HEY, WHAT A WAYTO SPEND A DAY (OR 17)

An inside look at the under-three-week long rehearsal period of Black Box Players’ tick, tick...BOOM!

Tick…tick…tick…tick…tick. Jonathan Larson is one week away from turning 30 and is still looking for his big break. He’s an aspiring composer, but everyone else he knows is already successful by his age. Jon grapples with creative burnout, financial strain and the fear of failure. All he hears is ticking; one BOOM and it could all end.

These same sentiments resonate for sophomore Reed Grayner, who plays Jonathan Larson in a production of tick, tick…BOOM! being presented by Black Box Players, a student-run theater company at Syracuse University.

“I find his fear of dealing with time and dealing with the feeling of not being good enough, or having to find success now…very relatable,” Grayner said. “So it's like, ‘No, I'm not 30. No, I don't live in the city. No, I'm not a composer.’ But I can relate to these things.”

Originally written as a one-man “rock monologue” performed in 1990, tick, tick…BOOM! is a semi- autobiographical rock musical that provides a glimpse of 1990s New York City before Larson would go on to immortalize it in the Broadway juggernaut Rent. It was adapted into a three-person musical after Larson’s death, premiering off-Broadway in 2001. With driving rhythms, heartfelt lyrics and a mix of humor and vulnerability, the show explores what it means to keep creating even when time and doubt are closing in.

Director Matthew Dodaro, an SU senior majoring in musical theater, has always found the story of an artist finding motivation in the fragility of life inspiring. When choosing the fall 2025 semester’s musical, he was inspired by the political themes of the show and the similarities he drew between the political and social turmoil of the 1990s and our world today.

In the musical, Larson is torn between following his passion of writing for musical theater and securing a stable corporate job, as his best friend Michael chose to do. While his heart is in show business, pressure from his girlfriend Susan to build a life together combined with crippling writer’s block causes him fear of “selling out” and never making his own artistic mark on the world. tick, tick…BOOM! follows Jon through the week before his 30th birthday and his preparation for the workshop of his new rock musical Superbia.

Throughout the show, Larson experiences the impacts of the AIDS crisis firsthand. When Michael himself contracts the disease, Larson realizes that life is too short to give up his dream—despite not receiving a production offer for Superbia—and uses his personal experiences and anxieties as inspiration for his work.

During the casting process, Dodaro and assistant director Aliana Aspesi, an SU sophomore studying theater management, emphasized the importance of finding a cast who felt as passionate about the show as they did. For sophomore Robbie Mosley, who plays Michael, the show’s representation hit especially close to home.

“This show, or this role specifically, has meant a lot to me, because as a deeper voice, bigger guy, I don't usually get to play queer roles,” Mosley said. “I'm a very straight-passing queer person, and so it's been very cathartic to get to show that side of my identity on stage. And for once, they didn't write the gay best friend for tenor.”

Sophomore Emily Koubeck, who plays Susan, has felt especially inspired by her character’s journey–someone who feels stuck yet keeps moving forward and embracing change.

“I just love the story of people being determined to get what they want and willing to do what they need to to get that,” Koubeck said. “Which is something I really connect with, of course, as a theater artist.”

Initially, the cast was only supposed to have a week to prepare for the production. But issues with the rights to the show and performance location gave them extra time they were not expecting. According to Aspesi, these issues turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Initially, the cast was only supposed to have a week to prepare for the production. But issues with the rights to the show and performance location gave them extra time they were not expecting. According to Aspesi, these issues turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

The speediness of the process allowed the cast to dig into the core themes and most important scenes of the show, giving actors more time to develop their characters. In addition, the extended schedule has granted them opportunities to rehearse in front of an audience, which Dodaro attributes to increased confidence in the actors.

The greater number of rehearsals has also allowed the actors to focus on what they truly enjoy most about theater. For Grayner, that means learning the choreography.

“It was a really fun release of energy,” Grayner said. “The show really deals with some difficult themes and deep conversations, and I think having those moments of like, ‘I'm here, just kind of dancing with my friends,’ it's great.”

Grant LaMartina is the understudy for Jon and has found the extra time spent with other actors helpful as a freshman who has never performed with BBP before. He has especially appreciated the opportunity to observe Grayner’s process and the changes he’s made to make the character of Jon his own.

“In his monologue sections that he has throughout, like parts where it's written as a loud yell, Reed chooses to change that and instead build in other places,” LaMartina said. “I love observing.”

Grayner isn’t the only one whose bold choices have made the show unique compared to previous productions. While written to only feature three actors, Dodaro knew from the start that he wanted to incorporate an ensemble to play background roles and make the world feel fuller.

“I love that Matt made the decision to be like ‘let’s make this a little bigger,’” said Aspesi. “It’s so great seeing more than three people on stage and especially the ensemble members with two or three characters, they play each of them very differently.”

One of Dodaro’s major distinctions from the original show was to have both Koubeck and sophomore Mary Potter, who plays Karessa, perform “Come to Your Senses.”

The number is performed during the Superbia workshop scene, and highlights Larson’s talent as a composer. In the original show, Susan sings the song directly to him, expressing her desire for him to be more present in their relationship. It also soundtracks Jon coming to the difficult realization that he wants to prioritize his career over his relationship with Susan.

“Emily and Mary had such great auditions with ‘Come To Your Senses’ as Susan, so I decided to split the track up,” Dodaro said. “Usually, Susan and Karessa are [played by] the same person, but they both were so amazing at their auditions that we couldn't really decide.”

While Dodaro was passionate about making the show his own compared to past performances of tick, tick…BOOM!, Aspesi wanted to take measures that made it different from past BBP performances.

“I'm the campus engagement director as well for Black Box Players,” said Aspesi. “So my big thing this year was making sure that non- performance majors are being seen through our performances, because a lot of stigma with BBP was that it was only for performance majors, and that’s not the case. Anyone can audition.”

While five of the seven cast members are either acting or musical theater majors, LaMartina is a finance major and Caroline Nuzzo, Karessa’s understudy, is a first-year architecture major. Both have valued the experience of getting to pursue their passion for theater in college despite working toward degrees in other fields.

Grayner’s rehearsal performance of “Why” underscores the emotional rawness his role demands. The song is a turning point in the musical—it’s Jon’s realization that he is going to pursue his passion despite his failure to secure a deal for Superbia. He wants to honor Michael, who just told him moments before that he contracted AIDS and that his future is uncertain.

Grayner sits at his electric keyboard, singing with real tears streaming down his face, his voice carrying a slight breathiness that makes each lyric feel lived-in. He is, quite literally, singing through the pain.

The song carries even more weight, as Larson suddenly passed away the night before the opening of Rent—the show that posthumously became his big break. Throughout tick, tick…BOOM!, the audience connects with this struggling artist who is scared to run out of time before he can see his impact. Real-world context makes this number even heavier.

Grayner is aware of this history and uses it to fuel his emotion throughout his performance.

“I think the biggest thing I've learned is staying present to each and every moment so that I can honor [his story] as well as I can,” Grayner said.