Andy Mientus (Spring Awakening), Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls) and Noah J. Ricketts (Disney’s Frozen) are starring in a new production of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick … Boom! as part of Bucks County Playhouse’s 2023 season. The production runs at the historic stage, 70 S. Main St. in New Hope, June 23-July 15.
The production will be directed by Eric Rosen (BCP’s American Jade) and choreographed by Paul McGill (Bullets Over Broadway). In addition to his Playhouse directorial debut in 2022 with American Jade, Rosen was co-founder of Chicago’s About Face Theatre and is the former artistic director of KCRep.
Bucks County Playhouse executive producer Robyn Goodman was one of the original producers of Tick, Tick … Boom! Off-Broadway in 2001. She said, “Before Rent, I gave Jonathan Larson his very first reading of Boho Days, which later became Tick, Tick … Boom!. I have always loved his music and how he captured that moment when a brilliant artist turns 30 and is still waiting for his real life to begin.”
Tick, Tick … Boom! is a high-octane rock musical that follows the life of a young composer facing 30 with little to show for it. Based on his life before he wrote Rent, Larson’s show is a youthful, vibrant and moving rock musical reminding us that sometimes, dreams can come true.
“Tick, Tick … Boom! is a celebration of Larson’s brilliance, an evocation of the bohemian life of the late 1980s in New York and, with this powerhouse case, a personal and deeply felt statement about the necessity of art in challenging times,” said Rosen.
“Jonathan Larson has been my idol since my days as a teenage ‘Renthead,’ so to embody the man himself in Tick, Tick … Boom! is a dream come true and a challenge I’ve been eager to tackle for my entire career,” said Mientus, who will star in the role of Jonathan. “I can’t imagine better teammates for this adventure than Krystina and Noah, who are first class talents and dear friends. And I’m especially excited to finally take the stage in person at the Playhouse, having made a digital debut there during the pandemic in Ladies of the Canyon. Guided by this stellar creative team, our Tick, Tick … Boom! is going to be a total labor of love and, I hope, a real treat for audiences at the Playhouse.”
Mientus recently completed shooting the live action television adaptation of Grendel based on the award-winning Dark Horse comic book. He can be seen in Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: Two Doors Down (GLAAD Media Award) and in the series recurring role of Hartley Rathaway (aka The Pied Piper) on the hit CW series The Flash.
Alabado will play Susan. She was most recently seen as Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George at Pasadena Playhouse. On Broadway, Alabado is best known for her role as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls. She was also seen in the Broadway productions of American Psycho and Green Day’s American Idiot.
Ricketts will play Michael. Ricketts was most recently seen on Broadway as Kristoff in Frozen: The Musical and in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. He appeared Off-Broadway as Omar in To My Girls at Second Stage. His television credits include Frankie in the upcoming Showtime series Fellow Travelers and Kai in American Gods on STARZ.
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. He performed his rock monologue Tick, Tick … Boom! at Second Stage Theatre, The Village Gate and New York Theatre Workshop. Rent, his rock opera based on La Boheme, had its world premiere on Feb. 13, 1996, at New York Theatre Workshop. Larson died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on Jan. 25, 1996, 10 days before his 36th birthday. His music, including songs cut from his shows, is archived in the Library of Congress.
Tickets can be purchased at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121.
