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Review of Tick, Tick… BOOM!

I have a small rotation of friends whom I take with me to see plays. My “theatre buddies” are generally either knowledgeable about the theatre, or insightful about the arts, or both. Tonight, however, by sheer circumstance, I found myself taking my sister – who is neither knowledgeable nor insightful about these things – to opening night of the musical Tick, Tick… BOOM! at Toronto Centre for the Arts. And, lo and behold, she was the perfect audience.

Everything you read about Tick, Tick… BOOM! will find some awkward way of telling you that it was written and composed by the creator of RENT, Jonathan Larson. This speaks to an inferiority complex about the show that is entirely unjusitifed: even in a RENT-less world, Tick, Tick… BOOM! has value. As my sister noted, it is the kind of show that even people who don’t like musicals could like.

Parris Greaves – photo by Vincent Perri

This has a lot to do with the style of the music itself. As the show’s protagonist, an aspiring composer-lyricist (the play is heavily auto-biographical) notes, the musical styles on Broadway are about forty years behind the rest of the country. This is not the case in Tick, Tick… BOOM!, which wears the title “rock musical” with pride and honesty. The music is punchy and contemporary (or at least was in 1990, which is still much closer to today’s tastes than the trombone section of yesteryear). Because of the play’s popular music style, it is accessible to people for whom “Hammersteinesque” is interchangeable with “Lloyd Webberian.” Likewise, the plot of the show is neither irrelevant nor exotic; it follows a man in the weeks before his thirtieth birthday as he tries to find meaning in life and relationships. Three performers make up the cast of over a dozen, and they are exactly as versatile as they need to be. However, director Tim French’s background in choreography is awkwardly visible between the songs, when too-wide facial expressions and too-obvious hand gestures err more on the side of pantomime than acting.

Although it does appeal to a wide audience, Tick, Tick… BOOM! also makes several esoteric allusions. By far the most common subject of these references is Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim, who serves not only as a small point in the plot but also as a major artistic influence. This did not mesh well with the general accessibility of the show: one number is a sustained allusion to a song from Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, a piece that is considered obscure even in the world of musical theatre. About halfway through that song I realized that only one in every handful of people in the theatre understood the reference; this was evidenced by the bored expressions on everyone else.

Parris Greaves, Laura Mae Nason, Ken Chamberland – photo by Vincent Perri

 

One number aside, Tick, Tick… BOOM! will resonate with almost everyone, from the die-hard theatre maven to the reluctant teenager dragged by their parents to the out-of-place sister insistent on joining her blogging brother. If there is such thing as a “starter musical,” this is it. Musical theatre fans: this is your chance to recruit some devotees.

Tick, Tick… BOOM!

September 21 – October 6, 2013
Studio Theatre

Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson

David Auburn, Script Consultant
Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by Stephen Oremus

tick, tick…BOOM! was originally produced off-Broadway in June, 2001 by Victoria Leacock, Robyn Goodman
Dede Harris, Lorie Cowen Levy, Beth Smith

Directed by Tim French
Music Directed by Anthony Bastianon

Starring Ken Chamberland, Parris Greaves, and Laura Mae Nason

 

 

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Limited Advice for First Years, by a First Year

Who do you want to be? You are in a new place with new people. You could be anyone you want. This is an opportunity for a clean start. Do not create a different and inauthentic persona to play out (unless you want to); but instead, embody what is going to make you happiest. Perhaps you sought to be more extroverted in high school. Be fearless, this first year is a renaissance. Take complete advantage of it.

Who you are going to be for the following four years will be prominently sculpted by the friends and people with whom you associate yourself. The group you amalgamate into during and after orientation will change, but it sets a precedent for how others perceive you.

Let go of home. Stop checking Facebook to see your friends’ happy new lives. Turn off your phone for the first few days. Learn to love yourself, by yourself, as yourself.

Figure out your personal balance of socializing via those clubs and/or your other friends, and maintaining your benchmark grades. University is every bit as much about developing as an adult as it is learning.

Love your new home from the start. It will be uncomfortable and lonesome, you will yearn for some sense of security, but you will be thankful later if you endure the unknown.

Go to club fairs and events. Join three clubs that you would have never considered before. Learn how to dance. Volunteer at a homeless shelter. Read philosophical novels and discuss them. Play tennis. Taste wine. Allow yourself to be brand new

Lastly, there is no path. The path will appear as you walk. Let go of how you think things should be, and simply appreciate this as the fresh experience that it is. Keep advancing onward, be grateful for where you are, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised where you eventually end up.

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The Secret Election

Remember way back, last year, when Sana Ali forfeited her candidacy in an unopposed race for a position on the Students Union? It was pretty scandalous, and we at blogUT got our fair share of material out of it. There was so much to consider – the content of Ali’s letter, the implications to the prospects of Team Renew and its successors – that we forgot that forfeiting a race while running unopposed is just the beginning of a long and tricky process. Since then, the position of Vice President – External has remained vacant. This position, evidently important enough that it merits an elected spot on the University of Toronto Students’ Union, has remained unfilled for the entirety of a summer and then some. This is a pretty big deal, but this was not unexpected – the suddenness of the forfeiture left the position open until a supplementary by-election could determine a replacement.

This is all well and good, but you can (and may already have) read about this in any campus paper. What I would like to address is the starling opacity with which this extremely important matter has been dealt. I don’t mean to say that anything has been hidden but only that, for an organization of students living in the information age, the UTSU has been alarmingly terrible at getting the word out about, well, anything important.

