Behind the curtain: Magic in the making at MTW’s Tick, Tick… Boom! Sitzprobe

This is the sitzprobe for Music Theatre Warwick’s production of Tick Tick… Boom! – the first rehearsal with the cast and the band together. The location is the Drama Studio in the Avon Room on Westwood campus. It’s a black box with a low ceiling, as wide as it is empty when I arrive at 8pm. Having worked on many student theatre productions myself over the years, I wasn’t surprised by the last-minute rehearsal space change or the pushed back start time. Over the next twenty minutes, people start to trickle in. The band sets up their equipment and I am introduced to some of the production team. I have never reviewed a non-public-facing aspect of a show before but the director, Alessandro, assures me that the peek behind the curtain is exactly what they want. So, here is how the sausage gets made:

People haphazardly arrange chairs and order food. It is messy. Once the warm-up begins, however, the vibe immediately settles in. The disorganisation at the start is as typical of theatre student energy as the hugs hello and shady comments. But musical theatre, at its best and least corrupt, is a meritocracy. No matter what chaos precedes it, when the band starts playing and the cast members begin to sing, I know I’m in for a good show.

As soon as the iconic piano part of ‘30/90’ begins, I am transported to my first time hearing it. Like pretty much everyone, I was introduced to Tick Tick … Boom! through the Lin Manuel-Miranda film of the same name, starring Andrew Garfield as Jon Larson. The story of brilliant artists dying before their talent is appreciated is a tale as old as time. Bach, Van Gogh, Kafka. Jonathan Larson is just another name on this list, and the knowledge of how successful RENT would be gives the Tick Tick… Boom! workshop documenting his early struggle an addictive and bittersweet taste.

The potential of this show is electric

One of the musical directors, Theo, admits early that the band is under-rehearsed, but if he hadn’t have declared it then I would not have known. He seems to be the most stressed person in the room, but he co-ordinates the otherwise (endearingly) unruly musicians from his piano with seasoned expertise, and very few moments need re-running. They obviously respect him, and you can see why. Besides, any issues in the first number are uplifted out by the piano.

The tech is undeniably janky, but I am assured this is purely to avoid having to transport so much equipment to and from Westwood campus and their home at the Warwick Arts Centre, especially at this time of night and especially single-handedly. I can sympathise. My Uber passenger rating is still recovering from a Bristol driver reluctantly transporting an entire PA system and sound desk for me during a wet hire. Besides, they will probably have a tech and a dress rehearsal to integrate with the tech crew – tonight is purely about getting the cast and the band on the same page. A bearable mix is quickly achieved, and the sitzprobe continues.

Stockton’s voice soars effortlessly and, intentionally or otherwise, she does great impressions of both Alexandra Shipp and Vanessa Hudgens

Tick Tick… Boom! is different from a lot of musicals in that it’s ostensibly performed by a writer. You don’t need to cast a Michael Ball type as Jon. His vocals don’t have to carry the show. It’s more of an acting part. This is what I tell myself during the teething errors that were always going to occur at 20:30 on a Monday night with a cast whose warm-up was all of 60 seconds. But the monologue is fantastic and the harmonies hit. The potential of this show is electric.

‘Johnny Can’t Decide’ has a different vibe to how I usually think of it, but my untrained ear struggles to place what’s off. It doesn’t matter, however, because I am distracted by the entrance of Susan, played by Emma Stockton. Stockton’s voice soars effortlessly and, intentionally or otherwise, she does great impressions of both Alexandra Shipp and Vanessa Hudgens. The musical directors ask for the number to be run again, this time with a note to the band to play softer. It works. The second run-through is ethereal and familiar.

In a sitzprobe, the non-musical dialogue is skipped over, because it’s a waste of the band’s time. From the brief stints leading into the songs however, I can tell it’s where this cast shines. The accents are flawless, and there are so many zany character choices that just work.

The voices are warm now and the cast are on a roll. After ‘Therapy’, I feel bad for the actors and the band when the note from the director is that it needs to be even faster, but I’m also morbidly curious to see the speed it ends up being performed at on the night.

We eventually get to numbers that are totally new to me. I understand why Lin-Manuel Miranda cut them from the film, but I respect MTW’s decision to run the original, lesser-known rock monologue setlist (despite how much I want to hear this cast perform ‘Boho Days’ and ‘Swimming’).

If the sitzprobe is anything to go off, it looks to be a fantastic production with a lot of hard work behind it

‘Come To Your Senses’ is a goose-bump-inducing masterpiece. I really can’t speak highly enough of Stockton’s voice. She sounds exactly like the soundtrack; it’s like she comes pre-produced.

The number I’ve waited two hours for approaches. We skipped over ‘Why’, because it only requires a piano, so can be rehearsed without the band being present. We instead go straight for ‘Louder Than Words’. I get tingles early on. The harmonies are incredible. Xan Cowell’s voice is layered with the stress and frustration juxtaposed with the insight and self-assuredness that dominates (and complicates) so much of this period of Larson’s life. And of course he nails the belt at the end.

They even run the curtain call, a free-form rock-out in which the cast relax and celebrate and the directors compare notes. We’ve been here for over two hours now. Everybody looks exhausted but happy. I can’t tell if they’re elated because of how well it went, or simply because they made it to the end.

Tick Tick… Boom! opens on October 24, and runs for three nights in this very same Avon Drama Studio. If the sitzprobe is anything to go off, it looks to be a fantastic production with a lot of dedication and hard work behind it.