TICK, TICK...BOOM Closes at O.C.'s Theatre Out

Theatre Out, Orange County's gay and lesbian theatre, presents Jonathan Larson's autobiographical musical TICK, TICK...BOOM!. Recalling the life of composer Jonathan Larson in the years leading up to the creation of RENT, TICK, TICK...BOOM! is a deeply personal look at the courage required to follow your dreams through life's most difficult challenges. The show will play its final performance on February 20.

TICK, TICK...BOOM! was nominated for seven Drama Desk awards including Outstanding Musical and was the winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical.

Theatre Out's Managing Director and Director of the production, David C. Carnevale, commented, "Jonathan Larson has inspired so many artists in the theatre.  His musical genius reaches across genres in TICK, TICK...BOOM! from country to rock to inspirational and traditional musical theatre."

"TICK, TICK...BOOM! is the perfect vehicle for Theatre Out to showcase three amazing singers while telling the story of a man who was deeply inspired by and in turn inspired the gay and lesbian community," commented Jack Millis, Theatre Out's Artistic Director.

TICK, TICK...BOOM! is directed by David C. Carnevale, Theatre Out's Managing Director. Musical Direction is by Stephen Hulsey. The cast features Ian Michael Stuart, Andrea Dennison-Laufer and Kevin Cordova.

TICK, TICK...BOOM! was originally presented as a "rock monologue" entitled Boho Days and performed by composer/lyricist Jonathan Larson as an autobiographical look at his dream of leaving his mark on the musical theater landscape. Larson was working on Boho Days at about the same time he was writing the landmark musical RENT.

After Larson's untimely death, his college friend and producing partner Victoria Leacock became determined to bring TICK, TICK...BOOM! to a wider audience. She enlisted David Auburn, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning play Proof as a "script consultant." Auburn studied Larson's various drafts of the show and restructured the monologue into a three-person show. TICK, TICK...BOOM! was an instant hit with the legions of RENT fans, and went on to garner seven Drama Desk nominations and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical.

Jonathan Larson received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for RENT. He also won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 1994 Richard Rodgers Award for RENT and twice received The Gilman & Gonzales-Falla Theatre Foundation's Commendation Award. In 1989 he was granted the Stephen Sondheim Award from American Music Theatre Festival, where he contributed to the musical Sitting on The Edge of the Future. In 1988 he won the Richard Rodgers Development Grant for his rock musical Superbia, which was staged at Playwrights Horizon. He composed the score for the musical J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation, which was presented by En Garde Arts in 1995. Mr. Larson performed his rock monologue "TICK, TICK...BOOM!" at Second Stage Theatre, The Village Gate and New York Theatre Workshop.

In addition to scoring and song writing for Sesame Street, he created music for a number of children's book-cassettes, including Steven Spielberg's An American Tail and Land Before Time. Other film scores include work for Rolling Stones magazine publisher Jann Wenner. He conceived, directed and wrote four original songs for "Away We Go!", a musical video for children. RENT, his rock opera based on La Bohème, had its world premiere on February 13, 1996 at New York Theatre Workshop. Mr. Larson died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, ten days before his 36th birthday.

tick, tick...Boom! logo designed by Darcy Hogan.

Theatre Out's home is The Empire Theatre in the Artists' Village in downtown Santa Ana, located at 202 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA. Tickets are available online at www.theatreout.com or by calling the Theatre Out Box Office at (714) 826-8700.

Visit www.theatreout.com for more information.

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