I encourage you to venture, right now, onto the UTSU website. The first thing you’ll find is a page-long advertisement for the UTSU’s street fair, which is happening… last week. The prominence of the ad signifies its importance compared to the other content of the site; the fact that any link to utsu.ca takes you there first indicates that someone believes that this takes precedence over all other content. It is just that important. Curiously, you’ll find no such advertisement, or indeed any conspicuous message, providing information about the upcoming by-elections. Not only is it not obvious – it doesn’t even seem to be there. If you check under the “Top News” heading you’ll find no new material since June. Surely it must be under “Calendar,” right? Wrong. If there is any indication that a fall by-election is taking place, it is extremely difficult to find on the UTSU website. But is it anywhere at all on the publicly visible web? Google “UTSU fall by-election” and see for yourself. Still not convinced? Check out the welcome e-mail you got a few weeks ago from the UTSU. Seven subjects were covered; the election was not one of them.

Cliché has it that any crime must have means, motive, and opportunity. The UTSU no doubt have had plenty of opportunities to exercise their ample means in neglecting – or perhaps avoiding – any sort of advertisement about this critically important event. But what motive could they possibly have? One need look no further than the source – the very reason that the position is vacant at all. In her open letter of forfeiture, Ali writes:

I made clear my views on […] the skewed election process in favor of incumbents, and keeping communication lines with the ‘opposition’ open […] but my perturbation was quickly appeased and the matter closed.

[…] when it was revealed that nobody would be running against the team, I was really upset because I saw it as a massive call for reform. When I brought this up, I was told that it did not mean no-one had faith in the system, it simply meant that people were too lazy to put in the work. […] The UTSU’s claim that the majority of people are not involved in these issues and actually benefit from their work doesn’t excuse them from failing on a fundamental level. Capitalizing on mass ignorance is not democratic. It’s wrong.

This quote provides a very obvious motive: continued re-election, if not of the incumbents then of their hand-picked successors. A lack of student involvement and engagement entails a lack of opposition. It seems as though Ali was actually too kind in her assessment – the issues are not ignorance borne of apathy, but ignorance that has been carefully crafted and orchestrated. The fact that I did not know about the fall by-elections speaks volumes to the silence perpetrated by those who would control it. The UTSU has Twitter, Facebook, its own web-site and, evidently, the ability to e-mail 46,000 students at once, but how do they choose to advertise the election? With the occasional poster in a building you might (not) use.

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Let’s Change the World

I was told by my roommate that when you enter an elevator with a stranger in Europe, he/she will automatically start a conversation with you.

How many of you have stood there in awkward silence with a stranger as you both try to squeeze further and further into your own respective corners of the elevator?

What if that stranger asked about the weather and you had an opportunity to complain about how mother nature wishes to spite you at ever turn? Then as one of you leaves for your floor, you’d say goodbye and be on your merry way. Look, you successfully made human interaction.

I smile at strangers as I walk.

Have you ever made direct eye contact with someone on the sidewalk accidentally? Oh no – they saw you! And they can see that you also see them. YOU BOTH SEE EACH OTHER.

Then, a polite stranger cracks a warm smile, and you find yourself doing the same. It’s a silent “ya, I see you, you’re a person, I’m a person too.” And it’s OK, because now you’ve both acknowledged the existence of the other and can be on your merry way.

Knowing how to give a compliment and take a compliment without any hidden strings is important. “You look very nice” can literally mean, you look nice. Don’t confuse it with “I’m only complimenting you because I want to hook up later” or “I’m being really nice to you because I secretly have a huge crush on you and this gives you permission to assume I really want to hook up with you”.

I wouldn’t take candy from a stranger, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t steal a smile nor share a joke. Because we’re all human, and we’re all capable of little acts of kindness.

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A Frosh’s Treasury of Helpful Articles

It looks like we’re getting meta up in this blizzy (that’s ghetto for “blog”) – we’ve got blog posts within a blog post. Below is a list of some of our favourite articles about the hows and whats of being a new student at UofT. Each article was created by a student with experience and knowledge, and each reflects the ways we’ve learnt to deal with the challenges of a new school and the new experiences that they bring. Enjoy!

Dear Fellow First-Years

This is a letter written by a student after only one month of classes. Although it is intended for others with the same level of experience, it is an excellent guide of what to expect in that crucial first month.

First Year’s Advice Through A Third Year’s Eyes

The author of this post uses over two years of experience to explain what she would have done differently in her first year, knowing what she knows now.

Some Really, Really Specific Tips for First-Years

The author of this post (me) tries to get as specific as possible when providing advice for new students. The goal is to avoid ambiguity, which leads to confusion, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of advice.

How To Have A Fantastic First Year 101

This post takes knowledge gained through years of experience and breaks it down into a usable, concise guide. Bonus: it’s full of helpful hyperlinks.

Breaking the ice…

A godsend for the socially awkward among us, this post provides tips and techniques on making new friends. Since you’ll probably meet at least 150 people over the next two weeks, this is more than a little helpful.

Some links you want to familiarize yourself with

Sentence-ending prepositions aside, this post is brilliant because it embeds what you need to know right into the page! Since so much of the world is digital these days, a guide like this is invaluable.

The No-Fear-First-Year Mini Guide to Starting at UofT

You can never have too many guides! This one provides some advice not covered in the others. And, if you’re like me, you cannever read too much about something that makes you nervous.

So, You’re Going to U of T?

This last post is less of a guide and more of a suggested mindset. I wrote it after my first year, when I knew enough to know that I did not know enough to write anything with more detail.