Netflix musical ‘tick, tick... BOOM!’: what’s the cast, soundtrack and release date?

23 November 2021, 15:27 | Updated: 24 November 2021, 17:50

Watch the official trailer for tick, tick...BOOM!

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut ‘tick, tick... BOOM!’, based on the life of ‘Rent’ composer Jonathan Larson, is out now on Netflix.

Netflix has released a new Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, with the Hamilton composer making his directorial debut.

tick, tick... BOOM! is a film adaption of the semi-autobiographical musical about the life of Rent composer Jonathan Larson.

Rent, the rock musical that premiered in 1996, is loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème which was written 100 years earlier. The musical tells the story of a group of struggling artists trying to survive in 1990s New York city under the shadow of the HIV and Aids crisis.

Puccini’s opera similarly tells the tale of a group of artist friends – however, it is set in 1830s Paris, and the illness that weaves its way through the story is consumption (tuberculosis).

Here’s all you need to know about tick, tick... BOOM!.

Andrew Garfield stars in the Netflix musical ‘tick, tick... BOOM!’. Picture: Alamy

What’s the plot of tick, tick... BOOM!?

tick, tick... BOOM! was written in 1990 by Jonathan Larson, as a semi-autobiographical solo work.

The musical, now being adapted into a film, tells the story of a composer named ‘Jon’ living in New York City in the 1990s. Already the connections to Rent are clear.

On the cusp of his 30th birthday, Jon is worried he has chosen the wrong career and is having to wait tables in a city diner, while he writes what he hopes will be the next great American musical.

Days before he is due to showcase his work in a make-or-break performance, he is feeling the pressure from all directions; his girlfriend – who wants to chase an artistic dream away from New York, his friend – who abandoned his dream for financial security, and the Aids crisis which is casting a shadow over the artistic community.

As Jon faces this crossroads he feels the clock ticking and ponders – what are we meant to do with the time we have?

Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his directorial debut with ‘tick, tick... BOOM!’. Picture: Alamy

Who is in the cast of tick, tick... BOOM!?

While the original musical featured only three characters, the film adaption stars many more, including: Andrew Garfield as Jonathan Larson, Vanessa Hudgens as Karessa Johnson, Alexandra Shipp as Susan, Robin de Jesús as Michael, Joshua Henry as Roger, Judith Light as Rosa Stevens, and Bradley Whitford as Stephen Sondheim.

Fans of the High School Musical franchise will recognise Hudgens from her starring role as Gabriella in the Disney Channel musical, but Garfield, most famous for his role as Spiderman, is a newcomer to the movie-musical scene.

The actor explained in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he connected with Lin-Manuel Miranda after the director asked their mutual massage therapist whether Garfield could sing.

The massage therapist told Miranda the Spiderman actor had “the most beautiful singing voice”, and a phone call was made.

Garfield is a Tony Award-winning actor for his lead role in the 2018 Broadway production of Angels in America, a play also set in New York City under the Aids crisis during the 1980s.