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| Theatre.com February 8, 2001 |
The executive director of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, Diekmann said that tick, tick...BOOM! should greatly interest Rent-heads since the one-man show was one of Larson's early address of struggling-artist themes. The show was never recorded. There is no word yet on when the show will land Off-Broadway, or where. And it's not yet clear who will perform it. More details will be posted as soon as they are available. Before Rent, Larson himself performed his rock monologue tick, tick...BOOM! at Second Stage Theatre, The Village Gate and New York Theatre Workshop. It was one of the early shows the composer/lyricist/librettist had composed another musical. He wrote such shows as Sacrimoralimmortality and Superbia. Living lean in boho New York, tall, curly-haired Jonathan Larson was, according to ex-roommate Gregory Beals, "fiercely engaged with (that) multiracial, multisexual world, determined to bring it to the stage with sensitivity and affection." Born on Feb. 4, 1960, Larson grew up in White Plains (a suburb in New York) with his parents (Al and Nan) and older sister (Julie, she is five years older than he). One of his best childhood friends was Matt O'Grady. Both went to White Plains High School O'Grady inspired Larson to write Rent, and the character Angel in the Broadway hit is based on O'Grady. In addition, Grady reportedly inspired the role of "Michael" in tick, tick...BOOM! Developed at New York Theatre Workshop in 1994, Rent was revised and debuted in 1996. Previews started on Jan. 25, but Larson did not live to see it open. He collapsed in his apartment while making tea at 3 AM the night before opening, and died from aortic aneursym. Rent
officially opened at NYTW on Feb. 13, 1996, received rave reviews and went
on to open on Broadway at the Nederlander Theater on April 29, 1996. With
a new cast, Rent is celebrating its 2,000th performance on Sunday, Feb. |
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