Lin-Manuel Miranda makes directorial debut with tick, tick...Boom!

VIFF presents the acclaimed artist’s new film, inspired by the real-life experience of Rent creator Jonathan Larson

SPONSORED POST BY VIFF

Andrew Garfield as Jonathan Larson in tick, tick…Boom!

Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda is back, only this time the acclaimed playwright is making his feature directorial debut. tick, tick…Boom! is an adaption of the autobiographic musical by Jonathan Larson, who transformed theatre with the creation of Rent.

VIFF presents tick, tick…Boom! at VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre November 14 to 18, before its Netflix release on November 19.

The film follows Jon (played by Academy award nominee and Tony winner Andrew Garfield), a young theatre composer who’s attempting to write what he hopes will be the next hit musical. It’s 1990, and to get by, he’s waiting on tables at a New York City diner.

Set within an artistic community being devastated by the AIDS epidemic, the story takes place the week before he’s about to showcase his work in a do-or-die performance. He’s feeling pressure from everyone, including his girlfriend, who dreams of a creative life beyond the Big Apple, and a dear friend, who swapped his artistic dreams for financial security. At a crossroads, Jon grapples with this question: What are we meant to do with the time we have?

Miranda grew up loving musicals and never imagined what his life could be until he saw Rent in 2001 while still a senior in college. (Larson died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm 1996 just before Rent became a global sensation. He was 35.) Larson’s work not only gave birth to a dream for Miranda but also kept it alive during moments of doubt—which is a central theme in tick, tick…Boom!

The film is inspired by Larson’s experience writing a musical at the same time he was working on Rent in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Superbia went unproduced despite receiving positive feedback from luminaries such as Stephen Sondheim.

For more information, See VIFF.

 

Post sponsored by VIFF.