Review: TICK,TICK...BOOM! at Volksoper

Jonathan Larson's semi-autobiographical Musical is brought to life at the Volksoper. To be honest, tick, tick...BOOM! is a surprisingly unusual choice for a house like the Volksoper, well known for more classical shows like MY FAIR LADY, WEST SIDE STORY, e.g., Maybe that's why Vienna is even more excited about this one intimate yet rocking show to open.

Since Lin-Manuel Miranda directed the movie with Andrew Garfield playing Jon, the show received further attention even outside the usual Musical bubble.

Many familiar faces are connected with the show; the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Raúl Esparza, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Kieran Brown have been able to portray Jon before. The show impacted and inspired many people in the theatre and influenced so many careers over the years.

Jonathan Larson's New York is filled with hopes, dreams, struggle, disease, and, of course, waiting tables.

tick,tick...BOOM! written initially as a one-person show, got transformed into what we all know now, a three-person piece that no one in the room left undazzled.

Musical ensemble members Jakob Semotan (Jon), Oliver Liebl (Michael), and Juliette Khalil (Susan) are the chosen ones to bring the 90s New York City feeling alive at the ( scarily) huge Volksoper stage.

The piece requires a lot, not only from the actors but also from the musicians and, of course, the director. It needs the sounds, the movement, and, of course, the taste of Jon's New York.

Cages or Wings?

Volksopers Director Lotte de Beer has given the Genre Wings with this, as said before, rather an unusual choice. I am not sure the dignified walls ever experienced such a rocking score and energetic drum solos. (kudos to Mario Stübler)

tick,tick...BOOM! has the sounds and the looks and, most importantly, the right people to bring it alive. Jakob Semotan, who, even with bronchitis, took the audience by storm; you fell for his dreams, goals, and struggles, even when he didn't wait tables in the usual way.

Joining him in this Volksoper extravaganza is Oliver Liebl, who often got cast as the young lover but finally gets what he deserves: a multilayered part to show his full potential; he gets his wings.
Rounding up the trio is Juliette Khalil, giving her all to deliver the show's eleven o'clock number, Come To Your Senses.

tick,tick...Boom can be seen as an essential piece of work, ambitious, aspiring artists who never stop dreaming and believing, nevertheless, what life has in store. Lotte de Beer has been brave enough to put this intimate rock musical on this year's repertoire, with Jakob Semotan and Oliver Liebl at their best. It's a rare Volksoper event, only playing on selected dates.

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