Pittsburgh CLO Announces The Cast Of TICK, TICK...BOOM!

Pittsburgh CLO has announced the smash hit tick, tick… BOOM! will be the first show to light up the stage at the renovated, new-look Greer Cabaret Theater, Sept. 22-Oct. 22. The Pittsburgh CLO is excited to announce casting for this exclusive engagement, which also marks the return of the Kara Cabaret Series.

tick, tick... BOOM! features book, music & lyrics by Jonathan Larson; the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer of RENT. In this autobiographical rock musical, the story of an up and coming composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Containing fourteen songs, ten characters, three actors and a band, tick, tick... BOOM! takes you on the playwright/composer's journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.

 

"Pittsburgh CLO is honored to open not only the newly renovated Greer Cabaret Theater but we are equally thrilled to relaunch our CLO Kara Cabaret Series with tick, tick...BOOM!, an autobiographical by Jonathan Larson," said Executive Producer, Mark Fleischer. "We have gathered an incredible cast and creative team led by Director, Martha Banta, a personal friend of Jonathan Larson."

Director: Martha Banta
Music Director: Robert Neumeyer
Stage Manager: Tim Brady
Lighting Designer: Paul Miller
Sound Designer: Bob Bollman
Scenic & Props Design: Marty Savolskis
Costume Designer: Damian Dominguez
Video Designer: Nathan W. Scheuer
Production Assistant: Ben Pimental
Associate Video Designer: Kylee Lorea

Martha Banta (Director) was a friend and colleague of Jonathan Larson. She's honored to direct tick, tick...BOOM! She was Resident Director of Larson's musical RENT for New York Theatre Workshop, Broadway, London, two National Tours, and she directed productions in Japan and Germany. Associate Director for MAMMA MIA! on Broadway, National Tour, Las Vegas. The new production of ROCK OF AGES for its 10th anniversary tour. NYC productions for: Public Theater, Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theater, New York Theater Workshop, New Georges, Cherry Lane, Lambs Theater, Clark Theater/Lincoln Center, Urban Stages. Regional: Adirondack Theatre Festival, Portland Center Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public, Ordway, St. Louis Rep, Westport, Merrimack, Capital Rep., Berkshire Theater Festival. Adirondack Theatre Festival's founding Artistic Director where she directed several premieres that went on to be produced in NYC and across the country.

Sarah Bishop (Susan) is so excited to make her CLO Cabaret debut! National Tour: Cabaret (Roundabout). Regional: World Premiere of Broadway Vacation (5th Avenue Theater), The Other Josh Cohen (Geva), 42nd Street (PCLO), Ulla in The Producers (The Strand). Favorites: Legally Blonde (Elle), Singin' In The Rain (Lina), The Sound of Music (Maria), Guys & Dolls (Sarah). Loves connecting with singers as the owner of  Sarah Bishop Vocal Studio. Love to Kyle, Friends and Family! TikTok/Instagram: @singwithbish

BRADY PATSY (Michael) is incredibly blessed to be making his CLO Cabaret debut in this beautiful new venue. Brady is local to Pittsburgh and he was last seen this summer with PCLO in Guys & Dolls, Into the Woods, and as Tonton Julian in Once on this Island. Other Regional credits include: Javert (Les Miserables), Tom Collins (RENT), Kerchak (Disney's Tarzan), Richard (A New Brain), Sweeney (Sweeney Todd), Hud (Hair), among many others. Go forth from the theater with joy and take a moment of reflection to ask, "Are you letting yourself be led by fear or love?" then, regardless of the answer, go and LOVE!

Ethan Riordan (Jonathan) is excited to make his Pittsburgh CLO debut. A graduate of the drama studio at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, Ethan holds a BA in History from Yale University, where he spent a year singing and traveling with the world-famous a cappella group, The Whiffenpoofs. "An aspiring young composer" himself, Ethan spends his free time at the piano working on musical theater and film composition. He is currently scoring a full-length feature film and collaborating on a musical adaptation of the novel The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness. Favorite past roles include: Melchior Gabor (Spring Awakening), Jean Valjean (Les Miserables), and Fredrik Egerman (A Little Night Music). Most recently, Ethan appeared in an industry reading of a Shimmer, a new musical written by Sarah Schulman, Michael Korie, and Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Davis. Ethan would like to thank his family for supporting him in his passions. He would also like to thank his manager, John Mara, Jr., CESD, and Pittsburgh CLO for this incredible opportunity. He thanks Jonathan Larson for his words and music and for being a longtime inspiration to him and countless other musical theater creators.

MARISSA BUCHHEIT (Understudy Susan/ASM) is over the moon to back with Pittsburgh CLO! Marissa has been seen at various theaters around Pittsburgh and Southern Florida including Pittsburgh CLO, Front Porch Theatricals, Gulf Coast Symphony, and West Coast Black Theater Troupe. Favorite past credits include Vanessa in In the Heights and Janet in The Rocky Horror Show. Endless love to fiancé, Alex and her Mom for encouraging her to take the leap back into theater. For Dad, always.

REED ALLEN WORTH (Understudy Michael/Jonathan) is so excited to be back at Pittsburgh CLO! Previously seen as: Sunny (Xanadu), Male Swing (Pump Boys and Dinettes). Reed is an Alumni of the Point Park musical theatre department, and a graduate of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center. He can often be seen playing in the back line of Paging Doctor Moon and is set to release the score for his first feature film "Baggage Claim."

 

Tickets start at $35 and are available online at PittsburghCLO.org, by calling 412-456-6666, or at the Benedum Center Box Office. Please note that this show contains Adult Content. All patrons under the age of 21 must be accompanied by a ticketed adult chaperone age 25 or older.

tick, tick...BOOM! is part of the 2023 Kara Cabaret Series, made possible by the Michael J. Kara Family.

Pittsburgh CLO has been a driving force behind the preservation, creation and promotion of live musical theater since 1946. As one of the largest regional musical theater organizations in the country, it is fortunate for the yearly support of nearly 200,000 audience members. In addition to producing fresh new productions of Broadway classics, the not-for-profit's mission is to develop new works and showcase emerging talent, and has been credited with launching the careers of numerous artists such as Billy Porter, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Rob Marshall, Kathleen Marshall, Rob Ashford, Bernadette Peters and Shirley Jones. The organization's dedication to musical theater extends beyond its six-show Summer Season at the Benedum Center to year-round programming at the 250-seat Cabaret Theater, which saw the world premieres of Up and Away and Game On in 2018 and The Double-Threat Trio in 2019. Its extensive education efforts include the Pittsburgh CLO Academy of Musical Theater; a university internship program; New Horizons, and in-school programs Gallery of Heroes and Creative Vision. Other ongoing initiatives include the Construction Center for the Arts, the Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater and SPARK, a festival for new small-cast musicals launched in 2018. The organization also founded the National High School Musical Theatre Awards/ Jimmy Awards. To further its mission to grow the art form, Pittsburgh CLO has been involved with 31 Broadway shows (32 Tony Awards), and in 2014 produced the world premiere of An American in Paris in Paris, then on Broadway, where it won 4 Tony Awards, and in London, Tokyo, Pittsburgh and throughout the U.S. and Europe. Pittsburgh CLO is the subject of a film starring Jeff Goldblum titled "Pittsburgh." 

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