Jeffrey Parker plays aspiring composer Jon, based on the pre-“Rent” career of playwright/composer Jonathan Larson, in the Theater for the New South production of “Tick, Tick … Boom!”IF YOU GO¦ What: “Tick, Tick … Boom!” by Theater for the New South.¦ When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 9-10; and Thursday-Sunday, May 15-18.¦ Where: Jim G. Lewis Studio Theater, UTC Fine Arts Center, 752 Vine St.¦ Admission: $20.¦ Website: theaterforthenewsouth.com.
Theater for the New South returns to its original venue to present the first musical in its three-year history. Jonathan Larson’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!” will be presented in six performances over the next two weekends, May 9-10 and 15-18, in the Jim G. Lewis Studio Theater in the UTC Fine Arts Center. The UTC Theatre Company is co-sponsoring the production.
Larson’s name is most often associated with the Broadway blockbuster “Rent.” “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” his only other musical, is the autobiographical tale that follows the playwright/composer on the journey that led to that Pulitzer Prize and three-time Tony Award winner.
In “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” Larson takes a voyage of personal discovery, summoning the courage to follow a dream as he faces the looming age of 30. The main character, Jon, worries that he has made the wrong career choice to be part of the performing arts.
A persistent ticking sound can be heard as he introduces himself. “The sound you are hearing is not a technical problem,” he explains to the audience. “It is not a musical cue. It is not a joke. It is the sound of one man’s mounting anxiety. I am that man.”