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#26

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 6:17am

Then there was the mall food court scene with all the non-product placement - logos of fast food outlets just slightly altered/misspelled for legal reasons. And the two-level set with little Josh's bedoom and kitchen, that shook precariously in the scene where Big Josh first appears in the bed.

I did enjoy FORBIDDEN BROADWAY's take on the annoying kids:

"Susan Stroman choreoraphy - AWESOME!"

Stroman's attempt to capture the feel of 1990's hip-hop (or the white suburban version of it) was as misguided as the attempt of her late husband Mike Ockrent's to direct something with genuine emotion. He was a gfenius at broad, slick comedy, but could not find the heart in "big-the musical".

#27

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 7:56am

I did this show my senior year of high school and absolutely hated it. I don't think I've ever hated a show more than BIG: The Damn Musical. Sure, there are a few hummable tunes, but most are just terrible. Here are some of the lyrics in "Cross the Line":
"That was a kiss, golly she kissed me
Out of the blue, suddenly kissed me
What do I make of this? Where is she coming from?
All I know is this wasn't a kiss from mom!"

Ummmmm, the last time I checked "from" and "mom" don't rhyme. Maybe I hold an unfair grudge against this musical, and I guess since I didn't see the Broadway or touring production, I don't know exactly what I missed in 1996, but I have a good idea. I'd take any of the recent movie-turned-musical adaptations that we have been getting lately over BIG any day.

#28

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 8:49am

As others here have made mention of it- Making It Big- The Diary of a Broadway Musical- is a fantastic read that really chronicles all the trouble the show had from start to finish. There were so many changes made to this show at every turn.

I actually liked the show that ended up on Broadway and found it to have some very good tunes- I think it just got swallowed up in a year with some really big shows making a splash all over the place- RENT, and others making controversy- V/V and Andrews refusal of her nomination.

The book also has some great pictures in it, one of which is the cover of the NY Post after the nominations were announced which read "Tony Baloney"- one of my favorites still to this day!

#29

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 11:43am

I enjoyed it on Broadway, but HATED the tour.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#30

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 1:00pm

And unfortunately, that is the version that is now licensed by MTI

#31

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 1:13pm

What a shame. The tour version was one of the worst shows I've seen. Not only were the book/score changes awful, the day-glo set was hideous.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#32

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 1:40pm

Yeah- I remember seeing it in Rochester, NY- not knowing at the time that all the changes had been made- imagine my extreme disappointment- I felt like I hadn't seen the show at all- and basically I didn't!

#33

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 3:30pm

Has anyone read the book: "Making it Big"? I've dragged my feet for years on buying it, thinking it was just a plug book for the show, but some of the reviews on Amazon seem to say otherwise. Thoughts?

"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"

#34

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 3:45pm

No, I don't think that book has been mentioned yet.

#35

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 8:11pm

yes, "Stop Time" is a great song, and you should hear it sung by Liz Calloway. But this show make a mockery of a terrifically entertaining film, and Dan Jenkins could not begin to suggest the charm and comic chops of Tom Hanks. Let this sleeping dog lie.

#36

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 9:18pm

Funny, a couple of the moments that posters found wince-worth (notably, "I Want to Know," when young Josh appeared to sing the inner child) I found the strongest, and absolutely enchanting. "I Want to Know," in particular, took the entire conceit the film and show are built upon and explicated the emotions underneath. Lovely. I liked the show enormously, but actually thought we needed more moments like that one, and fewer that worked a bit too hard to capture the film ("Fun"). Much of the Broadway show was wildly entertaining, like the first act closer, "Cross the Line," a true rouser that was choreographed before it was written (read the book). I also like "Dancing All the Time," and of course, "Stop, Time." The show is about uncomfortable feelings of adolescence, separation, differentiation from parents - complicated stuff -- and mostly the Broadway score delivered honestly. Then they messed with it, and now you have the hybrid of some sort that's licensed, which is apparently sort of a mess.

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

Updated On: 7/9/12 at 09:18 PM

#37

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 9:31pm

There's some good footage here. (Even some of that roller coaster discussed earlier. lol)
Big, the Musical - Good Morning America

#38

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/9/12 at 10:29pm

I actually liked the tour version better. The tour CD is the one MTI sends out for perusal. It's very different from the Broadway cast recording.

#39

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 12:24am

I really enjoyed Big and I thought Daniel Jenkins was terrific in the part

I remember seeing it and felt that The Tony's really shunned this musical which was quite enjoyable. The sets were ugly and Big and wreaked of New Jersey but other than that , It was a nice evening in the theatre.

I remember writing a letter to Daniel Jenkins telling him he was robbed by not being nominated. (Maybe I sent it to the cast in general.. I don't know. I never got a reply)

Big is certainly better than some of the stuff on Broadway now like Ghost,Spiderman and Sister Act, which were three I personally couldn't stand. I enjoyed it more than Rent that year which I still don't get.. but that's me.

