All About tick, tick... BOOM!

tick, tick... BOOM! is the autobiographical story of the creator of Rent and the sacrifices he made to achieve his big break in theatre. With pressure from his best friend and girlfriend to take a different path in life, Jonathan Larson had some big decisions to make on the eve of his thirtieth birthday. But his commitment to get his play staged and his unending passion for the world of theatre, gave Larson the courage to pursue his dream of seeing Rent staged one day on Broadway.

The storyline for tick, tick... BOOM! mirrors Larson's journey from writing to staging Rent, though it uses a fictitious musical. The portrayal of the playwrights aspirations and anxieties are, however, based on what he felt while creating Rent. It was first performed as a rock monologue by Larson but reworked into a three-actor piece by David Auburn after Larson's untimely death.

Larson's Broadway Dream

Larson began work on Rent with playwright Billy Aronson in the late 1980s, and went on to finish the musical alone whilst waiting tables at a New York City diner. His 'rock musical for the MTV generation' went on to win four Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tragically, Jonathan Larson passed away on the morning of Rent's first Off-Broadway preview.