Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has found the star for his feature directorial debut: According to Deadline, Andrew Garfield will play the starring role in tick, tick..Boom!, an adaptation of Rent writer Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical off-Broadway show.
Miranda is making tick, tick..Boom! for Netflix, with Steven Levenson, who wrote Dear Evan Hanson and Fosse/Verdon, adapting the script from the original stage show.
British actor Garfield is perhaps best known for his turn as Spider-Man, but has a rich career, including a Tony-winning performance in Broadway’s recent staging of Angels in America. In tick, tick..Boom!, he will play Jon, an aspiring theater composer and waiter living in New York City while he writes Superbia, a production he hopes will become the next great American musical and change his life forever. Larson, who died unexpectedly the night before Rent‘s first preview performance, based the character on himself.
In Superbia, the character of Jon is feeling pressure from girlfriend Susan, who is getting tired of putting her life on hold to support Jon’s career ambitions. Best friend and roommate Michael serves as an example of what happens when you give up on your creative dreams to pursue a “safer” life path, having taken a high-paying advertising job and is getting ready to move out (and move “up”). Michael’s choice has Jon pondering if he too should change his current life trajectory.
More news on tick, tick…Boom! as we hear it.
