Raúl Rules

"Initially, the show was a rock monologue written and performed by Jonathan," Esparza explains. "I think there are five drafts of the show. He did it as a cabaret piece with himself, a piano, and a band. It went through a couple of titles; it was called Boho Days at one point and then it was called 30/90, which is the title of a song in the show, about the fact that he was turning 30 in 1990. And then it became tick, tick...BOOM!. The idea is that the clock was ticking for him as he was about to turn 30."

The tick, tick...BOOM! that will begin performances at the Jane Street Theatre on May 23, with an official opening set for June 13, is not inaccurately called "a new musical" in that it's a major revision of the show Larson performed in 1990 and again in 1993. For one thing, the cast has now been expanded to three: Amy Spanger and Jerry Dixon will be supporting Esparza, and David Auburn (author of Proof) is listed as "script consultant." Needless to say, the piece is highly autobiographical; the name of the central character is, in fact, "Jonathan." So, does that mean Esparza will be playing Jonathan Larson? "Well, the character has no last name," he says, "and that's on purpose. And though the show is about the events that inspired Rent, we don't actually talk about Rent. I think it's about much more than Jonathan writing that specific show; it's about a young man coming to terms with being an adult, finally figuring out what he has to say to the world." Larson, of course, died tragically of an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm on January 25, 1996, in the early morning hours of the day of Rent's first public performance at the New York Theatre Workshop and 10 days prior to his 36th birthday.