tick, tick… BOOM!

Jonny Can’t Decide - the cast of “tick, tick… BOOM!”: Sam Benton (Jon), Rachel Day (Susan) and Martin Brown (Michael).
Photography by Jared Pallesen

Friday 9 January 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Energy Theatre Presents

tick, tick… BOOM! by Jonathan Larson

Feb 25-28 2009, 7:30pm
The Garden Club, 13b Dixon Street
Tickets: Adult $22 / Concession $19 / Fringe Addicts $16
TO BOOK: www.downstage.co.nz or ph. 801 6946

Wellington’s Garden Club will return to its origins as a theatre for the 2009 Fringe Festival as it plays host to a musical that proves Broadway can truly rock!

The former location of Wellington Repertory Theatre, now a popular dance venue, seemed the perfect place for Energy Theatre to stage their latest production, tick, tick… BOOM! by Jonathan Larson, author of the blockbuster Broadway musical, RENT.

“We wanted a venue that was accessible to a new generation of theatre fans, so a dance club that used to be a theatre was ideal” says director Matt Bentley. “Larson was really the first composer to write musicals for the MTV generation. He would have loved The Garden Club.”

tick, tick... BOOM! is Jonathan Larson's autobiographical tale of a young composer on the brink of turning 30 and falling into oblivion. His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city (tick,), his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue (tick...), yet Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical (BOOM!).

“I think everyone reaches a point where they need to decide which direction to take in life” says Matt. “For Jonathan Larson it was when he turned 30, and that feeling was so strong he had to write about it.”

Larson is best known for RENT, a show about eight New Yorkers in the early 90s. Larson sadly passed away the night before RENT was due to open, but the show became a hit that has been seen by millions and was released as a film in 2005.

“Jonathan Larson wrote real rock music that spoke to so many people. I think that’s why RENT was such a phenomenon. In tick, tick… BOOM! we get a rare opportunity to see what else he wrote and to appreciate the amazing talent he had” says Matt.

tick, tick… BOOM! stars Sam Benton, Rachel Day and Martin Brown, and runs from 25-28 February, 7:30pm at The Garden Club. Energy Theatre gratefully acknowledges the Creative Communities programme for their support.

ENDS

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