Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Stuart Crowther, Franki Burke, Adam Handford.
New York in the early 1990s felt at times as if the whole cultural edifice was on its way to being torn down, that imagination, artistic individualism and intellectual prosperity was being neglected, shamed, destroyed by the ever rampant chase of undying consumerism. That the beautiful, even if crime infested streets surrounding certain areas that were awash with artists of every creed were being driven out and in their place those that chased every dollar, every dime and cent with religious capitalist zeal were taking over. Reaganomics had won and the starving artist had better join the party.
To be child of the 60s was to have hope and fear bred into your D.N.A. with equal sprinkled liberalism, it was the time before the nation died the first of many post Second World War deaths and by the time being over the age of 21 hit home, the sound of the clock had begun to tick. Turning 30 was to hear the clock’s Tick, Tick, Boom, chimed out with increasing deafening volume.
In A.C.C. Productions’ debut show, the 90s corporate chase and the singular light of an artist making sense of it all, all combined in Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick…Boom!, was played out with astonish ease and great dedication by the cast and musicians.
Following on from his extremely impressive appearances in Spunk and Gearstick, Mr Crowther fulfils every promise so far shown and turns up the volume once again. It is impossible to ignore the prominent shouts of appreciation for this young actor who has surely made L.I.P.A. very proud of his achievements so far. His portrayal as talented and aspiring musical writer Jon even surpasses his moment of glorious amusement in Spunk. The dynamic felt in the 2014 L.I.P.A. play, captured again inside the Unity Theatre but given more room to breathe, more focus for his range and potential.
With a musical score that underlined the ideal of presenting something new for a culture starved generation, the love, the tangled mess of lives, including the allusion to A.I.D.S in a very Angels In America way, Jon’s fears of turning 30 with nothing to show for it resonated home for many in the audience. For those with the grand age of 30 somewhere over the hill, it may have come as a reassurance that Time is not a carnivorous beast waiting to chew on the fat of those less likely to have any; that reassurance was heartening and fulfilling.
Some musicals jump at an audience because they are big, bold and brash; to have one played out infront of you, no matter the size and scale but with a sense of keen love and affection towards the piece is more comforting.
If A.C.C. Productions continue down this road in time, that sense of comfort will surely spread.
Ian D. Hall