Before “Rent,” “tick…tick…Boom!”

The Soulstice Theatre gave Jonathan Larson’s tick…tick…Boom! its Milwaukee premier Friday night. at Soultice’s Keith Tamsett Theatre. The semi-autobiographical rock musical begins as one struggling artist’s battle for success morphs into a scramble to sustain his personal relationships.

Jon, played by Milwaukee theater veteran Jordan Gwiazdowski, is a “promising, young” composer living in relative poverty in 1990s New York City. The musical highlights Jon’s growing distress in the days leading up to his 30th birthday.

Mike, Jon’s BFF (the highly animated Shayne Steliga) urges the protagonist to trade in his artistic aspiration for a cushy corporate gig. Mike goofily flaunts his designer belts, upscale apartment and new BMW. While the two are on similar mental wavelengths the tall, sharply dressed Mike contrasts sharply with the scrawny, often flannel-clad Jon.

Suzanne, Jon’s dancer girlfriend, cuts in on the bromance. Heidi Hansfield’s Suzanne supports of her boyfriend’s artistic resolve, but ultimately dreams of a quieter life in New England, complete with children and a new dishwasher.

Jon’s anxiety comes to a head in a crazed dash through NYC, after yet another rejection and news that Mike is terminally ill. These events, along with the vague promise of  future artistic success, change him. Jon cruises through his 30th birthday party battle scarred but not broken.

The script is 90s Bush-era cynical, peppered with well placed f-bombs. Jon and friends negotiate the low-class realities of public transportation and pirated cable. Eccentric musical numbers are about such things as homemade green dresses and a post-childhood craving for Twinkies. In Soulstice’s modest, resourceful production, arrangements of stackable chairs and milk crates create such settings as Jon’s shabby SoHo apartment and a bustling New York diner.

tick…tick…Boom! was originally written as a one-man-show conceived, written, and performed by Jonathan Larson detailing his struggle towards musical theatre success. This musical foreshadows Larson’s own life as his next production, a little musical named Rent, landed him massive international acclaim and popularity. The Milwaukee premiere of tick…tick…Boom! falls nearly 16 years to the day on the anniversary of Jonathan Larson’s untimely death at age 35.

Also appearing: Katie Thompson, Josh Perkins, Amber Smith and Tom Boehm

Soulstice theatre operates as non-profit organization contributing a portion of all box office sales to local charities. As homage to Jonathan Larson, an outspoken advocate for the HIV/AIDS community, Soulstice is donating money from this production to the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.

tick…tick…Boom! runs through Feb. 11 at the company’s Keith Tamsett Theatre, 3770 S. Pennsylvania Ave. Tickets are $18 online.