tick, tick... BOOM!

Music, book, lyrics by Jonathan Larson | script consulting: David Auburn | vocal arrangements and orchestration: Stephen Oremus | original production of "tick, tick... BOOM!" in June 2001 off-Broadway by Victoria Leacock, Robyn Goodman, Dede Harris, Lorie Cowen Levy and Beth Smith | German version by Timothy Roller (2022)

Duration: 1 1/2 hours | no intermission | ages 13 and up

1990 in New York: Musical composer Jon turns 30 in a week and, to his great regret, has not yet landed a hit. As the pressure mounts, the Stephen Sondheim fan hears the clock ticking and worries about the meaningfulness of his life. Meanwhile, his friend Michael has given up his dream of being an actor and is now earning good money in a market research company. Jon's girlfriend Susan, a ballet dancer, mainly teaches and is ready to leave her life in New York behind: she would like to start a family. But Jon has not yet given up on his wish to end up on Broadway. He is betting everything on his current play "Superbia", which is about to have a workshop presentation.

Jonathan Larson originally conceived this profound rock musical as a solo "rock monologue" in 1990, thus creating a completely new genre. He finally achieved great success with his follow-up work "Rent" in 1996. "tick, tick... BOOM!" contains autobiographical elements: in addition to the name Jon, Larson was also 30 years old in 1990 and hoped for his breakthrough, which he unfortunately barely experienced as he died far too young on the day of the premiere of "Rent".