Also this issue: Tilted View One Philadelphian's quest to bring a controversial piece of public art to our city. -Robin Rice Odd Fellows -Jen Darr BodyVox -Janet Anderson Louis Menand -Sam Adams Carmina Burana/Le Travail -Janet Anderson By the Bog of Cats ... -Toby Zinman The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? -David Anthony Fox and Toby Zinman Three plays at Triangle Theater -Toby Zinman

February 20-26, 2003

artpicks

tick tick ... Boom!

by Steve Cohen

Jonathan Larson is mostly remembered for his untimely death and for the show he wrote just before he died, Rent. But his earlier, autobiographical tick, tickŠBoom! is a more varied and interesting show.

Larson wrote it in 1989, when he was on the verge of turning 30, and developed it over the next four years. Then he put it aside and it never had a theatrical run until five years after his death. Victoria Leacock, co-producer of the production, was Larson¹s girlfriend when they both attended Adelphi University and they remained close friends even after she broke off the romance.

"He was an acting major, a tall, gangly guy with black hair," recalls Leacock. "Even though I¹d been going to Studio 54 since I was 14 and there wasn¹t much in life that I hadn¹t tried, Jonathan was the first man I loved. He fell for me because I was exotic, wearing kabuki makeup and unusual clothes. He also liked my loyalty to my friends. After he graduated and I left school, six of us lived together, just like in Rent. Out of our close group of six, four of us were diagnosed with HIV, and three died of it."

"I loved Jonathan because he was funny, articulate and had strong opinions. He knew he had talent, and he did, so he wasn¹t being cocky."

When he was at Adelphi, Larson wrote a fan letter to Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim wrote back, and became a mentor. One of the songs in tick, tickŠBoom! is a parody of Sondheim¹s style. The show, originally titled 30/90, is about a man about to turn 30 years old in 1990. The character is frustrated that he hasn¹t yet been recognized and considers giving up his dream of being a composer. Leacock says they produced the show for two weekends in 1990 at Second Stage, where it received mixed reactions. "Audiences were put off by his complaining that he wasn¹t discovered. Of course they didn¹t know how important Jonathan would turn out to be."

tick, tick…Boom!, Feb. 25-March 2, $32-$47 Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-336-1234.