Tick Tick... Boom!
Online Program
Book, Music and Lyrics by JONATHAN LARSON
Script Consultant DAVID AUBURN
Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by STEPHEN OREMUS
tick, tick... BOOM! was originally produced off-Broadway in June, 2001 by VICTORIA LEACOCK, ROBYN GOODMAN, DEDE HARRIS, LORIE COWEN LEVY & BETH SMITH
PRODUCTION STAFF
THE CAST
Jonathan DANE BJORNSON
Susan JESSICA JONES
Michael JOEL SCHAEFER
THE BAND
Piano JOE SLABE
Guitar CARL JANZEN
Bass DARCY JOHNSTONE
Drums NATHANIEL CHIANG
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Director JP THIBODEAU
Musical Director JOE SLABE
Choreographer KAYLA MACKENZIE
Stage Manager SERENA LEMIRE
Production Manager MIKE SKWARA
Production Assistant DENEANE OSMOND
Production Assistant JENNIFER YEUNG
Lighting Designer KRIS MISH
Scenic Designer JP THIBODEAU
Costume Designer DARCIE HOWE
Sound Technician TARA KIELY
Set Construction JOSH BAILEY
Set Painting LORIE MASUR
Poster & Program Design JENNIFER MERIO
Publicist ALDONA BARUTOWICZ
Publicity Coordinator HAYLEY DECHAINE
Social Media Specialist JC CORNELL
Tick, Tick... Boom! is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also provided by MTI www.mtishows.com
Forte Musical Theatre engages under the terms of the Independent Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the Internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author’s rights and actionable under copyright law.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Before Rent, there was Tick, Tick... Boom!. This autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of Rent, is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors and a band, Tick, Tick... Boom! takes you on the playwright/composer's journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.
His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical filled with instantly appealing melodies and a unique blend of musical theatre styles.
ABOUT FORTE MUSICAL THEATRE GUILD
Forte Musical Theatre Guild (Forte) is a company on the leading edge of musical theatre in Canada. We are the only professional company west of Toronto dedicated exclusively to new musicals and, with our stable of established and emerging artists, we create engaging and intimate evenings of award-winning entertainment. Forte also creates educational and professional development opportunities for students, writers and young professionals to gain experience in this dynamic art form.
A MESSAGE FROM JOE
Welcome to Forte’s production of Tick, Tick… Boom!
My relationship to this piece goes all the way back to when I was studying musical theatre in London and saw a production of the show at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2005. I liked it a lot but I thought it odd that, for a show about a composer, Jon’s piano playing didn’t really feature into the plot. An early line where Jon says “I’ve forgotten how to play the piano completely” seemed like a cheat and a way to ensure you didn’t need a piano playing actor to do the show.
Then I saw the movie version with Andrew Garfield where Jon’s piano playing became
central to the storytelling. I got very excited about the idea of finding an actor/musician who could play the role of Jon and weave his piano playing ability throughout the show.
Director JP Thibodeau and I cast a wide net and auditioned actors from across the country. We were very fortunate to find Dane Bjornson just up the road in Edmonton! Joel Schaefer returns to Forte after starring in Naughty… but Nice: Vaccin8! and Jessica Jones rounds out the cast, making her professional theatre debut. With the addition of a four-piece rock band, this “little show” ends up being one of the biggest productions Forte has ever produced!
As we dug into Tick, Tick… Boom!, we heard so much of the early seeds of Rent in this score. And there are a ton of details about Jon’s life that would become plot points in his TONY and Pulitzer Prize winning musical.
It kills me that Jonathan never lived to see the huge success that Rent would become. It’s influenced a generation of musical theatre writers, including me. But, after his tragic death, Jonathan’s friends came together to make a show out of the songs he left behind. It tells the story of how he overcame almost insurmountable obstacles to create one of the most influential shows of our time. I find it incredibly moving and I hope you do too.
Coming up, Forte is partnering with Lunchbox Theatre to co-produce the Calgary premiere of Countries Shaped Like Stars in the Vertigo Studio from March 21st to April 8th so I hope you’ll come check that out as well!
Thanks for coming and enjoy the show!
JOE SLABE
Artistic Director
30/90 — Company
Green Green Dress — Jon, Susan
Johnny Can't Decide — Company
Sunday — Company
No More — Michael, Jon
Therapy — Jon, Susan
Real Life — Company
SONG LIST
Sugar — Company
See Her Smile — Company
Superbia Intro
Come to Your Senses — Karessa (Susan)
Why — Jon
30/90 Reprise - Jon
Louder Than Words — Company
Tick, Tick...Boom runs approximately 85 minutes with no intermission.
Jonathan Larson received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for RENT. He also won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 1994 Richard Rodgers Award for RENT and twice received The Gilman & Gonzales-Falla Theatre Foundation's Commendation Award.
In 1989 he was granted the Stephen Sondheim Award from the American Music Theatre Festival, where he contributed to the musical Sitting on the Edge of the Future. In 1988 he won the Richard Rodgers Development Grant for his rock musical Superbia, which was staged at Playwrights Horizon. He composed the score for the musical J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation, which was presented by En Garde Arts in 1995. Mr. Larson performed his rock monologue tick, tick... BOOM! at Second Stage Theatre, The Village Gate and New York Theatre Workshop. In addition to scoring and songwriting for Sesame Street, he created music for a number of children's book-cassettes, including Steven Spielberg's An American Tail and Land Before Time. Other film scores include work for Rolling Stones magazine publisher Jann Wenner. He conceived, directed and wrote four original songs for Away We Go!, a music video for children. RENT, his rock opera based on La Boheme, had its world premiere on February 13, 1996, at New York Theatre Workshop.
