For a movie musical, the editing is everything. It needs to be in the same league as the emotional performances and the firm steerage from the director’s chair. The editing of a musical number can change the entire mood of the film, and Andrew Weisblum and Myron Kerstein had the difficult task of honoring the life and work of the late Jonathan Larson.
Since the movie musical was revived back into favor in the early 2000s, there have been buzzed about musical numbers: “El Tango de Roxanne” from Moulin Rouge!, “All That Jazz” from Chicago, “Someone in the Crowd” from La La Land all come to mind. All of those films were nominated for Best Editing (Martin Walsh won for the Kander and Ebb adaptation).
Weisblum and Kerstein had a lot of challenges to make sure Larson’s story was told clearly. The film’s structure is unique in how it weaves in a stage concert, narration, and events in real time. For “30/90,” the editors had to establish so much in the kinetic first five minutes. For the crowd-pleasing “Therapy,” they had to find the right balance between the comedy of the musical number but also the heft of Jonathan and Susan breaking up.
With a lot on the line, tick…tick…BOOM! never loses its focus or drive. Because of the cuts made by Weisblum and Kerstein, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical masterpiece is the loving tribute Larson deserves.