tick, tick… boom, the performing arts at evergreen, etc.
Tick, Tick… BOOM! is a show born out of passion and anger–anger at the systems that said it wasn’t possible, anger at the systems that provided empty praise and gave no support, anger at the systems that ignored. I’m not only talking about the Evergreen Theatre Club’s production of the show, though it rings true with us too. I’m talking about Jonathan Larson’s original version of the musical, performed as a “rock monologue,” just Larson and a band. After spending years of workshops and rewrites and waiting tables, only for his long-in-the-works musical Superbia to be discarded by producers for being too risky, too sci-fi, and too expensive, Larson sat down and wrote a musical where cost could be no excuse and the content as real as it could get. He wrote from his life, from the world around him, and created a show first titled 30/90, then Boho Days, and finally, Tick, Tick… BOOM!
Our path to the show’s production here on campus was no less rocky. Just as Jonathan Larson hated how Broadway producers refused to support anything but the most conservative of works in preference of profit, we find ourselves coming up on six years since Evergreen pulled its funding to the performing arts on campus. It’s not just the Experimental Theatre that has been closed for years, but also all the costume, scene shops, and tech spaces attached to it. With only one performance space, we’re at odds with other programs that use the Recital Hall (and who use it for non-performance purposes), leaving us with minimal time to put our best foot forward. Access to theatrical tech equipment is either behind steep paywalls or off-limits entirely. The recovery of club-related accounts from students and staff who have long since left campus was also a challenge, taking many weeks and letters to deans to resolve. And of course, our budget was left to naught–this show would not be happening if it weren’t for the small pool of funds left behind by Evergreen’s previous theatre club, Riot to Follow, which went defunct in 2020. That still only barely covered the rights, nothing more. But nevertheless, we’ve kept on, having achieved what only a few months ago felt near impossible, the messages of Tick driving us along the way.
Tick, Tick… BOOM, first as a one-man show in 1990 and later adapted into a book musical in 2001, is a show about growing older, feeling lost in life, and feeling like you are running out of time. Emotionally underscoring the show is the HIV/AIDS Epidemic. Jonathan Larson lost close friends to the virus throughout the ‘80s, leaving him fearful and grappling with his own mortality and that of his loved ones around him. His anger at the US government’s handling of the crisis also bleeds through into Tick (and returns even stronger still in his later musical Rent). But at its heart, Tick, Tick… BOOM! is about how one decides to spend the time that they have while staying true to themselves, as Jonathan Larson works to get his voice heard and remembered against all odds.
Tick is true to Larson’s raw and unflinching style, never shying away from the social issues he believed in. In this show you’ll find many themes and lyrics that may ring strikingly true today, both in the world around us and here on campus. The theatre is a place where difficult emotions and themes can be safely expressed and explored, both by those working on and off the stage, and by the audience. Theatre is transformative, raising awareness, empathy, community growth, and social bonds, amongst everything else. That’s why it’s so disheartening that Evergreen and its administration remain so overwhelmingly unsupportive of the Arts. From my own experience and from talking to my fellow cast members and crew, this singular production has already provided so many opportunities that wouldn’t be given elsewhere–allowing students to grow into leadership positions, allowing students to take on roles that they might have otherwise been typecast and stereotyped out of…
The theatre industry might paint itself as progressive, but it still has a long way to go. Shows like those that Jonathan Larson composed, that highlight marginalized stories and social issues, still struggle to make it to Broadway. For every trans or non-binary actor on the Great White Way, there are five Tootsies or Mrs. Doubtfires where cross-dressing is the butt of the joke. Broadway’s recent Jagged Little Pill and Here We Are both had trans characters written out of their scripts before they made it to New York. Music transpositions, which are sometimes needed for trans voices, are often held behind extra paywalls by rights companies, which makes them inaccessible to many community and smaller theatres. In 2021, Cameron Mackintosh (a major producer of Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables fame) called the casting of trans actors a “gimmick.” As a trans actor writing this myself, I often wonder about trans representation in musical theatre. All I really come up with is Angel, from Larson’s Rent, and even then, her portrayal is disputed.
Evergreen is a place where we can create accepting theatre in spite of Broadway, if only the college would allow us to thrive. We want to continue putting on productions that provide inclusive opportunities and value social concerns. You only have to look at Giant Clam Improv and ELM in addition to the Evergreen Theatre Club to see that students love and value the performing arts here at Evergreen and are working hard to bring them back to campus. We hope that you’ll help us make that love and support even louder by bringing in community support and being a part of our audience. After all, actions speak louder than words.
Come and see Evergreen’s first musical in five years: Tick, Tick… BOOM! with Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick… BOOM! is licensed by Music Theatre International.
Shows:
Wed. 2/21, Thur. 2/22, and Fri. 2/23 at 7:00pm,
and Sat. 2/24 at 3:00pm.
Tickets:
General: $5 online, $7 at door
Student: $3 online, $5 at door
Where:
The Evergreen State College
Communications Building
Recital Hall
Head to https://sites.google.com/view/evergreentheatreclub/ for tickets. If online tickets sell out, don’t worry! More will be available at the door before shows. All ticket proceeds will go directly towards future productions at the Evergreen Theatre Club! Cash only accepted at the door though, as the only tickets the box office currently gives out are parking ones.
Questions? Interested in volunteering as an usher? Need financial assistance for tickets? Send us an email at evergreentheatreclub@gmail.com or message us on our instagram @evergreen.theatre
