Line #5 Theatre/TickTickBoom


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tick_tick_boom_logo.jpeg]]
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3	->''Fear or love, baby, don't say the answer\
4	Actions speak louder than words''
5	-->-- "Louder Than Words"
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7	''tick, tick... BOOM!'' is a [[TheMusical musical]] with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson (''Theatre/{{RENT}}''). The work is partly autobiographical, although it wasn't produced in its finished form until 2001, five years after Larson's death. The show is also partially a tribute to Larson's idol, Music/StephenSondheim, with its plot bearing similarities to ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company]]''. One song, "Sunday", is an update of a song of the same name from ''Theatre/SundayInTheParkWithGeorge''.
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9	The show's main character is Jon, a struggling composer about to celebrate his 30th birthday. His best friend Michael, a successful businessman, encourages Jon to pursue a more stable, better-paying career. Jon's girlfriend Susan, a dancer working as a ballet instructor, is ready to settle down and start a family. In the middle of trying to get his own musical produced, Jon has to decide what he really wants to do with his life.
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11	A [[Film/TickTickBoom film adaptation]], directed by Creator/LinManuelMiranda and starring Creator/AndrewGarfield as Jon, was released on Creator/{{Netflix}} November 19, 2021.
12	----
13	!!''tick, tick... BOOM!'' provides examples of:
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15	* BathOfPoverty: The song "No More" has Jon and Michael listing things Michael doesn't have to put up with now that he's no longer poor and has moved into a nicer apartment:
16	-->''No more taking a shower in the kitchen''\
17	''While your roommate's eating breakfast''\
18	''And you're getting water on his cornflakes!''
19	* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Susan and Jon's argument, about whether or not they should move to the Berkshires for her new job. On the one hand, Susan tells Jon that many dancers don't get a second chance after suffering a bad injury. She's been having to work as a secretary for long hours just to make rent, and they barely have creative space. The studio in question is willing to give Jon all the space that he needs to compose. Jon, on the other hand, has a legitimate point that his big break could potentially come up, and he needs to put all of his efforts into it for this week. Having to decide whether or not to move in the middle of potential investors seeing ''Superbia'' is factoring in a lot of uncertainties.
20	* CagedBirdMetaphor: The lyrics at the end of "Louder Than Words":
21	-->''Cages or wings?''\
22	''Which do you prefer?''\
23	''Ask the birds!''
24	* ClingyJealousGirl: Susan shows shades of this after she sees Karessa kiss Jon on the cheek.
25	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: When he finds out that [[spoiler:Michael has HIV, Jon asks why Michael didn't tell him. Michael tells him, in a low tone, that he ''did'' try to break the news earlier that week but Jon has been ignoring him owing to his focus on the workshop. This spurs Jon's JerkassRealization of how oblivious that he has been]].
26	* EconomyCast: Traditionally, the play is performed with only three actors: Jon, and then the actors playing Michael and Susan fill in for everyone else.
27	* ExposedEmbarrassingPurchase: Jon feels self-conscious buying Twinkies as a near 30-year-old man and attempts to hide them under a slew of random stuff like batteries and magazines. Karessa finds him out, but luckily for him, [[SubvertedTrope she loves twinkies]].
28	* HighPoweredCareerWoman: Judy, or as Jon describes her, a "hard-driving, highcheeked power haircut girl who cruises the Avenues like a sleek, silver bullet."
29	* {{Homage}}: The show is a giant one to Stephen Sondheim, mostly obviously in "Sunday".
30	* IAmSong: "30/90".
31	* IWantSong: "Johnny Can't Decide".
32	** "Why", which comes very late in the story, is both an "I Am" song and an "I Want" song.
33	* JobSong: "Sunday," about Jon's job waiting tables.
34	* LifeEmbellished: According to Larson's father, the play was essentially a semi-autobiography about Larson's real-life struggles to make it as a composer.
35	* MilestoneBirthdayAngst: Jon is anxious about turning 30, evidenced in the song "30/90", because he does not feel like he has made it as a composer yet. The show ends on him playing "Happy Birthday" on the piano, showing he's finally accepted it.
36	* MostWritersAreWriters: Jonathan Larson wrote a musical about a composer named Jon who's writing a musical.
37	* OdeToFood: "Sugar" is a song that sounds like [[RedHerring it's about picking up a prostitute]], but halfway through, it turns out to be about buying Twinkies.
38	* ReclusiveArtist: Jon, in-universe.
39	* SerenadeYourLover: "Green, Green Dress."
40	* ShoutOut:
41	** To ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' and ''Film/MaryPoppins'' in "Why".
42	** To ''Literature/PeterPan'' and ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' in "30/90".
43	** The song "Sunday" is a clear parody of the song of the same title from ''Theatre/SundayInTheParkWithGeorge'' - they actually [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong share the same rhythm and prosody]], but melodically, Larson turned Sondheim's song upside down.
44	* ShowStopper: "Come to Your Senses" is this for the in-universe ShowWithinAShow and, depending on your tastes, the actual musical itself.
45	* SelfDeprecation: Jonathan Larson's Jon pre-CharacterDevelopment is a bit obsessive, self-centered, and oblivious to others' problems. Susan calls him out for this, saying that all he can think about is his own work and not about what other people like her may want. He grows out of it by the end of the show, thanking all of his friends.
46	* ShowWithinAShow: Jon's musical, ''SUPERBIA''.
47	* SoulCrushingDeskJob: The "Chubstitute" scene is framed like this, where Michael gets Jon a gig at a marketing company and sits in during a brainstorming session. By the end of the scene, he's already been fired.
48	* SundayIsBoring: "Sunday" (a parody of "Sunday" from ''Theatre/SundayInTheParkWithGeorge'') illustrates Jon's disdain for working Sunday brunches at the diner, full of the same fools complaining about their overpriced meals "forever". Downplayed, since the diner is also depicted as chaotic.
49	* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "I know I'm sick, Jon, and I'm not going to get any better."]]

Context Theatre / TickTickBoom