The film adaptation of musical theatre icon Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical rock monologue turned musical was released to rave reviews from the theatre community on Nov. 12, 2021. After the many disappointments of most movie musicals released in recent years, such as Camilla Cabello’s “Cinderella” and Netflix’s “The Prom” adaptation, “tick, tick… BOOM!” felt like a breath of fresh air.
The Jonathan Larson biopic is based on Larson’s second major project in his unfortunately short life. The first was his original musical entitled “Superbia,” which he was never truly able to produce. He then wrote “tick, tick… BOOM!” about how it was unsuccessful.
His third major project was “Rent,” a musical that would change the definition of what muscat theatre can be and is one of the most masterful pieces of contemporary theatre. Unfortunately, Larson never got to see his dream of being an influential musical theatre composer come to fruition, as he passed away the night “Rent” began previews on Broadway.
After his death, “tick, tick… BOOM!” was adapted into a musical, which Lin Manuel Miranda turned into the motion picture we see on Netflix. I think that this was a beautiful tribute to someone who shaped the theatre community, and much of that came from the brilliant casting of Andrew Garfield in the role of Larson himself.
It is no secret that Garfield can act. His iconic performances as Spiderman in “The Amazing Spiderman” series as well as his other projects such as “The Social Network” and “Hacksaw Ridge,” not to mention his Broadway play experience for which he won a Tony Award playing in “Angels in America” are more than enough to prove his chops. However, this was Garfield’s first time putting his incredible singing ability onto the stage or screen.
“Andrew Garfield proves his acting chops once again and shocks the audience with his singing skills,” says Senior Nicholas Seyfried, agreeing with the sentiment.
While his singing is certainly easy on the ears, what I was most impressed with in Garfield’s performance was his physicality. We have videos of Larson performing “tick, tick… BOOM!” himself in the ’90s, and footage of him at his job at the Moonlight Diner, and comparing Larson’s movements with Garfield’s, they are spot on, contributing to how easily audiences are pulled into the world. The Golden Globe he won for Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) was certainly well deserved.
Not to say that Garfield was the only member of the cast making the movie incredible all around. I was also particularly impressed by Robin de Jesus’s performance as Michael, Vanessa Hudgens’ performance as Karessa, and Joshua Henry’s performance as Roger. Overall, it was an incredibly well-told story and I really commend Lin Manuel Miranda’s directing.
“I feel like “Tick, Tick… BOOM!’ perfectly sums up the life of a theatre kid. It touches on the hard life of performers who are trying to get their work on Broadway, it shows the dedication we theatre kids put into our craft and how our drive to succeed can ultimately distract us from the truth of how hard it is to break into a very centralized industry. I greatly enjoyed the movie and was captivated by Miranda’s telling of his story.” Says senior and musical theatre aficionado Nicolette Aarons.
Overall if you are in the mood for a movie musical or even just a movie in general, I cannot recommend “Tick, Tick… BOOM!” enough. The combination of Larson’s original music, the cast’s brilliant storytelling, and Lin Manuel Miranda’s incredible directing make it one of the most incredible modern movie musicals produced. It’s a picture that I will never be able to watch enough.