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tick, tick ... BOOM!
(Vocal Selections). An acclaimed three-person musical, tick, tick ... BOOM! is an autobiographical piece from the late Jonathan Larson, the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of Rent . Our songbook features 12 tunes from the production: Come to Your Senses * Green Green Dress * Johnny Can't Decide * Louder Than Words * No More * Real Life * See Her Smile * Sugar * Sunday * Therapy * 30/90 * Why.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
8 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Larson
40 books84 followersJonathan Larson was an American Tony Award-winning composer and playwright who lived in New York City and authored musicals, including Rent and Tick, Tick... BOOM!.
These musicals tackle serious issues such as multiculturalism, addiction, homophobia, and the AIDS epidemic. His artistic vision and goal was to fuse Generation X and the MTV Generation with the world of musical theatre in his work.
This mission was accomplished by his magnum opus, Rent, for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won four Tony Awards.
These musicals tackle serious issues such as multiculturalism, addiction, homophobia, and the AIDS epidemic. His artistic vision and goal was to fuse Generation X and the MTV Generation with the world of musical theatre in his work.
This mission was accomplished by his magnum opus, Rent, for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won four Tony Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 14, 2020
3.5/5 goodreads really does need a ‘half a star’ feature
“WHY DO WE STAY WITH LOVERS
WHO WE KNOW, DEEP DOWN
JUST AREN’T RIGHT?
WHY WOULD WE RATHER
PUT OURSELVES THROUGH HELL
THAN SLEEP ALONE AT NIGHT?”
Came across this little gem a couple of months ago because apparently Lin-Manuel Miranda was meant to direct the musical and production had just started when Covid-19 lockdown happened, and Lin-Manuel Miranda aka the ultimate king
Plus the Netflix production (yes, it’s a Netflix production) features Andrew Garfield in the role of Jon ( very curious to see this one ), Alexandra Shipp as Susan ( again, not disappointed ) and Vanessa Hudgens ( SWOON, another all time fav ).
Finally, THE PLAY. Well, it starts pretty slow, which is something I wasn’t expecting due to my previous experiences with Jonathan Larson’s works, but especially because Jon suffers from anxiety and as a person that suffers from anxiety as well, I can assure you, the first couple of pages wouldn’t have moved “so slowly”. But as the story progresses, the ticks and the booms, become more frequent, less diluted and noisier (at least they did in my head...), as the other characters move around the stage, and the scenes pass in front of your eyes, the tension grows and finally explodes at the end. It caught my eyes and mind.
Now, this piece is a little different from other works of his, and I have to admit it didn’t leave any important trace on me. No character was remarkable, probably Rosa, who reminds me of Estelle from Friends, but the story is quite nice and points out some pretty obvious, yet fair points.
Should we settle for security? Or should we struggle to be who we are?
Should we accept the love we know we don’t deserve? Should we love someone who doesn’t love us? Just for the security of it?
“WHY DO WE STAY WITH LOVERS
WHO WE KNOW, DEEP DOWN
JUST AREN’T RIGHT?
WHY WOULD WE RATHER
PUT OURSELVES THROUGH HELL
THAN SLEEP ALONE AT NIGHT?”
Came across this little gem a couple of months ago because apparently Lin-Manuel Miranda was meant to direct the musical and production had just started when Covid-19 lockdown happened, and Lin-Manuel Miranda aka the ultimate king
Plus the Netflix production (yes, it’s a Netflix production) features Andrew Garfield in the role of Jon ( very curious to see this one ), Alexandra Shipp as Susan ( again, not disappointed ) and Vanessa Hudgens ( SWOON, another all time fav ).
Finally, THE PLAY. Well, it starts pretty slow, which is something I wasn’t expecting due to my previous experiences with Jonathan Larson’s works, but especially because Jon suffers from anxiety and as a person that suffers from anxiety as well, I can assure you, the first couple of pages wouldn’t have moved “so slowly”. But as the story progresses, the ticks and the booms, become more frequent, less diluted and noisier (at least they did in my head...), as the other characters move around the stage, and the scenes pass in front of your eyes, the tension grows and finally explodes at the end. It caught my eyes and mind.
Now, this piece is a little different from other works of his, and I have to admit it didn’t leave any important trace on me. No character was remarkable, probably Rosa, who reminds me of Estelle from Friends, but the story is quite nice and points out some pretty obvious, yet fair points.
Should we settle for security? Or should we struggle to be who we are?
Should we accept the love we know we don’t deserve? Should we love someone who doesn’t love us? Just for the security of it?
March 13, 2019
guys i love raul esparza so much. please listen to therapy it’s so funny i love it. the Ste—— Sond—— Sunday parody. I love everything
March 28, 2022
Nothing but the best from MY best picture winner. ❤️
January 29, 2009
Jonathan Larson's appeal always sort of escapes me, and this show in particular seems pretty trite and, honestly, rather amateur. In fact, without the ominous specter of his sudden and tragic death hanging overhead (and that's hardly something he could have predicted) I rather doubt this play would be taken seriously as it doesn't exactly distinguish itself from any number of quasi-biographical slacker plays out there (except by feeling even more juvenile than a number of those). The characters are all very flat and unexecptional, and the resolution is just plain silly. Skip it.