Mr. Larson died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, ten days before his 36th birthday. His music (including songs cut from his shows) is archived in the Library of Congress.
JONATHAN LARSON - Book, Music & Lyrics
FOR FORTE MUSICAL THEATRE
Artistic Director
Joe Slabe
Board of Directors
Krista Noriega – President
Penny Hume – Vice President
Sherry West – Secretary
Chelsea Mitchell – Treasurer
Kim Wiggins – Past President
Jenn Aguilar – Director at Large
Steven Bodi – Director at Large
Courtney Burton – Director at Large
Penny Hume – Director at Large
David Loria – Director at Large
Stacy Soutiere – Director at Large
Sarah Wilkie – Director at Large
Forte Musical Theatre Guild acknowledges that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, which include the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai. We also acknowledge the Tsuut’ina and Stoney Nakoda First Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.
FOR ONE YELLOW RABBIT
John Dunn – Managing Director
Johanne Deleeuw – Company Manager
Amanda Germain – Business Manager
Blake Brooker – Artistic Director
Oliver Armstrong – Producer
Mark Bellamy – Development Associate
Ryan Bartlett – Marketing & Communications Director
Mike Skwara – Technical Director
Kellsey Rohaghan – Administrative Assistant
DONORS, SUPPORTERS & THANK YOUS
INDIVIDUAL DONORS
Kelly Adams
Jenn Aguilar
Joy Alford
Jacqueline Allen
Mary Amirault
Jolene Anderson
Kimberly Anderson
Nyla Ash
Ajay Badoni
Janelle Balwin-Maher
Catherine Beal
Stuart Bentley
Michelle Berndtsson
Randy Booth
Steven Bodi
Candace Bosman
Paul Bowen
Naomie Boylan
Alanna Brooks
Chris Brooks
Anne Brown
Nanica Brown
Patty Bruton
Kate Butler
Nancy Cameron
Greg Calpas
Kate Carey
Bridget Chan
Monica Cowan
Bonita Croft
David Cuthull
Helma De Boer
Elaine Dumoulin
Megan Drebert
Scott Drennan
Astrid Duriques
Beth Duthie
Anne Edison
Chris Enright
Russell Erickson
Kirsten Eves
Deborah Ferguson
Catherine Ford
Stuart Gannon
Sharleen Gatcha
Cathy Genge
Dianne Goodman
Darren Guenther
Vanessa Ha
Neal Halstead
Cam Hamilton
Jennifer Hamilton
Sandra Hamilton
Lori Hansen
Sandy Harper-Jacques
Kelly Hartman
Heidemarie Haspel
Delaine Haugen
Marvin Henry
Richard Henson
Marnie Hill
Penny Hume
Dean Imler
Chris Jackson
Colleen Janseen Hood
John James
Johane Johanson
Kristian Jones
Daniela Christine Kay
Sandy Kiely
Louise Knight
Keith Knudsen
Sarah Kociuba
Kevin Konynenbelt
Linda Kriff
Siri Lake
Karen Lamola
Jane Lemaire
Samatha Lathrop
Barbara Lee
Cherie Lee
Cornelia Lehar-Scheickl
Cathy Liptak
David Loria
Christin Lundgren
Derek Luterbach
Robert Macdonald
Linda Macnamara
Terry MacKenzie
Lisa Mah
Shelley McLeod
Jennifer Merio
Ruth Minions
Chelsea Mitchell
Brent Moore
Katelyn Morishita
Michelle Nanjad
Borden Miller
Dave Minions
Natasha Morrisey
Brenda Nakamura
Brian Nash
Rosemary Nation
Mary Neal
Curtis Nolte
Krista Noriega
Lisa O'Brien
Maureen O’Connor
Brian O’Neill
Marilyn Olynek
Anthony Pavic
Donelle Perkins
Jennifer Perrott
Liam Perrott
Rob Pirie
Marilyn Potts
Karen and Grant Pryznyk
Bill Richardson
Courtney Rocca
Cara Ross
Kathleen Routly
Carol Sadler
Joan Sakatch
Kelly Salmond
David Saude
Rachel Schuster
Jo-Ann Schwartzenberger
Jerradt Seier
Maria and Stephen Shaw
Clarice Siebens
Eden Hutchinson-Slabe
Frank and Pat Slabe
Joe Slabe
Jill Smart
Alane Smith
Katerina Sokou
Stacy Soutiere
Wayne Stevens
Don Swystun
Jaclyn Szott
Bradley Thompson
Lauren Thompson
Marion Thompson
Grant Tilly
Brie Trainor
Sara Turner
Susan Tyrrell
Oksana Vedmedenko
Claire Vander Beek
Judy Walker
Kathryn Ward
Ruthann Watson
Shari Wattling
Sherry West
Kim Wiggins
Sandra Wiggins
Sarah Wilkie
Fay Wilson
Danielle Whyte
Rachel Wong
Michael Wright
Carolyn Zaluski
Gail Yester
CORPORATE & PUBLIC SUPPORT
FORTE WOULD LIKE TO THANK
The Calgary Foundation and Ghost River Theatre
The video projection technology you are watching at this performance has been made possible through the Calgary Foundation’s funding of a unique partnership between Ghost River Theatre and the Alberta Government. These professional-grade projectors, specifically selected to function well within a theatre setting, are being made available not only to this company but also, through the management and support of Ghost River Theatre, to small and mid-sized Calgary cultural institutions at an affordable rental rate. This means that this exciting but expensive new tool for theatrical production will be accessible to innovative Calgary artists, regardless of their budgets.
StoryBook Theatre
Beddington Theatre Arts Centre
Calgary Opera
One Yellow Rabbit
Arts Commons
Our amazing casino and front-of-house volunteers
