![]() ![]() On the morning of Rent’s Off-Broadway preview premiere in January 1996, the protagonist of Tick, Tick.Boom!'s true story passed away from an aortic dissection. In the movie, one of Jon’s coworkers is hospitalized for it, while his best friend Michael gives him the news that he’s HIV-positive in an emotional conversation about time running out.Īside from being the genius composer behind Rent, Larson was notable for the tragic circumstances behind his death. One aspect of Tick, Tick… Boom!'s true story that most clearly overlaps with Rent’s themes and Larson’s real experience is the AIDS epidemic, which had begun to affect many of his closest friends. Just like in the musical, Larson’s dancer girlfriend would occasionally leave him for other men, though finally left him for another woman. As already touched on with the real-life inspiration for Susan in Tick, Tick.Boom!, Larson’s four-year-long girlfriend inspired the character of Maureen (originated by Frozen's Idina Menzel on Broadway) in Rent. In real life, Larson and his Bohemian-style roommate, Jonathan Burkhart, lived in a rundown apartment with an illegal wood-burning stove, just like Rent’s main characters, even down to the key that had to be thrown down outside. Regarded as Larson’s most influential work, Rent featured several autobiographical elements, fulfilling the advice he gets in the true story of Tick, Tick… Boom! to write about what he knows. Morgan Saves The Nation music for Sesame Street compositions for the cassettes of children’s books like The Land Before Time a musical titled Mowgli compositions for a Rolling Stone magazine publisher and four songs for the kids’ music video Away We Go! from 1996. Larson’s other musical compositions omitted from Netflix's November 2021 movie are his contributions to J.P. The project was shelved due to scheduling conflicts with the composers, but the original demo recording finally resurfaced in 2013 (via Playbill). The musical was pitched to TV networks as a weekly anthology series tackling different Biblical and mythological stories featuring ‘90s celebrity cameos. In relation to Larson’s more significant works at this time, Tick, Tick… Boom!'s true story leaves out a 1992 musical, Sacred Cow, that he collaborated on with fellow composers. In real life, Tick, Tick, Boom!'s songwriting protagonist was truly adamantly opposed to such work when it was for companies whose politics he disagreed with or when he thought he was going up against writers who were truly committed to working in the jingle industry, but he did notably write a few, including a rejected CNN jingle - which the movie includes as an Easter egg. While Jon and Michael briefly talk about how Larson could easily get paid for writing jingles at Michael’s advertising firm, the movie’s protagonist brushes it off. ![]() The true story of Tick, Tick… Boom! touches on some of Larson’s most important real-life works of the time, particularly his unproduced musical Superbia, his titular musical monologue, and the early foundations of Rent. ![]() Boom!'s true story to commending Jon’s play and future as first-rate, with Sondheim even cameoing to voice himself in the scene. In a poetic appreciation of his once mentee, Sondheim decided to change the final voicemail in Tick, Tick. Director Lin-Manuel Miranda told The New Yorker that he originally wrote Sondheim’s voicemail to say “ I have a feeling you’re going to have a very bright future,” but Sondheim told him it sounded too cliché. The end of Tick, Tick.Boom! also features Jon getting a call from Sondheim, telling him Superbia is first-rate and has a future, just like Jon. Tick, Tick… Boom! is filled with homages and references to Sondheim, including the song “Sunday” - which features a plethora of iconic Broadway actors in the movie - that Larson composed as a tribute to Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. In an important moment, Stephen Sondheim (Bradley Whitford) shows up to see the workshop for Superbia, a show Sondheim really did give Larson notes on. Boom!, Andrew Garfield's character is constantly comparing himself to Sondheim’s timeline of achievements, proving just how much he idolizes the artist. After beginning a rapport with his idol, Jon began submitting his work to Sondheim for review, who would often write recommendation letters to producers on the true Tick, Tick. When Larson was in college, he came into contact with Sondheim, who famously wrote iconic musicals like West Side Story, Into The Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Although it seems incredible that a young artist with Stephen Sondheim routinely reading his work would have trouble getting musicals produced, Tick, Tick… Boom!’s working friendship between Jon and one of the greatest composers of all time is true. ![]()
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