After his own annus horribilis, Hugh Sheridan is back, taking on the mind, body and spirit of Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick … Boom! I had a wonderfully candid chat with the man himself.
In the theatre world, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t know about Jonathan Larson, writer of the Broadway sensation RENT. It tells the story of a group of young New York squatters, most living with HIV/AIDS. RENT resonated strongly with the LGBTIQ+ community as well as that era’s generation. Described as the HAIR of the Nineties, the show won four Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Larson.
Hugh Sheridan as Jonathan Larson with Finn Alexander as Michael
But the playwright’s story itself is also one fit for the stage. It’s a classic and ‘rags to riches’ tale. Larson lived on a shoestring in a cold apartment facing various hurdles, while inspired by his hero composer Stephen Sondheim. But the twist to this true story, is that he never saw his success. Larson died of a heart attack the night before RENT’s premiere. He was 35 years old.
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
RENT is Larson’s magnum opus, but it wasn’t all he wrote in his short career. Apart from a futuristic play called Supurbia, which has never been produced, he also penned the autobiographical Tick, Tick … Boom! – a musical documenting his journey towards the brink of success.
Premiering in 2001, Tick, Tick … Boom! has gone on to win awards and was adapted into the 2021 film, resulting in Andrew Garfield’s Oscar nomination. The new Australian stage production sees Hugh Sheridan in the role of Larson, and its possibly one of the most endearing of his career.
“I’m a fairly spiritual person anyway, but I really feel Jonathan’s around.”
“I have a lot of weird connections with Jonathan Larson,” says Sheridan.
“I knew of him, but not everything about him. But I randomly became friends with one of his friends, who produced RENT, and actually named Tick, Tick … Boom! With Jonathan, there’s not huge amounts of information around. There’s footage of him and stuff, but the thing is, there’s so much information on him throughout the script. Because it’s written by him about him, it’s a bonus. People who personally knew Jonathan have said I’m not too different from him.”
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
“He was fairly cheeky!” says Hugh with a grin.
“He liked to laugh and was very passionate about his work. He cared a lot about people and was constantly striving to create something better. There’s lots of things about myself that resonate with him, like never feeling that I’ve done enough. There’s lots of parallels and sometimes I even feel I hear my own ‘tick, tick, boom’ in my head, and that time is running out. Unlike playing other roles where you try to find the character, in this instance I sort of let the character come to me.”
Hugh Sheridan and the cast of Tick, Tick … Boom!
For Sheridan, a NIDA graduate, success has come with both highs and lows. He’s performed for Liza Minnelli, performed with George Michael, and won five Logie Awards for his role as Ben Rafter on television’s Packed to the Rafters. He even performed at Gwyneth Paltrow’s wedding. But there was also the debacle surround his role on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, where a trans-related social media campaign ‘cancelled’ him and the show. Hedwig’s writer John Cameron Mitchell is a personal friend to Sheridan.
“Sometimes I even feel I hear my own ‘tick, tick, boom’”
“John called me one day and asked what was going on in Australia,” says Sheridan.
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
“An article had come out where I was talking about my personal repercussions of losing the role. It was also around the time I had come out. He said that I’d really helped them by being so open and honest about my feelings and what I went through. He thought that was going to help actors reclaim not only Hedwig, but other roles as well. The thing is, it’s our job to pretend to be other people and imagine what it’s like being in other people’s shoes.”
Hugh Sheridan as Jonathan Larson
“While we were talking, he suddenly said, “I’ve got to go. Stephen Sondheim just died!” It was then that I got off the phone and received a message to Look at Tick, Tick … Boom! I watched the film, and of course Sondheim is heavily featured, and while watching I thought, “Oh my god, this is Jonathan Larson, who my friend knew!” I then felt this overwhelming sense that it was a role I had to play. There were way too many coincidences, and since then I’ve felt it even more so, with these little synchronicities. I’m a fairly spiritual person anyway, but I really feel like he’s around.”
Hugh Sheridan and the cast of Tick, Tick … Boom!
In past productions, Larson has been portrayed by the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Christian Campbell, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and in Australia by Luigi Lucente and the current production’s director Tyran Parke. The support cast includes Elenoa Rokobaro as Susan and Finn Alexander as Michael. Written before Larson’s masterpiece RENT, Tick, Tick … Boom! stands on its own, yet there are subtle nuances of his work yet to come.
“I love RENT, but mainly with particular moments and songs,” says Sheridan.
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
“I have to say that Tick, Tick … Boom! is actually an even better show than RENT, because it’s a true story. It’s before RENT and is about someone considering giving up his passion, because he’s not making any money. If he had given up, he wouldn’t have created RENT, but he doesn’t give up and there’s this whole feeling that time’s running out – then he died.”
Having recently returned for the Back to the Rafters reunion series, Sheridan has also appeared on The Masked Singer Australia and plays Lachlan Best on Paramount’s Five Bedrooms.
“I have so many career highlights,” he says.
“I’ve sung for heroes of mine and performed with so many incredible people, and I think the thing about my career is that I’m lucky it involves both acting and singing. There was performing on Broadway (Newley Discovered), shows that I’ve created myself (HUGHMAN) and I was lucky enough to perform with my dad before he passed away in 2021.”
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
Tick, Tick … Boom! is something of a stepping-stone into the actors’ next career phase. Sheridan took time off after 2021 proved not a good one. There was the distress of Hedwig, he broke up with partner Kurt, several of his friends died as well as his father Denis. But the actor/singer believes it’s those times of adversity where we grow strongest.
He could have given up, and if he had, we wouldn’t have RENT!”
The new production seems the perfect project for embracing life. With subtle, yet powerful songs such as Real Life, Therapy, Come to Your Senses and Louder Than Words, Tick, Tick … Boom! captures its audience into a moment in time that is one man’s unique short history. The show somehow reaches into the soul of Larson, which is well and truly connected to Sheridan. It’s something he feels and wants to share with the audience.
“I hope audiences will discover a new-found love for Jonathan Larson, and a new understanding of who he was and the work he did,” says Sheridan.
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
“But for me, the message of Tick, Tick … Boom! and RENT, is that you have to do what you love, because time is short. There’s so much in the show about Johnny trying to decide about his career and life. Everyone’s gives their opinions, and he really can’t decide, but continued to write until RENT was completed. He could have given up, and if he had, we wouldn’t have RENT!”
“I think on some level, he knew he was going to die, but then he also didn’t really know at all. It’s so ironic that he died, because so much of the show is influenced by his friend Michael who was diagnosed with AIDS. His friend survived, and he didn’t … you just don’t know what’s around the corner. I think the great message from Jonathan Larson is to keep going!”
Tick, Tick … Boom is playing at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre before moving to Brisbane and Sydney.
For more: ticktickboomthemusical.com.au
Follow Hugh on Instagram @hugh_sheridan
Hugh Sheridan and Matt Myers/Photo: Warren Knower Volare Photography
