Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Forte Musical Theatre Guild  Presents TICK, TICK…BOOM!, February 28 - March 12

Before Rent, there was tick, tick…BOOM!, an autobiographical musical by future Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer, Jonathan Larson.

Forte Musical Theatre Guild  Presents TICK, TICK…BOOM!, February 28 - March 12

Before Rent, there was tick, tick...BOOM!, an autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer, which Forte Musical Theatre Guild will present from February 28 - March 12, 2023 at the Big Secret Theatre in Arts Commons.

"It's so unfortunate that Jonathan never lived to see the huge success that "Rent" would become. It has influenced a generation of musical theatre writers, including me. But, after his tragic death, Jonathan's friends came together to create a musical out of the songs he left behind. It tells the story of how he overcame almost insurmountable obstacles to create one of the most influential shows of our time. I find it incredibly moving and I know audiences will too," said Joe Slabe, Forte Musical Theatre's Artistic Director and the musical director on this production.

tick, tick...BOOM! is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors, and a rock band, Tick, Tick...BOOM! takes you on a playwright/composer journey that let to a Broadway blockbuster.

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

Dane Bjornson - Jonathan

Jessica Jones Deroche - Susan

Joel Schaefer - Michael

Joe Slabe - Keyboard

Carl Janzen - Guitar

Darcy Johnstone - Bass

Nathaniel Chiang - Drums

JP Thibodeau - Director

Joe Slabe - Musical Director

Kayla MacKenzie - Choreographer

Serena Lemire - Stage Manager

Darcie Howe - Costume Designer

Kris Mish - Lighting Designer

Mike Skwara - Production Manager

Jennifer Yeung - Production Assistant

Aldona Barutowicz - Publicist

Hayley Dechaine - Public Relations Coordinator

Jennifer Merio - Graphic Designer

In addition to the inspiration and influence Larson's work has had on Slabe, there are also some fun parallels that drew him to wanting to bring this show to the Calgary audience.

"I feel like Jonathan Larson and I were living weirdly parallel lives in the 80s and 90s. While he was working on the show that would become "Rent", I was trying to write my own first musical, also based on "La Boheme" and also featuring a Mimi character with AIDS. The opening number of "Tick, Tick... Boom!" is called "Thirty/Ninety" about a man who's confronting his thirtieth birthday in 1990 and terrified that his dreams will never be realized. Around the same time, I was writing my first ten-minute musical for PlayRites about a twenty-nine year-old confronting the fact he was in a dead-end job making six-twenty five an hour. That song's title? "Twenty-nine/Six twenty-five."

tick, tick...BOOM! will open for previews on February 28th, with the official opening night on Thursday March 2. Shows are Tuesdays through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with matinees Saturday and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets available at www.fortemusical.ca.



Storybook Theatre Presents ELLA ENCHANTED in April Photo
StoryBook Theatre will host the Canadian premiere of Ella Enchanted. From April 7 - 22, 2023 on Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7pm and Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm, audiences will be welcomed to experience a show filled with love, community, self-love, identity and understanding.   

BLIPPI Wonderful World Tour Comes to Calgary in May Photo
Round Room Live and Moonbug Entertainment have announced that a new live show, Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour, will again bring the vivacious, energetic, and educational antics of global sensation Blippi to stages across North America, with a stop in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, May 13.

Theatre Calgary Opens World Premiere of FORGIVENESS Photo
On Friday, March 10, Theatre Calgary in a joint presentation with the Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver) is thrilled to open the world premiere of the heartfelt and true story of Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto, stage adaptation by Hiro Kanagawa, and directed by Theatre Calgary's Artistic Director Stafford Arima in Calgary. 

ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE Comes to Calgary Next Month Photo
Escape to Margaritaville comes to Theatre Calgary next month. Performances run April 18 - May 13. Find your parrot shirt, grab your flip-flops, and head to Margaritaville - where a part-time bartender and singer in a rundown hotel in the tropics has fallen for a serious career-minded tourist.


More Hot Stories For You


Storybook Theatre Presents ELLA ENCHANTED in AprilStorybook Theatre Presents ELLA ENCHANTED in April
March 21, 2023

StoryBook Theatre will host the Canadian premiere of Ella Enchanted. From April 7 - 22, 2023 on Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7pm and Saturdays & Sundays at 2pm, audiences will be welcomed to experience a show filled with love, community, self-love, identity and understanding.   

BLIPPI Wonderful World Tour Comes to Calgary in MayBLIPPI Wonderful World Tour Comes to Calgary in May
March 21, 2023

Round Room Live and Moonbug Entertainment have announced that a new live show, Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour, will again bring the vivacious, energetic, and educational antics of global sensation Blippi to stages across North America, with a stop in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, May 13.

Theatre Calgary Opens World Premiere of FORGIVENESSTheatre Calgary Opens World Premiere of FORGIVENESS
March 10, 2023

On Friday, March 10, Theatre Calgary in a joint presentation with the Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver) is thrilled to open the world premiere of the heartfelt and true story of Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto, stage adaptation by Hiro Kanagawa, and directed by Theatre Calgary's Artistic Director Stafford Arima in Calgary. 

ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE Comes to Calgary Next MonthESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE Comes to Calgary Next Month
March 8, 2023

Escape to Margaritaville comes to Theatre Calgary next month. Performances run April 18 - May 13. Find your parrot shirt, grab your flip-flops, and head to Margaritaville - where a part-time bartender and singer in a rundown hotel in the tropics has fallen for a serious career-minded tourist.

FORGIVENESS Comes to Theatre Calgary in MarchFORGIVENESS Comes to Theatre Calgary in March
February 24, 2023

Forgiveness is the acclaimed 2018 Canada Reads–winning novel by Mark Sakamoto. It’s a memoir of Sakamoto’s grandparents and their harrowing experiences during the Second World War. Mark’s maternal grandfather was a Canadian soldier who spent years as a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp.