the typical sap.
The show was originally a one-man production. Remounted, it is a three actor productions, with one character playing Jonathan consistently, and one male actor playing the other mostly male roles (primarily as Michael, Jonathan’s friend), and a female actor playing the female roles (primarily as Susan, Jonathan’s girlfriend). In the production I saw, Jonathan was played by Andrew Samonsky, Michael was played by Wilson Cruz (who played Angel in the Broadway cast of Rent), and Susan was played by Robin De Lano (who did a fantastic job). The production was directed by Scott Schwartz, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, with musical direction by Brent Crayon, Scenic and Costume design by David Farley, lighting by Jeremy Pivnic, and sound by Drew Dalzell.
I highly recommend this production; it was excellent. It will be playing at the Coronet until July 16th.
Next up on our theatre calendar: Corps at the Crest II in Newbury Park on 6/28; I Do! I Do! at the Pasadena Playhouse on 7/15, The Last 5 Years at the Pasadena Playhouse on 7/29, The Music Man at Cabrillo Music Theatre on 8/5, and Curtains at the Ahmanson on 8/26.
