I love musical theatre. Maybe not as much as actual theatre, kids but it was something that I had been obsessed with since I was a kid. The first time I had watched High School Musical, I knew it would be game over; I’d be hooked forever. And my mom and I had spent my entire childhood bonding over our love for Abba and Mamma Mia. It had been a big part of my life. The first time I had watched the movie musical Rent, I had fallen in love with Jonathan Larson. At that point, I had watched so many musicals and yet they never really tackled the things that Rent did. I was enchanted by the movie and the soundtrack. So when I found out that Lin-Manuel Miranda was directing tick, tick…BOOM! I was sold immediately.
tick, tick…BOOM! follows the life of Jonathan Larson, an American playwright before his big break with his Broadway musical Rent. The musical had started out as an off-Broadway production. The story was littered with angst, drama, comedy and pure wit. Lin-Manuel Miranda showed how much he loved and was inspired by Jonathan Larson through this project. What I respected the most was that Miranda did not try to paint Larson as an angel. A man who was so invested in their creative work was a difficult man to be in relationships with. Miranda did not stray away from these flaws no matter how much he idolized him.
Not to sound pretentious, but the musical captures the struggles of an artist so perfectly. Larson was put through hell for his art to be recognized because no one gave him the time of day. And that’s how the industry works. It eats you up and spits you back out with less than what you started with. As a creative person myself, I could never have the courage that Larson did to pursue creative means. A moment in the film showed Larson almost giving up his dream. As that was happening, I was yelling at my screen for him to keep going. It’s the type of courage not a lot of people have; I sure as hell didn’t. That’s why it was so easy to root for him despite how much of a mess he was. He was charismatic and an absolute genius. The situations around him just let him show it.
And none of this would have come to life if the brilliant Andrew Garfield hadn’t put his entire heart and soul into this role. He attended singing lessons and understood Larson’s personality and mannerisms as if he had read them off a textbook. It was a stunning sight to see. I have loved Andrew Garfield since he starred in the Amazing Spiderman movies all the way back in 2012. So when I heard he was playing Jonathan Larson, it felt like two of my worlds colliding. And it worked out so perfectly because I cannot picture anyone else playing the role as well as he did. He is phenomenal at portraying a desperate, borderline delusional theatrical writer in ways that I didn’t even know he could. He made me fall in love with Jonathan Larson all over again, something 15-year-old me could not fathom.