tick, tick, BOOM!
AUDITION PACK
Tick Tick Boom will be performed on Friday 30th September & Saturday 1st October 2022 at Victoria Centre, Stafford Road, Sheffield, S2 2SE Friday - 7:30pm | Saturday - 2:30pm & 7:30pm
An autobiographical story of the real Jonathan Larson, Jon is a struggling composer of musicals on the cusp of turning 30. He’s broke, struggling to make ends meet and in the deep throes of a quarter-life crisis. On one hand, he wants to be the next Stephen Sondheim and adores the bohemian way of life; on the other hand, his girlfriend, Susan is eager to move on with her life and his best friend, Michael is riding high with a well-paying, steady job in an advertising agency. Jon has to make the decision of whether to keep trying to achieve his dream or settle down for an easier and potentially happier life.
AUDITIONS We are holding open auditions for this production and ask that all prospective cast members submit a video audition no later than Saturday 18th June 2022. Please send your video to info@buttersideuptheatre.com. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. There are three parts to this audition pack, A, B and C. Each one contains a song and a monologue and they cannot be interchanged.
REHEARSALS Rehearsals will take place on Saturdays between 10am and 1pm at Hybrid3 Studios. Bank Business Park, Prospect Rd, Lowfield, Sheffield S2 3EN The first rehearsal will be on Saturday 25th June and run every week until the performance. You may not be needed for all rehearsals or the full 3 hours but you will be informed when you are and are not needed. If there are any dates that you cannot attend, please let us know alongside your audition or by messaging the Producer, Scott Gist, as soon as possible. There may be a need to change the time of rehearsals or to include additional rehearsals in the weeks closer to the show. We will strive to give you this information as soon as possible.
MEMBERSHIP Upon being cast in the show, you must become a paying member of Butter Side Up Theatre Company. This is £15 per year and runs until the start of July 2023. To sign up, to view the rules of the company and expectations of members, please visit www.buttersideuptheatre.com Upon being cast in the show, you must pay a £10 show fee. This can be paid alongside your membership but must be paid before rehearsals begin. For further information please contact info@buttersideuptheatre.com
CHARACTERS This story is set in New York City so all characters will require American accents. All characters will be required to dance at some point however it will not be a major element of the show and the choreography will not be too intricate. We are open to seeing performers identifying as any gender for all of these roles. Jon – Jonathan Larson is a soon-to-be 30-year-old waiter who dreams of writing the next great musical. He’s driven, witty and incredibly gifted but is perhaps a little too fixated on his passions to see the bigger picture and is afraid of facing reality (symbolised by the “tick tick booms” of the title). It’s through his eyes that this story is told. Vocal range: Tenor (A4 to A2) Susan/Karessa Johnson – Jon’s girlfriend who loves him dearly but is starting to lose patience with his indecisiveness about whether he wants to continue in his struggle to write musicals or settle down with her and live a regular life. Karessa Johnson on the other hand is the vivacious leading lady of Jon’s work-in-progress Superbia. Both roles will be played by the same actor. Vocal range: Mezzo Soprano Alto (D5 to A3) Michael – Jon’s best friend, he used to be a struggling bohemian too but eventually decided to settle for a steady job and is now a highflying advertising executive. He is also secretly ill which has influenced his decisions but he’s unable to tell Jon for many reasons. Vocal Range: Tenor Baritone (Gb4 to Bb2)
CHARACTERS CONT. Chorus A – This role will be a backing singer for songs but will also play a patron at the Moondance Diner, Jon’s dad, a doorman at Victory Towers, one of Michael’s workmates and the Counter Guy at a shop. Chorus B – This role will be singing backing vocals for most songs but they will be playing another Moondance Diner patron, Rosa Stevens (Jon’s agent) and the head of Jon’s brainstorming session.
The Chorus actors will be expected to play multiple parts throughout the show as they embody the different characters that Jon meets along the way. Both Chorus roles will be the most comedically driven of the cast and so will require great comedians as well as great singers!
Pack A This is for anyone auditioning to play Jon or Michael. Director’s Note: This is the opening monologue of the show in which we are introduced to Jon and the malevolent “tick ticks” of the show. This is the chance for the actor playing Jon to make a big impression on the audience and convey his existential dilemma. Having said that, Jon definitely has a sense of humour so don’t feel as if you have to be too brooding with it! Audition Monologue: Tick, tick, tick. The sound you are hearing is not a technical problem. It is not a musical cue. It is not a joke. It is the sound of one man’s mounting anxiety. I…am that man! Hi, I’m Jon, and lately, I keep hearing that sound, that ticking. It’s not a big deal. It’s actually kind of pleasant, like a watch. In one week, I’ll be 30, the big THREE-ZERO! Older than my dad was when I was born. Older than Napoleon was when he…did something that was probably extremely impressive at the time - I’m not a historian. I’m a composer. Sorry, a “promising young composer”. I should have kids of my own by now, a career, but instead, I’ve been “promising” for so long that I’m afraid I’m starting to break the fucking promise! So, that’s where we are. It’s a Saturday night in January 1990 in my apartment on the edge of SoHo. I’m trying to work, trying to enjoy what remains of my extremely late twenties, and trying to ignore the ticktick-booms.
