Theater review: ‘tick, tick...Boom!’ at Onstage in Bedford

— Despite the title, nothing really blows up in tick, tick . . . Boom!, the musical that opened at Onstage in Bedford on Friday. But there are some pretty explosive moments in this show that offers an early glimpse of an artist who would later drop onto Broadway like a bomb.

This 1990 show features a book, lyrics and music by Jonathan Larson, who would go on to compose the hit, rock musical Rent, which sent the same sort of shockwave through American musical theater in its day that Hamilton is doing now. Larson originally performed this piece as a one-man show. But after his untimely death in 1996, playwright David Auburn, reworked it into a three-character presentation.

In its present form, the show introduces us to Jon (Trey West), an aspiring musicals composer who is dealing with a crisis — he is about to turn 30 and feels he has nothing to show for it. We follow his stumbling steps toward his birthday celebration and the development of a new show he hopes will put him on the musical theater map. While keeping those balls in the air, Jon also deals with his complicated feelings about his girlfriend, Susan (Nikki Cloer) and his relationship with his best friend, Michael (Marcus Jauregui), who has a problem that makes any of Jon’s woes seem petty.

Even though this is an early effort by Larson, it features a number of appealing songs, and it tells its story with a balanced mix of humor and angst.

This production, directed by Lon Barrera, punches above its weight in many ways. All three players are exceptionally well-prepared, and act and sing their parts well. They are nicely supported by an onstage quartet led by music director Kristin Spires.

The show, which runs a swift 90 minutes without an intermission, also moves briskly and offers a few nice bits of choreography from Beth Lipton. Most of its numbers work, but the ones involving all three actors (such as Johnny Can’t Decide, the rib-tickling Sunday and Real Life) make an especially good impression.

There is one little fly in the ointment in regard to casting. West is young and the script says he is 29 but he appears older.

The lighting plan by Kyle Harris is laudable for trying to do some interesting things with patterns. But, unfortunately, those ambitious ideas do not always produce good results.

But so long as you are not put off by a few shadows, there is a lot to like about this show (which is an outstanding choice for this theater) and this production. It is also great to see that all three cast members are making their Onstage debuts.

That suggests this company is seeing a wider range of talent in its auditions, and that bodes well for everybody. On the whole, this presentation makes a strong case for Larson’s lesser-known show and this theater.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 5:58 AM with the headline "Theater review: ‘tick, tick...Boom!’ at Onstage in Bedford."