Review: TICK, TICK … BOOM at Garden Theater

Rarely can one sum up the message of an entire musical in three words. However, composer and lyricist Jonathan Larson sums up the message of TICK, TICK ... BOOM! in three words found in the middle of the song, "Johnny Can't Decide:" compromise or persevere.

The show is a thinly veiled autobiography of Larson, who struggled for years trying to come up with the Great American Musical before striking gold with RENT. Jon (played by the mesmerizing Joe Chisholm) finds himself at the crossroads of his life. Down one path is his dream of making it on Broadway. Down the other thoroughfare is the much easier life of trying to make it in the world of marketing and settling down.

Short North Stage captures the tension between doing what is right and doing what is expected in the 90-minute, three-person production at the Garden Theater (1187 High Street in downtown Columbus). During its three-show run from Sept. 9-11, director Anthony C. Daniel, and musical director Jonathan Collura delivered a show that is predictable and yet heartbreaking, understated and yet powerful.

Chisholm's tenor voice brings a sense of longing to songs like "Why." Chisholm conveys Jon's emotions in a way that seems so naturally, one forgets he is acting. Perhaps the most moving part of the show is on the eve of his 30th birthday, Jon receives a message on his answering machine from his idol, Stephen Sondheim. The way Chisholm's eyes water over to the verge of tears was so gut-wrenchingly real that the audience felt like they were in the room with Jon.

Chisholm's chemistry with Jenna Scannelli (who plays Jon's girlfriend Susan) doesn't seem forced, faked, or forged. In the span of the play, the couple's two-month relationship runs its course from infatuation to frustration, and ultimately, disintegration with a hopeful note of reconciliation at the show's end. Since the cast consisted of three actors, what was truly spellbinding was the way Scannelli and A.J. Lockhart jumped through the hoops of being several different characters, each with their own mannerisms and quirks in a matter of seconds in "Sunday."

Lockhart brings a wry wit to the role of Michael, Jonathan's successful, supportive friend who has made it but as a star on Madison Avenue and not on Broadway. In his subtle brag, "No More," Michael describes his luxurious existence in his Parkview apartment world, throwing a nudge to 1970s sitcom THE JEFFERSONS' by swiping part of the show's theme song.

Even with the stellar acting chops of Lockhart, Scannelli, and Chisholm, TICK, TICK ... BOOM! would have been for naught without the outstanding backing of a standout band made up of Collura (keys), Sara Smith (bass), Will Mayer (drums), and Damon Barnett (guitar).

If there was a downside to this performance, it was knowing the backstory of Larson's life. Sadly, Larson never got to experience the success of TICK, TICK ... BOOM! or RENT, dying Jan. 26, 1996 just hours before RENT's first Off-Broadway preview performance. It makes the lyrics from songs like "Why?" seem haunting and poignant: "With only so much time to spend/Don't wanna waste the time I'm given."

Anytime one sees an audience member reduced to tears before the curtain falls, one knows he has seen something powerful. TICK, TICK ...BOOM! delivered that and more.

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