October 27, 2022
Jonathan Larson was born in 1960. If, like me, you were born within a few years of him, I think you'll find tick, tick... BOOM! to be very much the musical of your generation. There's a moment, early in the piece, when its main character--who is, not at all coincidentally, a theater composer nearing his thirtieth birthday in January, 1990, when the show takes place--observes that what happens to people who have ideals is that they get shot or they get corrupted. Bingo: Larson has boiled down the experiences of American kids who lived through the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King when they were in elementary school and Watergate when they were entering high school. Kids older than us weren't kids anymore when Watergate hit, and kids younger than us didn't remember 1968.
On the surface, tick, tick... BOOM! seems very much a run-of-the-mill time-to-grow-up/oh-my-God-I'm-thirty-and-what-have-I-done-with-my-life sort of thing. Jonathan, its autobiographical central figure, has been trying to break through as a theater composer in New York City for years now, but he's still nothing more than a Promising Unknown (emphasis on the second word), he's still supporting himself working as a waiter at a local diner, and he's still living in a semi-squalid walk-up in Soho. His best friend Michael, on the other hand, has quit acting to become an upwardly mobile marketing exec, complete with designer suits, BMW, and fabulous new apartment. And his girlfriend, Susan, is ready to abandon her dreams of a dancing career and settle down in New England (where, she points out, she can have a dishwasher).
And Jonathan, preparing for an unwanted surprise party commemorating the end of three possibly squandered decades on the planet, and anxiously awaiting the workshop production of his latest musical "Superbia," keeps hearing tick, tick... BOOM! The ticking is some kind of biological clock tracking his life's progress (or lack thereof). The BOOM! is the explosion of his deepest, darkest nightmare: what if everything blows up before he has the time to do what he needs to do?
It's that BOOM! that sets this show apart: Jonathan's determination to do something important isn't mere earnestness, it's a crusade--one that will resonate, I am certain, with lots of people. The specter of AIDS, the defining plague of Larson's generation, makes an unsurprising entrance into the story near its end, putting the urgency of Jonathan's mission into sharper focus. And of course the whole piece is informed by what actually happened to the real Jonathan Larson, though thankfully we lost him only after he had delivered the work that, as he puts it here, may well have redefined the shape of musical theater for a new generation.
On the surface, tick, tick... BOOM! seems very much a run-of-the-mill time-to-grow-up/oh-my-God-I'm-thirty-and-what-have-I-done-with-my-life sort of thing. Jonathan, its autobiographical central figure, has been trying to break through as a theater composer in New York City for years now, but he's still nothing more than a Promising Unknown (emphasis on the second word), he's still supporting himself working as a waiter at a local diner, and he's still living in a semi-squalid walk-up in Soho. His best friend Michael, on the other hand, has quit acting to become an upwardly mobile marketing exec, complete with designer suits, BMW, and fabulous new apartment. And his girlfriend, Susan, is ready to abandon her dreams of a dancing career and settle down in New England (where, she points out, she can have a dishwasher).
And Jonathan, preparing for an unwanted surprise party commemorating the end of three possibly squandered decades on the planet, and anxiously awaiting the workshop production of his latest musical "Superbia," keeps hearing tick, tick... BOOM! The ticking is some kind of biological clock tracking his life's progress (or lack thereof). The BOOM! is the explosion of his deepest, darkest nightmare: what if everything blows up before he has the time to do what he needs to do?
It's that BOOM! that sets this show apart: Jonathan's determination to do something important isn't mere earnestness, it's a crusade--one that will resonate, I am certain, with lots of people. The specter of AIDS, the defining plague of Larson's generation, makes an unsurprising entrance into the story near its end, putting the urgency of Jonathan's mission into sharper focus. And of course the whole piece is informed by what actually happened to the real Jonathan Larson, though thankfully we lost him only after he had delivered the work that, as he puts it here, may well have redefined the shape of musical theater for a new generation.
Read
December 18, 2021I have to say I think the recent movie did a really good job elevating this story. I’m sure it would be better to watch in person rather than reading the script and I know it’s only one version of the show, but after seeing the movie this just feels so barebones and lifeless. It lacks the focus, tension, and emotion that I got from the movie, and I guess what this is really telling me is how good all the people involved in making that movie were in getting at the essence of this story and what makes it and Jonathan Larson special.
November 20, 2021
Admittedly bandwagon here. Watched the new movie last night and wanted to read the original book and lyrics to learn more.
I’m just left with more questions. It seems like Larson performed this before Rent, but also that it was sort of reconstituted after his death? How did his writings become this? And I’d love an oral history of how this became its most recent iteration in the hands of Lin-Manuel Miranda. About to do a real deep dive.
I’m just left with more questions. It seems like Larson performed this before Rent, but also that it was sort of reconstituted after his death? How did his writings become this? And I’d love an oral history of how this became its most recent iteration in the hands of Lin-Manuel Miranda. About to do a real deep dive.
