Samantha M. Lawrence, Phillip J. Lewis and Ernesto Figueroa (all photos by Kayte Deioma)
International City Theatre in Long Beach has just concluded their three-week run of tick, tick…BOOM! The show started life as a one-person show by composer Jonathan Larson, created amid the frustration of his long-gestating musical Superbia never making it out of workshop hell. After Larson’s death, playwright David Auburn reworked the piece into a three-person musical which is what ICT presented. The lively musical was well directed by Kari Hayter who kept the momentum on high throughout the 90-minute running time. She was greatly aided by musical director Anthony Zediker on piano leading a four-piece onstage band. Ernesto Figueroa dominated the proceedings as composer Jon, nearing his 30th birthday with little to show for his composing career. Figueroa is never offstage, and his energy never flags. He is given good support by Samantha M. Lawrence as his girlfriend Susan, who is looking for more stability in her future, and by Philip J. Lewis as Michael, Jon’s roommate who sold out for the corporate life and wealth and is enjoying the perks in the little time he has left. The duo also plays a multitude of other minor characters. Matt Scarpino designed the concert like setting which includes a bohemian apartment and Donna Ruzika did her usual spot-on lighting design.
Ernesto Figueroa
I have often wondered if Rent would have been the success it became if Larson had not died suddenly and tragically at 36, the day before its first off-Broadway preview. If there ever was a cult musical, this one worshipped obsessively by devoted “rentheads” was it. Seeing tick, it is difficult to imagine its composer being the one responsible for Rent. Rent is so hard rock, with its on-stage band blasting so loud you can barely hear the lyrics, not that I that I felt the lyrics were worth hearing. I did not like Rent. Wait that is too mild. I loathed Rent. I remember turning to my Plus One at the opening performance of the National Tour at the Ahmanson Theatre and saying, “I would like to leave.” He refused and since he drove, I had to suffer through the second act and witness the resurrection of the screaming Mimi among other indignities. Despite all the subsequent offers of press comps to review the flood of touring and local productions, I have never seen Rent again.
Samantha M. Lawrence Ernesto Figueroa
Although Jon constantly says he wants to shake up Broadway and that he composes hard rock music, there is none to be heard in the score of tick, thank goodness. It’s a very melodic score with some numbers that should have become standards. Lawrence does a diva’s work very well with the ballad “Come To Your Senses” which is presented as a song from the hard rock Superbia workshop. The closing anthem, “Louder Than Words,” is a clarion call to political action, then and now. Larson may have had a hit in his lifetime if he had attempted a show with these more accessible tunes. Larson had a love of Sondheim, who doesn’t?, and did a loving tribute with his “Sunday,” substituting the travails of a waiter to Sondheim’s ode to artists and creators. The song gives hints that Larson could have perhaps had a career as a Broadway parodist, along the lines of Gerard Allessandrini of Forbidden Broadway, except more reverent and less bitter.
for more into on ICT’s 2023 season go to https://ictlongbeach.org/