CCP’s ‘Tick, Tick, Boom!’ Tells a Story in Music

The popularity of “Tick, Tick, Boom!” musical on Netflix in 2021 gave Kathleen Clarke Horrigan of Fishers the idea to direct the musical at the local community theater level.

“I decided to hop on with the hope of some name recognition,” she said. “It is especially popular with young people who are in love with the music.”

The one-act 90-minute musical opens Friday and continues through Oct. 23 at The Switch Theatre at Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy in Fishers. Tickets are still available.

“Tick, Tick, Boom!” is an autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning composer of “Rent.” The musical, “Tick, Tick, Boom!” is the story of a composer and the sacrifices that he made to achieve his big break in theater.

“Most people are familiar with the musical ‘Rent.’ This is about the composer of Rent when he was struggling to decide if he should continue to try to write a musical or give up and work in the corporate world like his best friend,” she said. “He wrote this musical first and would perform it playing all of the roles to help make some money to support himself.”

Clarke Horrigan said, “Although you may not know this musical, the theme might hit home with some people. Jon is turning 30 and he is having an identity crisis. Should he give up his dreams of being a composer or marry his girlfriend and get a real job?”

The girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, his best friend is making big bucks on Madison Avenue and, yet, Jon is still waiting on tables and trying to write the great American musical. Set in 1990, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical filled with instantly appealing melodies and a unique blend of musical theater styles.

The show has 14 songs, 10 characters, three actors and a band and takes the audience on the playwright/composer’s journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.

All of the songs were written by Jonathan Larson. Clarke Horrigan said, “If you know songs from ‘Rent,’ you might hear some music that resembles those tunes. It is more of a rock score at times, but each song tells part of the story … The musical was written originally for three actors. We expanded the cast to seven so the ensemble can play multiple roles to round out the cast.”

The set is largely left to the imagination due to the nature of the show, she said.

The scenes go to many locations in New York City, so projections will be used to help take the audience to the many locations. And costumes, hair and makeup will suggest 1990.

Clarke Horrigan, a Logansport native, has been directing in community theater since 1995, primarily at Footlite Musicals in Indianapolis. She has won several Encore Awards in directing and acting. She is a member of the Indiana Thespian Educator Hall of Fame and has received Ball State University’s Theatre Alumni Award and Theatre Distinguished Alumni Award. By day, she’s a theater teacher at Lawrence Central High School where she directs the plays and the musicals.

Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.