July 2, 2023
Tick tick boom é meu grande vício
Eu sou completamente viciado no filme de Tick Tick Boom e acabei achando esse aqui em PDF num site por aí
basicamente é todo o roteiro com as músicas do jeito que foi montado o musical em 2001 e eu achei muito interessante de ler e perceber como os papéis são montados com pouco elenco, e como o universo basicamente pausa pra ele falar com o público
amo essa peça, quero ver mais teatro musical
Eu sou completamente viciado no filme de Tick Tick Boom e acabei achando esse aqui em PDF num site por aí
basicamente é todo o roteiro com as músicas do jeito que foi montado o musical em 2001 e eu achei muito interessante de ler e perceber como os papéis são montados com pouco elenco, e como o universo basicamente pausa pra ele falar com o público
amo essa peça, quero ver mais teatro musical
December 19, 2021
De mis obras favoritas... Todo inicio por la película de Netflix, aun así quise leer la obra, es increíble, y más al enterarme que es autobiográfico me dio mucho interés en conocer más del compositor, escritor.
Nada imprime más pasión que cuando se cuentan las experiencias vividas en carne propia.
Tiene muchísimo corazón la obra y me gustó mucho conocer a este autor.
Nada imprime más pasión que cuando se cuentan las experiencias vividas en carne propia.
Tiene muchísimo corazón la obra y me gustó mucho conocer a este autor.
January 2, 2022
3.5/5
Finished this after watching the film. It was great. I like how the narrator is completely unreliable. It's the first time I read the book of a musical and it was kinda weird but now I have my own notes and it was really interesting.
Finished this after watching the film. It was great. I like how the narrator is completely unreliable. It's the first time I read the book of a musical and it was kinda weird but now I have my own notes and it was really interesting.
February 1, 2022
I read this once after seeing a small production and having listened to the music many times over the years and decided to read it a few more times after seeing the Netflix movie and it was worth the reprise!
April 10, 2022
tick, tick… BOOM! has such a special place in my heart and has been my absolute favorite thing in the world for a few months now. I just love this so so much it’s so incredible I will never get over this at all.
June 18, 2022
CALIFICATION: 4.0 ESTRELLAS
Me gusto bastante, toca temas que en la epoca en la que el lo escribio apenas habian comenzado a dejar de ser tabu. btw, cuando comence a buscar mas informacion del autor me entere que murio super joven por una enfermedad indetectable.
Me gusto bastante, toca temas que en la epoca en la que el lo escribio apenas habian comenzado a dejar de ser tabu. btw, cuando comence a buscar mas informacion del autor me entere que murio super joven por una enfermedad indetectable.
August 8, 2023
“Jon? Steve Sondheim. Rosa gave me your number. Sorry we couldn't talk after the show, I had to rush out. Just wanted to say terrific work. Really. I'd love to get together and talk about it. Give me a call-and congratulations. You're going to have a great future.”
Puur kippenvel ❤️
Puur kippenvel ❤️
April 4, 2025
200 years from now, it's gonna be the artists like Larson who are remembered in the landscape of Musical Theatre and Drama in the late 20th century. His criminally small body of work is so painstakingly crafted and every note, every line, every scene is filled to the brim with love for this world and what it could be.
May 4, 2018
This is a very moving short play. Some of this really hits home facing the ups and downs of making a career.
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December 4, 2021Had to go back and reread this guy 😊
December 16, 2021
Was a pleasure to read this without the "distraction" of the music to concentrate just on words and telling a story which he does with such ease.
January 1, 2022
a very fun and quick amalgamation of the life of jon larson
January 25, 2022
My god, I think I might like the movie better??!?
April 24, 2022
Love it sm
March 3, 2024
This is amazing… I just… I love Broadway so much with all my heart and Jonathan Larson is just… I love learning about his creative perspective and I love looking up to him
May 10, 2024
such a great piece. jon will always hold a very special place in my heart
September 24, 2025
One of the best scripts I have ever read. I read this in one sitting, it was impossible to put down.
October 4, 2025
If there was one musical I get to talk about forever, it’s this one! Always gonna have a special place in my heart
February 20, 2022
This is the screenplay (by Steven Levenson) for the Netflix movie.
April 6, 2022
Another great musical by the late great Jonathan Larson this musical gives everybody a glimpse into what living in soho new York in the 80s and 90s
August 7, 2015
I've owned and been a fan of this musical (album on cd) since I first became a bit obsessed with Rent (Jonathan Larson's better known musical) back in 2002. Tick Tick Boom is essentially a musical auto-biography. I related to the story very much, at the time being in the same position of trying to decide whether to keep working creatively or give it up for a "real" job and career. I loved all the songs too but sadly I've never had the chance to see the show, apart from some you tube clips. So reading this book allowed me to finally learn the whole plot of the show. I would recommend it obviously for any Jonathan Larson fans, but also anyone struggling in the world of showbusiness. It can be hard to make a decision and decide what's the best balance when your heart is in the arts, but know you're not alone.
September 14, 2007
Just a green green dress thirty buttons and a strap...
August 13, 2016
I heard the soundtrack first - love that and this book. Book includes some pictures from the production. Material I could relate to. Wish I could have seen the production.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews