The story of how “tick, tick... BOOM!” came about for Dark Horse Company Theatre is very Six Degrees of Separation. Actor Daniel T. Simons sang “One Song Glory” from “Rent” for his college scholarship song. Years later, Simons and his wife Ginger Bess appeared in “tick, tick... BOOM!” together at Oregon Cabaret. “tick, tick... BOOM!” is the show that feted American composer Jonathan Larson wrote before “Rent.” When Simons and Bess founded Dark Horse Company Theatre in 2009, one of their dreams was to produce “tick, tick.”
It is now the company’s fifth show, opening on March 11. And recently, Simons sang “One Song Glory” again, in his audition for “Rent,” which Pioneer Theatre Company is putting on in June. Both he and Bess are cast in that show, too.
“tick, tick” tells the story of an aspiring composer named Jon, who lives in New York City in 1990. Jon is worried he has made the wrong career choice to be part of the performing arts. The story is autobiographical, as stated by Larson’s father in the liner notes of the cast recording — Larson had been trying to establish himself in theater since the early 1980s.
Simons and Bess say that doing “tick, tick” again at this stage in their lives has given them a fuller perspective on the show. Simons, who plays Jon, says, “It’s one thing doing the show in your mid to late-20s, but when you turn 30, you really think deeply about what you are going to settle for. It’s for anyone who has had to choose between a dream and real life, not just in theater but in any area.”
They say that running their own theater company has made them especially appreciate the journey that Larson took. “We can see even more clearly now the dedication this man gave to the theater world,” Simons says. “We are doing the same thing he did to create the work he did. Jumping onstage and playing a person who has done the same thing is both surreal and hyper-real.”
Larson wrote the show as a rock monologue, which would be performed with only a piano and rock band. It was intended to be a response to his feelings of rejection caused by the disappointment of an earlier show he wrote.
“tick, tick” was performed off-Broadway at the Village Gate in Greenwich Village, as well as at the Second Stage Theater, then on the Upper West Side. Producer Jeffrey Seller saw a reading of the show and expressed interest in producing Larson’s musicals. In early 1996, the day before the opening night of “Rent” off-Broadway, Larson died of an aortic dissection at the age of 35. After Larson’s death, David Auburn, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof,” was asked to re-configure “tick, tick.” Auburn restructured the monologue into a three-actor musical, with one actor playing Jon, and the other two actors playing Michael and Susan as well as all the other roles in the show. This revised version of the piece premiered off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theater in 2001. Since then, the show has had a London production, an American national tour and numerous local productions, but this is the Utah premiere.
Simons and Bess have always had the show on Dark Horse’s wish list, and also at one point were hoping to produce “Rent.” But as Bess, who plays Jon’s girlfriend Susan as well as other roles, points out, “tick, tick” has a much smaller cast and is a more realistic production for their theater company, especially since the two have been in the show before.
Joining them as Jon’s friend Michael, as well as other characters, is Jonathan Scott McBride, who was in Dark Horse’s “A New Brain.”
“I had talked to Ginger and Daniel about Dark Horse putting on this show. But then I came to auditions and there were about 15 or 16 guys auditioning and I knew at least some of them were really good,” McBride says. “So I spent a couple of days moping around my house before I got the call I was cast. That was definitely the best day in December.” McBride says he’s been reading up on Larson and found that both Michael and Susan were based on real people in the playwright’s life.
Joining the production in his first directing job for Dark Horse is Gamyr Worf. Worf went to Weber State University with Simons and Bess and was the lighting designer for their show “Reefer Madness.” He works full time at Oasis Stage Werks and is the new co-producer/owner of Dark Horse along with Simons and Bess. He says he’s excited to help produce shows for Dark Horse that combine marketability with artistic prowess; past shows include “Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” and “The Great American Trailer Park Musical.”
The group is looking forward to moving the show up to Park City this Saturday, March 5. Simons and Bess have appeared together at the Egyptian Theatre in shows including “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Tommy” and Cabaret.” The company will be taking part in the new professional musical theater series “Musicals On Main” which will include their summer show “Gypsy” as well as Plan-B Theatre’s “Gutenberg! The Musical!”
They say they take pride in having a full band for their shows, which in this case includes a keyboard, drums, bass and guitar, as well as Simons on piano. Simons says the show should appeal to lovers of “Rent,” but also those who just love good music. “It is a rock musical but also has beautiful ballads in a variety of genres. You can hear the seedlings in songs of what will become ‘Rent,’” Simons says.
He also says the musical is “hauntingly prophetic. It’s really eerie, as if Larson knew his fate, because of the emphasis he puts on making a success of himself.” For his work on “Rent,” Larson was posthumously given awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.
“tick, tick... BOOM!” begins with Jon introducing himself over a persistent ticking sound: “The sound you are hearing is not a technical problem. It is not a musical cue. It is not a joke. It is the sound of one man’s mounting anxiety. I ... am that man.”
You Should Go:
“tick, tick... BOOM!’
presented by Dark Horse Company Theatre
When • March 11 - 27. Friday and Saturday, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, at 6 p.m.
Where • The Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre Company, 328 Main St., Park City
Tickets • $18 - $25 from parkcityshows.com or 435.649.9371. Or try the Musicals on Main package which includes Dark Horse’s “tick, tick... BOOM!” and “Gypsy” and Plan-B’s “Gutenberg! The Musical!” from $45.
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