tick..tick...boom! 

Written by Jonathan Larson

Directed by Hannah Chissick

Starring Paul Keating, Julie Atherton, Leon Lopez

Date: May 15 2009

Venue: Duchess Theatre

 

Review and Retrospective by Alain English

 

I first heard of the Notes From York series back in Christmas 2008.  I found out about it through the Internet and studying the theatre scene for something to go and see.  I thought "Christmas in New York" looked interesting - a concert of seasonal songs, some popular songs and some less well-known, sung by a cast of experienced professional performers.  Asides from Lorna Want, who I'd seen and liked in "Evita" two years previously, I did not know any of the other performers or anything about the company behind the show.   Nevertheless, it seemed like the right thing to go along to and I was very impressed by the production. 

 

Since Christmas, I kept track of the company's activities through the Internet.  As a writer, I was especially intrigued at the company's commitment to new writing in musical theatre.  I come from Aberdeen originally, and although my main strengths as a performer involve Shakespeare and poetry, musical theatre is the main source of theatre in Aberdeen and I did quite a lot of it before moving to London four years ago. "Tick...Tick...Boom!" was one of two shows being staged at the Duchess by the company, the other being "The Last Five Years".  I read Julie Atherton's interview in "The Stage" a week before "The Last Five Years" was staged and I agree with her comments about there needing to be new life and new writing injected into musical theatre.

 

Unfortunately, I missed "The Last Five Years" due to time and financial constraints but I was very intrigued by the concept of it: looking at two perspectives of a relationship, one going forwards in time, and the other backwards.  I can't believe "The Stage" reviews classed this as Light Entertainment as what I saw last night was most definitely Musical Theatre.

 

"tick...tick...boom!"  was a very inventive piece, being a three-hander with the actors playing other minor roles as well as their principal characters.  I was especially intrigued by the staging, with books piled around a piano, which conveyed the madness and poverty of the creative lifestyle pursued and indeed endured by it's lead character.  A scenic backdrop with a portrait of sound algorithms felt appropriate, but I did not understand why the chair was spotlighted for our attention as the audience came in.

 

The show ran for ninety minutes without an interval, so full credit to leading actor Paul Keating, who played Jonathan.  Onstage for almost the entire length of the show, he was consistently energetic in engaging onstage.  His romance with Julie Atherton's Susan was touching and believable.  Both Julie and Leon Lopez, playing Jonathan's long-time friend Micheal, had multiple minor roles around their central characters and kept more or less the same costumes during the show..  Occasionally this was effective.  English actor Julie Atherton has a very believable New York accent and did a very comical turn as Michael's sardonic agent.  Leon Lopez, a fine actor, did very well as Michael and had a good turn as a shop assistant in the number "Sugar".  Unfortunately, in part due to his playing of other roles, his main one as Michael was not sufficiently developed enough for the tragic twist in his story to have any real effect.  The character's fate is also left hanging, without the resolution accorded the other two characters.

 

The musical numbers are well sung and performed, and quite a few of them are very well written.  I liked the romantic duets between Susan and Jonathan and it took an effort of will to stop myself singing the closing number "Louder than Words" on my way out of the theatre.  The late Jonathan Larson, who also penned "Rent", has fashioned a sequel of sorts to "Fame", with the types of young artists portrayed in that story now struggling and facing an uncertain future and difficult choices.  No offence to Larson, who did indeed become successful before his untimely death, but I would have preferred some more ambiguity in Jonathan's ultimate fate.  The phone call he receives from Stephen Sondheim at the end was just a little too convenient for my liking.   

 

Flawed, certainly, but very well performed and it was interesting to watch.  I'm hoping Notes From New York and companies like it around London pave the way for new pieces of writing in musical theatre to be staged and performed with the same kind of invention and exuberance on display here.