Tick, Tick … BOOM! — Accountability Techniques at the Movies

Accountability: anything or anyone that helps us gain mental leverage to achieve the results we desire. —The Accountability Stop

Before watching Tick, Tick, Boom! the movie musical, I assumed it was a newly-written musical about Jonathan Larson creating his megahit musical Rent. I avoided Tick, Tick, Boom! for several months as a result. I did not want to trigger jealousy-induced hopelessness about writing and performing my own one-hour musical in 2023. 

Superb-ia

I found Tick, Tick, Boom! is nothing like what I assumed. It is Jonathan Larson’s own musical about his failed attempt to get a different musical, Superbia, produced on Broadway. All of it happened prior to the creation of Rent.

Jon Larson made a musical about a failed musical? He did, and it’s brilliant. Am I attempting to glean accountability advice from a musical about a failed musical? Yes. Yes I am.

30/90

The title, Tick, Tick, Boom! Refers to Larson’s self-imposed deadline. He was about to turn thirty in 1990. This goal functions in the story both as basic deadline accountability and as secret benchmarking accountability. Larson felt pressure to grow up and stop waiting tables in a diner by 30 years of age. He also mentioned that Stephen Sondheim and The Beatles produced world-changing work before they were 30. He felt he was falling behind the creator’s curve if he didn’t have a show produced by that age.

Larson was days away from a performance workshop of his musical, Superbia. He had committed to a date, a venue, and singers. The pressure was on to deliver a show to a small audience of Broadway professionals and to coax Broadway professionals to come be an audience for the show. Larson had multiple layers of accountability pressing him onward:

• He was part of a class of aspiring Broadway writers who performed and critiqued each other’s work. The class sponsor was hosting the Superbia workshop.
• Larson committed his own money to hiring musicians for the workshop.
• He had publicly announced his workshop to friends, family, his parents, Broadway producers, and anyone else who would listen.

Can Accountability Backfire?

In the midst of all this activity, Larson was still writing the last song needed for the show. It seemed the pressure was squelching his creativity. I can say from experience that songs don’t pop out just because we sit down to write them. Songs sometimes take a while. So did all his accountability cause the pressure and bring on writer’s block? Personally, I think the unhelpful, resistance-like pressure Jonathan felt was more because of the person (Stephen Sondheim, no less) who said the song was important to Superbia’s story arc.

A Funny Thing (Might Have) Happened …

Speaking of Stephen Sondheim, Larson also invited the legendary Broadway writer-composer to attend his workshop. The show doesn’t say this, but I can imagine Larson was partially motivated to create a great presentation of his show because he sought Sondheim’s approval. Conversely, he feared disappointing Sondheim, similar to my description of the SPUR accountability method.

If you are working on any creative project and need inspiration, I highly recommend Tick, Tick, Boom! Director Lin-Manuel Miranda said that he felt the story was a message in a bottle from Jonathan Larson to creators everywhere. I agree. Instead of triggering jealousy-induced hopelessness, the story is a strong call-to-action to make our music and put it out into the world.

What’s Your Account?

Is anyone a Tick, Tick, Boom! fan? Did you find it as inspiring as I did? And my usual question—am I going overboard looking for accountability techniques in this movie?