Tick, Tick... BOOM!

Long before Rent became an international sensation, Jonathan Larson had written another rock musical based on George Orwell’s 1984. Called Superbia, it was meant to be his big break onto Broadway. But it wasn't. Instead, Larson went back to waiting tables and living in the unheated loft space that would eventually inspire the setting of Rent. He channeled his frustration into a rock-infused, one-man show initially titled 30/90, then Boho Days. Following Larson’s death in 1996 at age 35, the solo piece was reworked into a three-actor musical called tick, tick... BOOM! “It's almost like an autobiography to Rent,” says Courtney Smith, a Gonzaga assistant professor directing the university’s new student production of the play. “We see [Larson] at a time when he’s written a lot of short stories and done some scoring for Sesame Street. His list of successes is a mile long, but since musical theater is his passion, he feels he hasn’t arrived.” Smith says that disaffection is something everyone — not just aspiring artists — can relate to.

Nov. 2-12: Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm • $10/$15 • Gonzaga University Magnuson Theatre • 502 E. Boone • gonzaga.edu/theatrearts • 313-6553