Big, The Musical
The motion picture, starring Tom Hanks, premiered in 1988 and garnered two Oscar nominations, one for him and another for the screenplay. The musical adaptation, in no way, compares to the film although Richard Israel has certainly done a wonderful job turning an atrocious stage musical into a fun-filled evening of entertainment.
The story is of a boy, Josh Baskin (played sweetly by LJ Benet, with a simple touch of brat), crushing on a somewhat older girl, Cynthia Benson (Alex Scolari), who only dates boys who can drive. Josh wishes upon a mysterious amusement machine called “Zoltar” that he were BIG. The following morning, he looks into the mirror and realizes that he's no longer a pre-adolescent boy, but an adult man with the mind of a 12-year-old. With his mother (Lisa Picotte) thinking he's been kidnapped, Josh (now Will Collyer dazzling the audience with a stellar voice) heads for New York City, escorted by his best friend, Billy (Sterling Beaumon), who leaves him there to find a job to make money until they can find the Zoltar Machine. While inside a toy store, Josh meets MacMillan (Larry Lederman), the president of the toy company, who almost immediately hires Josh after becoming impressed with his knowledge of toys. Larry Lederman delivers a very humorous performance as a boy wanting to escape a bitter old man. Casting Darrin Revitz as Susan Lawrence, (who holds adult Josh's attention through to the end,) was a smart choice. There has yet to be a role Revitz has not been able to handle with a shining star above her! In this case, she single-handedly steers the cast into greatness. Finalizing the most memorable performances, witnessing Sarah Stuckey perform her five characters could give any young comic actress a lesson in hilarity. Stuckey excels in the definaition of comic timing. More-over, in my opinion, this company might want to think about casting her as the lead in a Carol Burnett-type role before they lose her to MADTV!
The book is quick but very often too quick, missing realistic reactions to important plot moments we've been excitedly awaiting. The music and lyrics, repetitive and banal, never seem to stick in your mind. In fact, although it was my favorite song of the evening, “The Real Thing” was unneeded and should have been cut for time or for a better finale to the story. That being said, this specific production seems to create lemonade from a lemon, superseding script problems by using the raw talent of Israel himself, Christine Lakin (Choreographer), Stephen Gifford (Set Design), Cricket Meyers (Sound Designer), and Lisa Katz (Lighting Designer). Together (again), this team has managed to make many people with whom I shared this show laugh and applaud.
Children of all ages will appreciate WCE's production of BIG, the Musical!
____________________________________
Theater: West Coast Ensemble / El Centro Theater
Web Site: http://westcoastensemble.org/
Tickets: Buy Here