TICK, TICK.... BOOM - LIN MANUEL MIRANDA, ANDREW GARFIELD and MORE

The genius that is Lin Manuel Miranda soars with his directorial debut, Tick Tic.. Boom.

Lin Manuel has taken a theatre legend’s genius creation and brought it to the screen in a glorious way that would make Larson proud.

Tick, Tick... Boom!  is a musical written by American composer Jonathan Larson. It 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. Larson began to perform the piece as a solo work in 1990.

After his death, in 1996, it was revised and revamped by playwright David Auburn as a three-actor piece and was premiered Off-Broadway in 2001. Since then, the show has had an Off West End production, a West End production, an American national tour, two Off-Broadway revivals, in 2014 and 2016, and numerous local and international productions.

The film stars Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Judith Light, and Vanessa Hudgens.

The cast is absolutely perfect, but it is Andrew Garfield who surprises us once again with his gorgeous singing voice and stunning ability to channel Larson.

Tick, Tick... Boom! had its world premiere at AFI Fest on November 10, 2021, and began limited theatrical release on November 12, 2021, before streaming on Netflix on November 19, 2021. The film has received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for Garfield's performance, Miranda's direction, and Levenson's screenplay.

There are so many stand out scenes and musical numbers but by far my favorite has to be "Sunday", Jon's song at the diner which is based on the Act I Finale from the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George; Larson conceived it as a humorous homage to Sondheim, one of his largest influences.

I spoke with Director Lin Manuel Miranda and stars, Andrew Garfield, Vanessa Hudgens, ALexandra Shipp, Joshua Henry and Robin de Jesus about working on this masterpiece.