big the musical

big the musical
Book by John Weidman. Music by David Shire. Lyrics by Richard Maltby jr. MLOC. Directed by Trish Carr. Phoenix Theatre Elwood (Vic). June 14th – 22nd, 2013.

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas! Yes I know it is six months away but big – The Musical is such a joyous Christmas offering that I couldn’t help feeling it was December. And judging by the reaction to this production from kids of all ages at the Sunday matinee, there were plenty of others sharing the Christmas spirit.

If you think the title seems familiar, you probably saw Tom Hanks in the 1988 film, playing the 12 year old Josh Baskin who makes a wish at a fairground booth and suddenly finds himself in an adult body, deciding he likes it. The script has lovely things to say about childhood, acceptance and the things we wish for, and the songs are always melodic, with stand out production numbers in ‘Cross The Line’ and  ‘Coffee, Black’…and a lovely duet in ‘Stars’.

And I’ve put in my request to Santa for a Christian Cavallo doll…or is it a Josh Baskin doll?... one of those goofy, endearing, adorably cuddly dolls. Christian is so perfect in the role he is inseparable from the character, and totally in touch with his inner child. It’s a tailor made role for this talented performer and he has never sung better, nor been more appealing, and he owns the stage. Carly Hobbs is a suitably lovely Susan and the two complement each other beautifully.

Despite some pitch problems (most notable in the quartet ‘The Real Thing’) director Trish Carr has assembled a terrific and appealing cast. Of special note are Roisin O’Neill, delightful as the tapping Mrs Watson, Mitchell Hurrey as Billy Kopecki, Josh’s best friend, Paul Boyd as the childlike George McMillan, owner of the toy company and the terrific Noel Ledgerwood, who brings great professional strength to the role of Paul. Trish also designed the excellent set which works a treat for the most part, though there are one or two longer than usual black outs which do break momentum.

Geoff Earle handles the mostly excellent band with aplomb, but the sound mix is uneven, with the band drowning out many of the vocals. Keir Jasper’s choreography is perfect and the kids in particular perform well; one or two stars in the making amongst them methinks.

All in all this is a delightful piece of community theatre and it was worth travelling 125kms (round trip) for Christian Cavallo’s performance alone. The other delights are just icing on the Christmas cake.

Coral Drouyn

Photographer: Edwin Yeoh.

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