TICK, TICK…BOOM!

Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Robin de Jesus, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens, MJ Rodriguez, Joshua Henry, Bradley Whitford, Judith Light, Ben Ross

Lin-Manuel Miranda has proven to a master of the arts. We know him as a rapper, actor, and composer thanks to powerhouses like In the Heights, Hamilton and Moana. Now he’s proving himself as a director with the Jonathan Larson musical, tick, tick…BOOM! Years before Jonathan Larson changed Broadway with his musical, Rent, he wrote an autobiographical musical, tick, tick, BOOM!. It was originally performed as a solo piece and later adapted as a three-person musical. Miranda expands this story a bit opening it up for the medium of film. It’s 1990 with Andrew Garfield playing Jonathan Larson. He’s a broke, struggling artist trying to write the next big Broadway musical. He feels time is ticking at a rapid pace as he’s about to turn 30 and is nowhere near where he wanted to be in his career. The rent is overdue and he’s watching his longtime friend and roommate, Michael, move on to success in the corporate world. Even girlfriend, Susan, has prospects that could take her out of state. Jonathan is desperate to get his musical produced but can’t quite seem to finish it in the days leading up to a reading.

Here’s my review