Tick, Tick…Boom! has a bit of pretzel logic built into its core—it’s an adaptation of a stage show by Jonathan Larson that is also a deeply affectionate tribute to Larson, a mostly true biopic about Larson, and an origin story for the Larson who would eventually burst onto the Broadway scene with Rent.
“I was in touch with Stephen Sondheim at every stage of this, cause so much of Tick, Tick…Boom! is a love letter to Sondheim, the way this movie is my love letter to Jonathan Larson—with links in a chain in that regard,” says director Lin-Manuel Miranda on this week’s Little Gold Men podcast.
I saw this musical about this community fighting gentrification, using contemporary music to tell the story, and that’s exactly what I tried to do with my community in upper Manhattan with, In the Heights, it was a one-to-one ratio of inspiration.
And now I’m a senior at Wesleyan University, and I’m studying theater and here’s this off-Broadway posthumous production of Tick, Tick…Boom! starting the brilliant Raul Esparza, channeling Jonathan Larson in his own way.
And the world is gonna tell, you know, over and over and over again, do you really want to do this, knowing that the world will probably not notice what you’re making in your lifetime? And my answer to that was yes, and it strengthened my resolve.
I met her as a young executive then, and she came to me in 2016 and said, “I have the film rights to Tick, Tick…Boom! And I have the blessing of Julie Larson and the Larson estate.” And as soon as I got that email, two things happened at the same time.
I’ve never directed a movie, but if I know anything, it’s, it’s what it feels like to try to get a show on in your 20s, what it feels like to have the weight of your own expectations and a show in your head and the gulf between the musical only you can hear and the things that need to go right for anyone else to hear it.
And I was performing the show with two collaborators from my past and my future: Karen Olivo, who was my colead in In The Heights, and Leslie Odom Jr., who was my future colead in Hamilton.
And the other thing that I took away from that production more than the production itself—which was directed by Oliver Butler and was a really just joyous experience, and I’m forever grateful to Jeanine Tesori, who curates Encores Off-Center for believing I could do it—was going from backstage to the postshow reception and meeting all the real figures in Jonathan’s life.
I sat down with Roger Bart, because if you watch any footage of Jonathan Larson performing Boho Days, his original rock monologue, you can see Roger Bart sitting in the back singing high harmonies.
One of the things he gave me was, I think, one of the most important insights into Jonathan, which was Jonathan could be impatient and he could be frustrating and he could be self-obsessed with his work.
And actually, there’s a scene in the movie where Michael and Jon are driving in the car, and his fake CNN music is playing out of the radio.
But yeah, I mean, honestly, what we wanted to do was paint as complete a picture as possible, because Jonathan in writing this was attempting to create a self-portrait of the artist as a young man.
And you know, it was important for me to find balance in those because Jonathan is a very unreliable narrator when he is performing this show.
And you know, there was a lot of opportunity to flesh that out—because if his girlfriend’s a dancer, which she was, dancers hear the ticking of a clock way louder than anybody else.
I think that sometimes in the casting of productions of Tick, Tick…Boom! I’ve seen, they always sort of cast someone who looks totally at home in the business world.
And so again, making these as a more plausible roads that Jonathan could go down and find happiness, if you so chose, were it not for the calling that is, that is somewhere inside him, and the ticking that is somewhere inside him.
So Jonathan has this very kind of black and white worldview, where you’re an artist or a sellout.
But I think a greater lesson of this is if you can find space for the thing you love, you will live a good life.
And hopefully I’m inspiring lots of kids, but I know I’m writing songs at the end of the day because I would be doing that if no one was watching.
I saw him in Angels in America, which, by the way, is also set around the same time as Tick, Tick…Boom! It’s set amidst the plague of the AIDS crisis.
And I’m terrified to do, but have always wanted to explore.” And then I knew we were fine, because Andrew Garfield does whatever he needs to do to embody whatever character he’s playing.
I knew Liz Caplan was like the great voice guru in New York, and doesn’t worry about teaching you how to “sing,” quote, unquote.
And watched him grow until he was, you know, fearlessly, pounding away at a piano and singing at the top of his lungs by the time cameras are ready to roll.
So I wanted to see if you could tell us a little bit about filming the “Sunday” sequence, which is this incredible collection of Broadway performers, legends and newer talents.
Again, every musical number here’s a lesson.
And, you know, “Helpless” and “Satisfied,” I was like, “Okay, we reserve the right to play with time and rewind a moment if we need to to tell you this story.” With “10 Duel Commandments,” it was like, all right, I know this seems super weird, but this was actually super common in the era in which this show is set.
And I have the opportunity as a filmmaker to fill that out as a choir, every bit as loud as the one at the end of act one of Sunday in the Park With George.
I only jumped in because the person I had in that role backed out because of COVID.
But I also, as the kids say, I wanted Jonathan to have this like, galaxy brain moment where he can kind of corral singers from the past, present and future.
I was in touch with Stephen Sondheim at every stage of this, cause so much of Tick, Tick…Boom! is a love letter to Sondheim the way this movie is my love letter to Jonathan Larson—with links in a chain in that regard.
So there’s internal cuts inside of “Swimming”; there’s references to blue eyes and blonde hair, and we did not have a white actress playing Susan.
But yeah, other than cuts, it’s all Jonathan’s work, and it’s even Jonathan Larson’s score.
Like, oh, if Susan hadn’t shown up at his apartment that day, would he have written “One Song Glory” that night? It would be a piece of Superbia.
They’ve only intensified.
Not always spending our twenties on a musical that no one will ever make—although sometimes it’s that—but how do you get back up, and how do you make the next thing? And I think that is universal, and that’s what Jonathan was processing.
And I think that’s the lesson I tried to take into my life as I’m talking to you about Tick, Tick…Boom! I have another movie I’ve spent five years writing the score for, Encanto, that comes out the week after, because pandemic shifted everything to the same time.
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