TICK...TICK...BOOM

Book & Lyrics by Jonathan Larson

Regional Premiere

Uptown Players

REVIEWED 06/23/07 PERFORMANCE

Directed by Bruce R. Coleman

Musical Direction by Mark Mullino

Scenic Design by Andy Redmon

Lighting Design by Jason Driggers

CAST:

JON.....................Joshua Doss

SUSAN, ETC..............Courtney Franklin

MICHAEL, ETC............Cedric Neal

_____________________TICK, TICK, BOOM__________________

Pssssssst. Come over here, I have a little backstage story to tell you about TICK TICK BOOM (TTB). When Jonathan Larson passed away and RENT became the phenomenon on Broadway, I wanted to soak in any other show he might have composed. Sadly, there were only two other fully composed musicals, SUPERBIA & TTB.

There has been no recording of SUPERBIA, but TTB did receive after Larson's death a new mounting in June 2001 starring Raśl Esparza, Amy Spanger, & Jerry Dixon. Esparza recently earned a Tony nod for COMPANY.

I snatched that cast recording, listening to it over and over again. This was a score Larson wrote before he even began to create the rock opera that would shake Broadway by its roots, RENT.

In January 2002, a national tour was launched with Film/TV stars Christian Campbell & Wilson Cruz, with newcomer Nikki Nelson. We all know who Campbell & Cruz are, but Ms. Nelson recently made her Broadway debut in LEGALLY BLONDE the musical.

On the morning of the first performance in Dallas, I conducted an interview with Cruz & Campbell. That night I sat in the Majestic Theater, watching another marvelous score composed by Larson, sung & performed with sublime talent, all tied together by terrific direction. I went back to the Majestic five more times to watch it. I could not get enough of the show. Larson's lyrics flow deep from within the heart, expressed in vivid honesty, all set to hypnotic infusions of rock and pop.

It just leaves you baffled and so sad that we will never know what else Larson could have composed.

This is how attached I am to the material and Larson. Just this year I personally invited Mr. Campbell to come back to Dallas for the 2007 Column Awards Gala. I asked him if could perform a number from TTB at the gala (along with the power voices of Gary Floyd and Patty Breckenridge), which he wonderfully accepted.

Now, I will tell you that after the brilliance of the tour (in particular Campbell's magnificent performance as "Jon"), I really didn't think no one could match the magic that came from the tour.

Uptown Players is the first local company in the metroplex to produce a production of this story of a musical theater composer turning 30. This musical is a major challenge, both artistically & emotionally, but for the director even more so.

You have to direct a piece that has only three people in it, performed within an intimate space. You have no overflowing chorus or ensemble, no grand company numbers, no glitzy sets or costumes, and no special effects.

It is just three performers on one set. That's all you have to keep an audience entertained for two hours. With today's world of flashy spectacle, that's a challenge many directors would look at and say, "Um. Nah. I'll pass." Bruce R. Coleman took the challenge, and what he has achieved is the most astonishing production he has ever directed on a metroplex stage.

The blocking & staging is indeed impressive. He has constant motion between his three actors, all done with purpose and intent. There is not a hint of clunky, basic blocking-but instead it is visually enhancing. Look at the subtext on some of the staging within the numbers. It is riveting.  The complex emotions of what is written on paper is expressed in rich detail by Coleman's staging.

In another stroke of pure genius, Coleman has infused the tech crew to become part of the show.

When this first happened, I immediately thought, "Oh no, no, no. What is this?" but then you see what Coleman was creating, thus all you could do was marvel at his unique, fresh, and original conception here. The tech crew quietly moves bits and pieces of the set to create the various locations. However, they do it all with a whisper, never once distracting us from the actors.

For one number they twirl a small unit on wheels with the actors on top of it. In another they are customers at a brunch, in another they were part of a board meeting, and so on. In fact, these three are quite funny in the board meeting itself.  They never once were a bother, but instead enhanced the entire piece itself.

These three hard working, dedicated crewmembers deserve to be acknowledged. So congrats on a super duper job Amy Fisher, Robert Hartsfield, and Adam Hughes.

One of Coleman's best staging scenes was "Sunday". Larson was a devoted follower of Stephen Sondheim (he worshiped the legendary composer), so in an homage to him, he wrote a new version of the song "Sunday" from Sondheim's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. What Coleman did was combine Larson's vision with the original Broadway production of PARK. The song in TTB is a comical tune about Brunch among New Yorkers (Larson worked at a diner as a waiter for several years).

Throughout the number, Coleman has his actors and tech crew brings to life the closing number of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, right down to the cut out drawn pieces. He even has a little dog in place of the monkey (with chain!) that is in the painting. Coleman has literally re-created the famous painting, but with a funky twist. Genius, pure genius.

For another festive number titled "Sugar", Coleman has staged a hilarious "Dreamgirls" routine that had me guffawing out loud.

Another example of his superb direction is the number, "Why". The staging for this number is absolutely breath taking. It is subtle, truthful, and will tug at the heart of every person in that theater.

I have always been a big fan of Coleman's direction, because he refuses to stick to what is on paper. Why direct and mount a replica of what's been done before? Where's the creativity in that? Coleman instead paints a whole new vision on stage. But for this production, he has left me speechless. I never knew this kind of phenomenal direction was in him.  Coleman's finest direction is there on stage with Uptown.

Another major factor in making this production first rate is the transcendent musical direction by Mark Mullino and his trio of outstanding musicians. Mullino gives the actors organic room to have keen, personal moments within the music.  The tempos for the ballads are delicate while the up-tempo numbers have fierce rock overtones and pop musical heaven. Not once did the music overpower the singers, it was an equal balance of sound and voice. Mullino (who is also a terrific actor) has a great laugh when he too becomes one of the board members at the pitch meeting for a new product name.