Audition Song (WHY): When I was nine, Michael and I Entered a talent show down at the Y Nine A.M. went to rehearse by some stairs Mike couldn't sing But I said, "No one cares" We sang "Yellow Bird" and "Let's Go Fly A Kite" Over and over and over Till we got it right When we emerged from the YMCA Three o'clock sun had made the grass hay I thought, Hey, what a way to spend a day Hey, what a way to spend a day I make a vow, right here and now I'm gonna spend my time this way When I was sixteen, Michael and I Got parts in "West Side" At White Plains High Three o'clock went to rehearse in the gym Mike played "Doc", who didn't sing Fine with him
We sang, "gotta rocket in your pocket" and "the Jets are gonna have their day - tonight" Over and over and over Till we got it right When we emerged, Wiped out by that play Nine o'clock, stars and moon lit the way I thought, Hey, what a way to spend a day Hey, what a way to spend a day I made a vow I wonder now Am I cut out to spend my time this way? With only so much time to spend Don't wanna waste the time I'm given "Have it all, play the game" - some recommend I'm afraid, it just may be time to give in I'm twenty-nine, Michael and I Live on the west side of SoHo, N.Y. Nine A.M. I write a lyric or two Mike sings his song now on Mad Avenue
I sing, "Come to your senses Defenses are not the way to go" Over and over and over Till I got it right When I emerge from B Minor or A Five o'clock, diner calls, "I'm on my way" I think, Hey, what a way to spend a day Hey, what a way to spend a day I make a vow - right here and now I'm gonna spend my time this way I'm gonna spend my time this way
Pack B This is for anyone auditioning to play Susan. Director’s Note: This is a monologue compiled from lines of dialogue during a crucial scene between Jon and Susan. Susan has had enough and is finally leaving Jon for a job out of the city. She clearly still loves him and wishes things were different but can’t stand waiting for him anymore. Separating is the hardest thing she’s had to do. Audition Monologue: I got a new job teaching. Real dancers this time. With a company in Northampton. I’ll be gone a couple of weeks…or a month…and it might lead to something else up there. Jon don’t look so surprised, it’s not like we’re getting anywhere. I can feel us slipping apart. I just wish that everything didn’t depend on what happens at the workshop! What if it doesn’t go exactly the way you want? What if you turn thirty and nothing’s changed? I’m worried you’re setting yourself up for a big disappointment. I know it’s not just you, I know I’ve been demanding but right now I just want to go home. I need to think things over. Whatever happens, don’t worry about the workshop. I know it will be wonderful.
Audition Song (COME TO YOUR SENSES): You're on the air, I'm underground Signal's fading, Can't be found I finally open up For you I would do anything But you've turned off the volume Just when I've begun to sing Come to your senses Defenses are not the way to go And you know, Or at least you knew Everything's strange, You've changed and I don't know what to do To get through I don't know what to do I have to laugh We sure put on a show Love is passe in this day and age How can we expect it to grow? You as the knight Me as the queen All I've got tonight Is static on a screen
Come to your senses The fences inside are not for real If we feel as we did, and I do Can't you recall When this all began It was only you and me It was only me and you But now the air is filled with confusion We've replaced care with illusion It's cool to be cold Nothing lasts anymore Love becomes disposable This is the shape of things We cannot ignore Come to your senses Suspense is fine If you're just an empty image Emanating out of a screen Baby be real, You can feel again You don't need a music box melody To know what I mean
Deep in my eyes, What do you see Deep in my sighs, Listen to me Let the music commence from inside Not only one sense, but use all five Come to your senses Come to your senses Come to your senses Baby come back alive
Pack C This is for anyone auditioning to play the two Chorus roles. For your auditioning song please sing “Why” (Pack A) or “Come to Your Senses” (Pack B). Director’s Note: This duologue is a shorter version of a phone call Rosa Stevens has with Jon, her client. He’s just put on a workshop of his musical Superbia and Rosa is calling up to give him bad news but trying to make it out like it's good news. She’s a fixture of the theatre world, and is, therefore, a rather flamboyant character. Audition Duologue: ROSA: Jon? It’s Rosa calling, I just wanted to say congratulations! I think you should be very proud, everything went beautifully and everyone had fun. We’ll talk soon! JON: Rosa wait, what did everyone say? ROSA: Well Jon, I think everyone was so intrigued by your talent, and they can’t wait to see what happens next! Be sure to keep me up to date on what you're working on . JON: No nibbles, nothing?! ROSA: Honey, we always knew it’s a little quirky for Broadway and the cast is awfully big for Off-, and the futuristic thing means sets are expensive, and musical theatre is Newark Airport and you’re snowed in at Buffalo. And now, having plucked out your heart and eaten it like a piece of ripe fruit, I’ll leave you to sweep up the fragments of your shattered dreams, bye-bye honey. Happy birthday!
tick, tick, BOOM!
DIRECTED BY MAX MARRIOTT PRODUCED BY SCOTT GIST CHOREOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL HUDSON STAGE MANAGEMENT BY DANIEL O'KEY