Tick, Tick... BOOM!, well worth seeing twice

Jonathan Larson's Tick Tick...Boom is an introspective play written before his commercial success via the musical ‘Rent'. The CCRI Players performed Larson's lesser known musical December 1 through the 4; with one tour date set for the 30 of December at The Stadium Theater in Woonsocket, RI. Overall, the performance was your standard collegiate work of off Broadway revival stripped down; mostly for fiscal reasons. The show featured a decent, but talent wise, unbalanced cast that delivered a good performance.

From a technical standpoint, the play was very standard in its set design.  The simple, utilitarian set up, despite showing a gross lack of funding for the arts, effectively reflected the tone of the play. The bare bones look of the scenery was uncannily reminiscent of Dumbo apartments I use to frequent and accurately showed desperation the characters felt. The sound set up was good; very good. I later learned that the balance was being mixed live. Only once or twice did mine ears detect something audibly odd. Set changes were boldly done without the guise of a curtain and went surprisingly smoothly.  Any faux pas that occurred, were expertly assuaged before the less critically trained eye had a chance to see. 

The Players presented the production outside of its usual maximum four cast members by adding an ensemble. To work the ensemble into almost every scene, they were situated behind the main action in a bar tableau, often times mirroring the audience's silent thoughts. I thought this a daring move. With an untrained cast background people in a scene can often times be too much. This ensemble mastered the art of subtle comic relief as a backdrop and in brief cameos; making their on stage presence a hilarious addition, not a distraction.

The four starring roles in Tick, Tick…Boom were cast as follows: Alexander Rotella of Cranston as Jon; Laura Minadeo of Warwick as Susan; Billy Flynn of Providence as Michael; and Megan Cook of Warwick as Karessa. I later learned during the five minutes of "talk back" I was able to attend, that Rotella was an emergency add into the cast. I found this ironic as he was, what I saw to be, one of the strongest performers on the stage. 

Overall the main cast members were decent and what you would expect from this production. I loved Rotella as Jon. He delivered lines with fluidity and such sincerity that I did I double take, to assure myself sure he was not lip synching. He singing voice was good.Stunning really, if you consider his lack of training. At times he lacked a bodily show of emotion that detracted from his solo pieces, but if you closed your eyes his voice said it all. Laura Minadeo made a believable Susan but from reading her bio in the playbill I was disappointed. I expected to be blown away by someone who had guitar and voice training from Berkley. It was this expectation that rendered her vocal performance bland to me. Her acting was great. She was real and I found, that of all the cast members, spare Flynn, she was able to exceptionally convey tougher emotions the play held; feelings that are often under expressed by young actors.

Megan Cook was also damaged, in my eyes, from her bio. Despite her being a first year, I assumed more of her performance based on lead roles she held in high school. As a singer, her voice is light and airy, akin to that of a young Cosette. When she does not fall flat pitch wise, she is a lovely performer; but her portrayal of a young, sexy, Brooklynite was not even remotely tangible. Her attempt at lust and sex appeal came across as a cute, schoolyard crush. To be fair, their was noticeable hesitation in all the provocative scenes, but hers was most apparent. She has a captivating stage presence but it seams she could only tap into it by habitually searching for eye contact with other performers. She fed off of their confidence instead of showing her own, which came out beautifully in crazy dance scenes like "Sugar". 

Billy Flynn stole the show in my eyes. He was spot on. Confident, powerful, and connected; he captivated me with every word he let loose. I feel he held the cast together because his energy was infectious, flowing off the stage impregnating everyone in the room with effervescence. He complimented Rotella, not only as a costar, but their voices were a stellar pairing. Even as a part of the ensemble, his presence brought out the vivacity of every person around him. 

Overall the play was really good and definitely has the potential to be phenomenal. Many of the casts' shortcomings are easily allowed for a community college play. However, it is hard to not expect more, when what you see on stage is talent in the raw, only a sliver away from being perfection. You want better because you know better can be done. The acting was so ripe with feeling when expressing anger or other laymen emotion; from this, I know that with experience, those harder impressions of desperation and guilty pleasure will come. With experience will also come confidence. To be fair, some of the vocal issues, of pitch and sound balance, are just the game of old equipment, but not all of them. This performance is definitely worth seeing and not just for the sake of supporting the arts program. See this musical because despite all the kinks, it is a well executed theatrical work, which highlights your school's talent. Talent that we should all be proud of. You can bet your bottom dollar, come December 30, I will be sitting front and center at The Stadium Theater waiting to receive the Tony worthy experience I know they are capable of giving.