The musical Big is an adaptation of the 1988 film by Penny Marshall. We found Tom Hanks in the main role.
The film was adapted on stage in 1996 by Maltby & Shire (the duo behind Starting Here, Starting Now, Closer Than Ever, Baby). The show went through a number of rewritings before becoming the version we see on stage today.
The plot:
Bigis the story of young Josh, who, one evening at the carnival, facing the Zorba machine, vows to become an adult. The next day, Josh is an 8-year-old boy trapped in the body of a thirties. He decides to take refuge in New York where nobody will recognize him. He was hired as a toy tester at MacMillan Toys and met Susan there. But will he manage to become a child again?
Jay McGuiness plays the role of adult Josh. He was part of the English boy band The Wanted. He is also known to the general public because, in 2015, he won the 15th season of the dance show Strictly Come Dancing.
McGuiness brings real energy to the role, he doesn't have a moment's rest, especially during the choreography. Her voice is beautiful but sometimes a little fragile.
Two real revelations are Austen Phalen, young actor who plays Billy and Wendi Peters who plays Josh's mother.
Wendi Peters only appears very rarely on stage but we notice her funny and touching scenes notably “Say Good Morning To Mum” and “Stop Time”.
Austen Phalen, just over 10 years old, is really comfortable on stage. He sings with humor and energy the numbers “It's Time” and “Talk To Her”.
The music is nice but they don't really stay in mind. The choreographies are rather funny and adapted to child and adult actors.
We notice that it is a very expensive production: endless changes of sets and costumes, not always necessary and which slow down the action.
Some problems:
Unfortunately, the musical has a real rhythm problem. The transitions are very slow and some scenes stretch and one is quickly distracted.
Finally, there is a real underlying problem: the story of Susan, an employee, who falls in love with Josh who has grown up. If situations full of sexual innuendos can be comical, it's pretty harmful.
The plot follows the lives of the employees in the MacMillan Toys toy company and deals with the gender gap in the company. Instead of denouncing this injustice, it is just presented with heavy humor.
Another problem that really struck me is that the distribution is not at all varied in terms of origin and skin color. It's really a shame not to have a distribution representative of our society and in which everyone can identify.
The show runs until November 2 and you can still book your tickets by following this link: https://www.comedie-musicale-londres.fr/big-the-musical.