Andy Redmon's scenic design is perfection through and through. He has recreated one of those New York tenant buildings with its steel walkways and iron ladders we see all the time. The set resembles solid rock and granite, which all fits beautifully within the space. Jason Drigger's lighting design works like a glove with Redmon's set. For various numbers the windows pour out gorgeous colors to set the mood. We see colors like fuchsia, purple, red, green, blue, and so on flood onto the set. He also has some terrific specials. Like the traffic lights when two characters are in the car driving towards Newark airport or the big moon spilling all over one character as another sings about him.

Coleman has cast a trio of spectacular thespians: Joshua Doss, Cedric Neal, and Courtney Franklin.

Ms. Franklin is the lone female who portrays "Susan" and other characters in the piece. I must admit I did miss the brassy, New Yorkish attitude that Ms. Nelson provided in the role that Ms. Franklin lacked. She instead provided Susan a quiet, soft disposition that gave the character new shades of emotion that opened new observations for me. The actress generates some great laughs as well as "Rosa Stevens", Jon's agent.  Franklin is given one hell of an 11:00 O'clock number titled "Come to Your Senses" (which is from Larsen's SUPERBIA). Franklin soars like a gilded sparrow with her voice as she floats on those sublime melodies. When it came to the big, belting crescendo, she did crack just slightly, but recovered immediately and pushed her voice even further to cover that minor blip-now that's a singer!

Her acting tools & choices are all excellent decisions; in particular with the song "See her Smile", watch that subtext-it is gut wrenching to observe because we have all been there emotionally.

Cedric Neal continues his winning streak in solid performances with his portrayal of "Michael", Jon's best friend.  Neal knows when to give the role enough sass & attitude to get loud, resounding laughs, but then knows how to show great depth and range when the role requires dramatic intensity.  Neal has epic fun with the number "No More", filling the stage and theater with that electrifying stage presence and marvelous set of vocal pipes.

But where Neal truly shines is when "Michael" goes into a deep, dark depression. The actor could have gone with the typical paint by number choices that an ungifted actor would choose here, not Mr. Neal. He finds raw anguish to understand what he is going through, resulting in a superlative performance. I'll even go a step further; Mr. Neal's performance even overshadowed Wilson Cruz's performance in the national tour. That's how fantastic Neal is in this show.

Out of the three performances, the one role that I was going to really scrutinize would be that of "Jon".  After watching Mr. Campbell's mesmerizing work in the role, it was really going to be difficult to see what another actor might do to those wonderful memories I had of that role.

For the Uptown Players production, Joshua Doss portrays "Jon", and the actor performs the role beautifully. He commands the stage with an engaging persona that draws everyone in. A stage presence that never dims, he stays completely focused and so in the moment. A role like this requires an actor to give and take, share the stage and be on the same emotional path as his co-stars, which Doss does superbly. You can literally see Neal and Franklin feed off his chemistry and acting.

Doss gives the character of "Jon" equal balances of humor and poignancy. However, in the opening number his voice did slightly crack as he tried to reach that high tenor note. But that was a minute chink in an otherwise flawless performance. Doss's comedic timing, delivery, and pace works splendidly within both book and song. He receives resounding laughs with his solo "Sugar" as well as other many scenes.

Doss has some outstanding comic duets that serve as evidence in my comments about him sharing and giving with his fellow actors. With Neal, they do a marvelous job with "No More", while with Franklin they do an excellent, hysterical rendition with "Therapy".

Another magical number involving Doss & Franklin was "See Her Smile". Here is where Director and actors really brought artistic finesse to the production. The song involves Jon telling us what Susan said about their doomed relationship. As he sings on what she said, Franklin mouths the words. It's a small, simple gesture, but my god it just brings so much reality to the piece. I was floored by this. Truly floored and amazed on how impressive that combination of staging and acting brought such dramatic richness to the number.

However, it is when Doss must go through the dramatic situations set before him within the role that shows what a magnificent talent he is. His performance of "Why" is devastating, cathartic, and emotionally dynamic. Doss is assisted greatly by Neal's heartbreaking facial expressions as Doss sings this song. This number alone is worth the price of admission.  By the end, many in the audience (including myself) kept wiping tears off our faces in the black out.  You could literally hear so many in the house sniffling and choking back tears. If you are not crying by the end of that song, I have the number to the Wizard so that you can go get another heart.

Doss, Franklin, & Neal provide some of the most marvelous harmonies that will melt even the coldest beast. Listen them perform such numbers as "30/90", "Sunday", and of course the finale, "Louder than Words".

Once again Uptown Players has a brilliant piece of musical theater on their hands.  Director Coleman, his trio of actors, and his entire production team have raised the bar in how to present musical theater with this mounting of TICK TICK BOOM.

This is simply not just another musical production.....it is how the art of musical theater should be done.

GRADE:  A+

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*NOTE: This is the closing weekend for TICK TICK BOOM!

TTB plays through July 1, 2007. Shows at 8 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday and at 2pm on Sundays. There is an added performance on Wednesday, June 27 at 8pm. All shows take place at the Kim Dawson Theater in the TRAC (2600 Stemmons Freeway; I-35 at Motor St). Tickets are $25-30 and can be purchased by phone at 214-219-2718 or online at www.uptownplayers.org

John F. Garcia, Jr.

Executive Director/Producer, "THE COLUMN ONLINE"; Theatre Awards Editor & Founder of THE COLUMN ONLINE; Texas Regional Theater Critic for talkinbroadway.com