Tick, Tick… Boom! is perhaps the perfect musical for a bunch of up-and-coming performers to take on. With great music (arguably even better than Jonathan Larson’s most famous work, Rent) and a small cast, this is a work that allows those on stage to really shine. This makes the Old Fitz Theatre’s ‘Late Night’ program the perfect host for Good Time Theatrics’ production of the work, which stars three recent NIDA graduates (Hamish Wells, Brodie Masini and Tessa Olsson) seeking to show off their skills in practice. 

The great thing about the work is the quality of its music. There are so many fabulous songs, with a range of technical difficulty, in the production which give the performers the opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of their skills. 

All three performers showed promise, with Masini displaying a lyrical tenor voice, Wells showcasing a penchant for comedic acting and Olsson announcing herself as a true triple threat across a wide range of roles. The pace of the musical is challenging and all three performers handled it well, moving between characters while maintaining conviction in the acting. While there were some slips in the characterisation at times, these are to be expected in a lengthy production and on the whole, the acting was strong. 

It is difficult to talk about this production without addressing the illness in the cast. None of the performers seemed in full voice, which unfortunately impacted the quality and effect of the production, especially in some of the more challenging vocal numbers. Some of the high notes in ‘30/90’ as well as the modulation in ‘Green, Green Dress’ exposed some of these issues quite early on and while all three vocalists certainly showed promise, the impact was quite noticeable throughout the production, with a number of phrases shortened and ‘opt-downs’ utilised in well-known numbers. It is commendable that the production still made it to the stage in spite of the illness but unfortunately, the vocal impact was noticeable. 

The band for this production, led by Iris Wu, was superb, performing with passion and gusto every step of the way and expertly navigating the shifts in microphones caused by technical issues. The production team and stage team also did a fantastic job in managing some of the problems that arose on the night. 

Kurt Laing’s direction was strong however, there was often a sense that a little less was required on stage, especially with regard to the choreography. In such a fast-paced production, and accounting for some of the other issues in the production, giving the performers a little bit more space would have been beneficial. 

Overall, this was a promising production which showed off the talents of the three performers on stage as well as the band, who took the opportunity to perform some fantastic music. While not everything worked perfectly in this show, it will certainly provide a springboard for the performers as they move onto bigger productions. 

Rating: ★★★

Tick, Tick… Boom! plays at the Old Fitz Theatre until 26^th July. For more information, click here. 

Photo credits: Robert Miniter