Tick...Tick...BOOM! vs. Rent

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:42am

I've been thinking about it recently, and I think Tick...Tick...BOOM! Really was Jonathan's better work. Not to say Rent isn't amazing, but isn't Tick... just amazing? What are some other opinions?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:45am

agh. I could never decide; I think they both have their strengths... I'm too tired to delve far into it right now, though.

TOUGH decision. I will say, though, that I've always found the story itself in Tick, Tick... BOOM! more emotional than that of RENT. My emotional baggage, RENT-wise, is more sentimental. Tick, Tick... BOOM! breaks my heart way more, but of course that's not necessarily a good measure of which is better.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:45am

Sorry, double post.

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 12:45 AM

[fluerette]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:45am

I have not seen tick tick boom! but just from listening to the recordings I like it more than Rent. I also like that it is such a small cast.

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:47am

For one thing, "Why" is not only my favorite song to sing, but it just makes me tear up EVERY time...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:49am

I was listening to "See Her Smile" a few nights ago, and I decided that it is very close to being THE single most gorgeous thing I've ever heard.

[MrBungee7]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:49am

I was listening to Tick, Tick the other day and realized how much I truly love the music. While the story of Rent has more to it, I find the Tick, Tick music more complex, interesting, and beautiful. I find it to be more genuine than Rent, as well. I could be biased, however, simply because Tick, Tick has yet to be "teeny-bopper-ized" like Rent. No?

[MyDreamsRecurring]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:50am

I love both musicals a lot- dont get me wrong
I just think that Rent as a piece is absolutely wonderful, and its changed my life profoundly

[fluerette]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:52am

I love the music to Tick, Tick...Boom! 'I Just Want to See Her Smile' is one of the few songs that can make me cry. It is possibly my favorite recording and I really wish I could have been able to see it performed.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 12:56am

It is hard to compare the two shows...very different.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 1:13am

hearing only the recording of ttb i view it as a companion piece to rent that shows where the characters in rent emerged from, since between the 3(well technically 4) characters you can see bits of mark and roger(jonathan) benny and collins(michael), and maureen (susan/karessa)as well as assorted other refernces used in the show (throwing down the key etc.)

[cabarethed]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 2:03am

The two shows are very different, and while I enjoy Rent, I'm a TTB girl by far. I've never related to a score and plot of a musical quite like that before.

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:06pm

I really like both musicals. I'm very indecisive.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:08pm

I prefer neither.

[dancingthroughlife008]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:16pm

I agree they are very different, and equally beautiful. However, I find TTB to be more heartbreakingly gorgeous and more relatable...sometimes I feel Rent has an almost fairy-tale like ending. It has changed my life and opened my eyes to so many things, but at the same time, while I realize they all still have AIDS and no jobs and things like that at the end, the way Mimi comes back from nearly dying and everyone gets back together at the end, it just seems like a more put-together ending than TTB. But like I said I think they are both wonderful.

[CollegeKid]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:16pm

Despite the fact that rent is one of the most over exposed musicals in the history of broadway it is completely and utterly ground breaking. It allowed Broadway to talk about modern issues like AIDS and homosexuality and it introduced modern "pop"/"rock". YOU CANNOT EVEN COMPARE THE TWO! There is a reason Rent won the pulitzer prize.

[incendiary_wit]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:18pm

I don't have a preference. Both have their strengths and weakness, as any musical does. Rent is more sentimental to me, it's the first show I loved on Broadway. Tick...Tick, BOOM! has more depth.

I love them both, it's like asking me to choose between my adopted Cambodian children!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:19pm

That's pretty shallow reasoning; Tick, Tick...BOOM! is also pop/rock, and it also deals with AIDS - in those sense, it's just as ground-breaking. Off-Broadway was the perfect venue for it - it's incredibly naive to think one piece is better than another simply because one is Broadway and the other was off-Broadway.

There is a reason Rent won the pulitzer prize.
What in Hell is that supposed to mean? None of this is about defending the show; and prizes aren't everything.

Get off the RENT-head high horse, thanks.

[QueenS]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:24pm

Funny, I love both of their CDs way more than I liked them onstage.

What definitely made TTB a better piece than I'm assuming 30/90 was (which I never saw) was the vocal arrangements of opening up the show to include three people, rather than just John. I don't think it would have as much power as a one-person show as it does as a trio. I just wish it had had a stronger director.

[CollegeKid]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:26pm

I by no means am in love with Rent. Rent however encompasses more than three stories and I feel it therefore is more accessable to a wider audience. Also, the Pulitzer prize is not just another award. It says a lot about the societal impact ofthe piece. the pulitzer doesn't need to be a broadway show. On a lighter note, the music for rent is just a lot better.
Updated On: 7/29/05 at 03:26 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:28pm

Rent isn't as groundbreaking as one would think. Plays have been dealing with Rent's issues for years and years before Rent came to Broadway. Rent doesn't accomplish anything that Angels in America and other such plays did years before, despite the fact that there are songs rather than just straight dialogue . There have been few musicals on Broadway like Rent (combining theme/music), so if it broke ground in that genre, it has yet to see copycats like other such "groundbreaking" shows usually see.

The closest thing to Rent was Bare, which today, would probably tank on Broadway. Rent came at the right time under the right circumstances.

A lot of Rent's success, and I'm going to go out on a limb and risk bashing here, comes from Larson's unexpected death. The media/general public loves a story like this... Young composer dies suddenly but makes good on Broadway. Rent was a headline maker.

I'm not a huge Rent fan, but do see its appeal. But giving it credit for breaking ground is a little off base.
Updated On: 7/29/05 at 03:28 PM

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:29pm

Well, CollegeKid...have you even SEEN ttb?...and my opinion...Tick tick BOOM brought tears to my eyes...very gorgeous, but heart breaking. Good quality musical right there.

I think RENT is pretty gorgeous too...it didn't necessarily make me emotional, however. (Except for Your Eyes) And the story allows me to do something inspirational the next day for some reason. lol

My personal pick is ttB, though.

[Alejandra925]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:31pm

I really like Rent, but I prefer ttB. I find ttB easier to relate to and I love the music so much.

Alejandra

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:31pm

Well, fine. I take that much back, about loving the show. I'm fully well aware of what the Pulitzer is, but to think prizes and awards are everything is just narrow. Maybe you have to love RENT for TTB to pull at your heart; I don't know, but it seems like there's so much that's easy to relate to - feeling lost, not knowing where your life is heading. But to deem is lesser because of its venue and prizes, when it sounds like your exposure to it is pretty minimal... don't bother. TTB is far from perfection, and I don't think given the circumstances many would expect it to be, but it certainly has a very special place in my heart.

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 03:31 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/29/05 at 3:35pm

I loved Rent when it first came out. I was 17. Now, when I listen to it, I feel totally disconnected from the music and material.

Perhaps the film will make it fresh for me again.