Show shake-up: Spring musical switches from "Violet" to "Tick, Tick... BOOM!"
Show shake-up: Spring musical switches from "Violet" to "Tick, Tick... BOOM!"
Following a smaller cast turnout, the show was changed by director Karen Robu to fit a smaller cast in a rock and roll style.
This past November, auditions were held for the spring musical, “Violet,” and The Collegian reported on the theme and styles of the potential musical. However, due to a small cast turnout, “Violet” was no longer feasible as Bethel’s spring musical production; instead, it has gone in a very different, rock and roll direction.
The current show, “Tick Tick… BOOM!,” is a massive change from “Violet” in both style and genre. Written by musical icon Johnathan Larson, who wrote the popular musical “Rent,” the show is a three part rock and roll musical monologue of Larson’s life and struggles as a playwright. The show centers around Jon Larson, and also features his girlfriend Susan, his best friend Mike, and various other interactive roles such as customers, actors, Jon’s parents, and “West Side Story” writer Steven Sondheim.
Director Karen Robu is still excited to put on a show like “Tick Tick… BOOM!”
“The main reason that I chose this show is that I felt it suited the performers we have,” said Robu. “This show is about following your dreams and accepting risk. It addresses the fear I think a lot of people have about whether or not they are ‘good enough.’ It looks at the anxiety that comes with aging and feeling like you are never going to accomplish all you'd hoped to accomplish in your youth.”
Backing Robu is choir director Henry Waters, who will be doing vocal work with the performers as well as directing the band. Waters showed excitement for this musical, and is prepared to work with his small cast of singers for the next several months.
Damon Klassen is also returning as props and sets designer, and his class of Theater Practicum students will again act as stage hands, ushers, lights and sounds managers, and various other backstage jobs.
“Tick Tick… BOOM!” has enjoyed a resurgent moment in pop culture recently, thanks to a movie musical uploaded to Netflix directed by “Hamilton” writer Lin Manuel Miranda in his directorial debut in November of 2021. The movie features a slightly altered script, making it mildly different from the original musical by Larson. In the movie, Andrew Garfield stars as Jon Larson, and provides a short history of the life and death of Larson himself.
Though different, the movie uses the same plotline and a majority of the songs and lines from the original musical script, and has seen massive success. It clocks in at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and, despite being released late in the year, was named one of the best movies of 2021. Though the selection of “Tick Tick… BOOM!” has nothing to do with the Netflix movie, Robu still has a lot of excitement for this show, saying, “It is new to me, which is exciting.”
The musical is an hour and a half long one-act show, and will have a three day showing halfway through the spring semester on March 24, 25, and 26. This emotional roller coaster is set to a rock and roll beat, and thanks to its movie musical counterpart, the excitement for this show is at an all-time high.
Robu has one main goal in mind when the curtains close on “Tick Tick… BOOM!” this spring: “My goal is to put on the best production possible. I would love for students watching the show to say ‘That was so fantastic — I want to audition next year.’”