Some shows just get the short end of the stick even though they are enjoyable and nicely crafted: Bonnie And Clyde, Oh Brother, and even 9 to 5 come to mind.

I will now read the Book Making it Big.

#40

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 1:09am

I think, other than BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, BIG was one of the first shows to be developed as inspired by a recent movie. The creative team had to figure out a way to do the film on stage, but not be the movie. To make it its own, and make it work on its own. Even though they failed, their experience was definitely a lesson for the creative teams of future movie-to-stage productions. Soon after BIG were THE LION KING, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, THE FULL MONTY, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, and THE PRODUCERS.

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

#41

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 1:17am

CapnHook, over the years I've watched you be rude, condescending, and a downright jerk to many a posters on here...

Get this straight, "Broadway Legend", THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW was never and will have never been a movie to stage transfer. It gestated and ran in various forms in the West End and also played a run at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles BEFORE it was made into a film. Most of the film's cast had done the role onstage BEFORE it was made into a film. Things you can't do when the film is the first appearance of a musical in this world.

Get your facts straight because this is something that is common knowledge.

'Broadway Legend', my a$$.

Updated On: 7/10/12 at 01:17 AM

#42

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 6:35am

Not to mention such movie-to-stage adaptations as A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, SWEET CHARITY, SUGAR, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, PROMISES, PROMISES, 42ND STREET, SINGING IN THE RAIN, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, et cetera...

#43

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 8:47am

Oh snap!

#44

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 9:59am

The show was DOA, and I was horrified by the poor child performers who looked like they were all high on a three-day coke binge. As an adaptation, it was about as flat and generic as they come.

#45

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 10:03am

I think the point is that "Big" is arguably the first "recent" movie to be musicalized and not significantly altered from the film. All of the titles in Jon's post made it to the stage long after their respective movies came out, and in most cases completely reinvented the source material.

So I think the trend that "Big" started (or was the first example of) was that of taking a fairly recent hit movie, keeping the title, and trying to get as much mileage as possible out of the fact that you're seeing the movie you love onstage.

"Nights of Cabiria" and "Smiles of a Summer Night" aren't exactly the kind of things that play on an endless loop on TBS, and their respective musicals use the film as a springboard to create something genuinely unique from the source material.

"Big" and "Legally Blonde" and "Sister Act" and "Leap Of Faith" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Wedding Singer" and "Little Mermaid" and "Ghost" and "Cry Baby" and "High Fidelity" (a book first, I know) and "Newsies" and "Shrek" and "Wedding Singer" and "Urban Cowboy" and "Young Frankenstein" are examples of shows that took a very familiar recent film, kept the title, kept the structure, slapped it onstage in pretty much the same style and look as the film, and added songs.

It's not about finding something that cries out to be a musical and creating that piece, it's about brand expansion. Writers don't write material they are drawn to, they write the material the film studios pay them to write so that the film studio can make more money off their back catalog.

#46

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 10:21am

Morosco, regarding Stop Time...have you ever noticed that Malby and Shire manage to slip a few bars of Starting Here, Starting Now into the end of Stop Time? They did the same thing in The Story Goes On from BABY. Have a listen.

#47

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 10:48am

temms, that's a perfectly stated explanation of the decay of movie-to-stage adaptations, due to lazy adapters and lazier audiences.

#48

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 10:55am

I saw a regional production of ARTHUR - THE MUSICAL, in which audience members were reciting the punch lines in unison with the actors. Around 80% of the dialogue was verbatim from the movie.

#49

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 11:38am

One of the reasons I enjoyed Big as much as I did was that I found it to be quite different, and even better than, the film. I liked the film, though it seemed mostly to be a Tom Hanks vehicle where he is an adult acting like a kid. By giving the kids more attention and focus, there was the constant reminder of who Josh really was and what he was missing. I thought I Want to Know brilliantly displayed the curiosity of youth far more than the film attempted. I found it no more offensive than a group of young boys receiving advice on love and sex by a whore on the beach in Nine, so I'm not sure what the fuss is about.

The tour pretty much removed everything about the musical that worked and made the show more two-dimensional than the film.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#50

BIG The Musical

Posted: 7/10/12 at 4:05pm

I just wanted to join in and say that I, too, enjoyed BIG on Broadway. I can't remember exactly how old I was when I saw it tho I suppose I was 13/14. But I do remember EVERYTHING else about it. I bet I could even walk into the theater and still point out where I sat. I still listen to the cast album every once and a while and think it's wonderful. Tho I must admit that the "I Want to Know" scene did cause a discussion afterward because some of our party found it awkward. Looking back I think it was a pretty beautiful moment, myself. I have always wanted to do this show but absolutely HATE the licensed version .... what a shame.

I heard once, from where I don't know, that BIG replaced CARRIE as the biggest flop in Broadway History. Was that true? If not, what is currently the biggest flop? I can't still be CARRIE, right?

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