Dominion Theatre – until 2 November 2019
Reviewed by Jessica Brady
3***
The hype surrounding BIG the musical has been everywhere around the London theatre scene and I must say being a huge fan of the original 1988 film starring Tom Hanks I was a little apprehensive about going to see a musical adaptation.
The opening of the show held much promise as the lighting design by Tim Lutkin and Production design by Simon Higlett are very impressive with the added flare of moving LED screens with videography by Ian William Galloway creating back drops for scenes on a revolve. Sadly it seemed this was a case of style over substance and didn’t help the book or score much.
The story follows Josh Baskin a 12 year old living in the suburbs of New York and struggling with teenage hormones and girls. He is the little guy with a big heart and has the support of his best friend and neighbour Billy, who has good intentions but not always the most appropriate advise. Josh’s mom played by Wendi Peters is a slightly over bearing mother who is reluctant to accept her little boy is growing up and as a result is a little over protective.Josh and his family head to the local carnival where Josh has finally had enough of being treated like a kid and he makes a wish to be ‘BIG’ after stumbling across a mysterious ‘Zoltar’ Machine.
The events that unfold are totally unexpected as his wish is granted and Josh wakes up as a grown up played by Jay McGuiness. From here the journey begins into what it means to be an adult and responsibility and ultimately what it means to love.
Sadly this show missed the mark for me. The film is so iconic and the book of the show doesn’t match it. The score has no memorable numbers and all kind of blurs into one. The cast do their best with what they have but it’s all just a bit disjointed. Numbers have been added that don’t enhance the story but more halt it.
There are moments of comedy that are good but also moments that are unnecessary and mock what the original film is known for, in particular the Zoltar machine is over egged and becomes farcical instead of weird and mysterious with a booming operatic voice bellowing ‘your wish is granted’, it’s just a bit hammy.
Kimberly Walsh plays Susan Lawrence – the love interest- with a certain unlikable charm which works initially but vocally her voice doesn’t sound all that safe and I couldn’t get invested in her numbers as they were a bit flat in their content.
Matthew Kelly plays George MacMillan with gusto and does well with the infamous piano choreography but his accent does slip in parts.
The kids ensemble are great and are fantastic additions to the cast but mainly utilised as scene transitions which is a shame.
Jay McGuiness as older Josh brings a child like quality to the role but again his numbers are just a little bit middle of the road and tend to go on a bit too long.
Overall the production was not what I hoped it would be and not anywhere near what it could have been which is a real shame. The original source material has so much to offer in the way of content for a show but sadly this wasn’t the right direction for me.