Photo Flash: Encores! Off-Center's TICK, TICK... BOOM! Opens Tonight

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Karen Olivo star in the New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production of Jonathan Larson's Tick, Tick... BOOM!, running for five performances, today, June 25 - 28. The opening show of City Center's acclaimed Encores! Off-Center series of landmark Off-Broadway musicals will be directed by Oliver Butler with choreography by Camille A. Brown and music direction by Chris Fenwick. Jeanine Tesori is Encores! Off-Center Artistic Director. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast!

City Center's Encores! Off-Center series presents off-Broadway musicals that pushed creative boundaries when they were first produced. Filtered through the lens of today's artists, these shows are presented not as historical documents but as living, vital works that continue to resonate with audiences. In the Encores! tradition, Off-Center places a great emphasis on the scores, with the orchestra performing onstage. The series also features The Lobby Project, a series of free performances, conversations and readings by groundbreaking artists, poets, authors and performers. The Lobby Project events place each musical in the context of its legacy and provide insights into the work the audience is about to experience.

tick, tick... BOOM!, with book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, script consultant by David Auburn and vocal arrangements and orchestrations by Stephen Oremus, is an autobiographical musical by the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of Rent. First performed as a solo rock monologue by Larson in 1990, it is the story of an aspiring composer who questions his life choices on the eve of his thirtieth birthday. After Larson's untimely death, it was revamped by playwright David Auburn as a three-actor piece and premiered off-Broadway on June 13, 2001 at the Jane Street Theatre, featuring Raúl Esparza as Jon. Its London production in 2005 starred Neil Patrick Harris.

Jonathan Larson (Author) received three posthumous Tony Awards and a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his 1996 rock musical Rent. His works include Superbia and Sitting on the Edge of the Future. Jonathan died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, ten days before his thirty-sixth birthday.

tick, tick... BOOM! will play five performances, today, June 25 - 28, as follows: Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 pm; Friday, June 27 at 8 pm; Saturday, June 28 at 2 and 8 pm. All tickets begin at $25 and can be purchased at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix at 212-581-1212, or online at www.NYCityCenter.org.

Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo

Karen Olivo, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom, Jr.

Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo