Big the Musical

We were not financially compensated for this post. We were given free tickets to Big the Musical for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience.

 

 Me- Big the musical, wow! Big was incredibly hilarious. It was amazing how much they could do with so few props.  I wish they had a really giant piano though. The singing was great. The cast was wonderful. My favorite was Kerry Butler who played Susan. I have loved her since I saw her as Kyra in Xanadu. John Tartaglia was so believeable as a 13 year old boy. Hadyn Wall who played Josh as a young boy looked much younger than 13, however. He looked about 9. He was still a good actor though although not as good Jeremy Todd Shinder who played his best friend Billy. Jeremy was great. He was a very good actor. He is very talented. He also happens to be the voice of the dog, Budderball in Superbuddies, my sister's favorite movie so now she is in heaven because not only did we see him in a show, but we stood next to him in an elevator. I liked the storyline of the show except for the ending I hated the end, but I don't want to spoil it. I had never actually seen the movie Big so I didn't know how it was going to end before I saw the show. It was happy, but it wasn't completely happy, and I wasn't happy. The songs were really good too. I liked that the show was in a small theater. It made me feel really close to the actors. I definitely would go see another York Theatre Company show.

Mom -  I always liked the movie Big starring Tom Hanks, but I wasn't quite sure how it would work as musical. Still, I looked forward to seeing it. I was not disappointed. Big was a very entertaining show. It had hilarious comedy. It had moments of drama. It had  good music although I have to admit I didn't remember any of the songs within a few days of seeing the show. They were good enough that I would want to listen to them again though. It had talented actors and actresses with beautiful singing voices. I especially loved the two leads; Kerry Butler as Susan Lawrence and John Tartaglia as grown up Josh. The very put together Susan (at least in the first act) was kind of  a stretch  for Kerry. She usually plays much more flaky characters like Kyra in Xanadu and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors Of course, Kerry showed she was more than up to the task of taking on the role and was wonderful as always. We love her. We would go see her even if all she was doing was reading out of the dictionary. John Tartaglia was great too. Not for one minute did I doubt that his character was a 13 year old boy trapped in an adult body. I think he may even have been better than Tom Hanks in the role. The supporting cast was great too especially Jeremy Todd Shiner as Josh's best friend, Billy and my younger daughter is totally thrilled that now she has seen the actor who was the voice of Budderball in Superbuddies, her favorite movie, in a show. It was also a privilege to have seen  lyricist, Richard Maltby Jr. performing in his own show. All in all the show had everything you could want in a Broadway show. So what was missing? A ton of props? Showy sets?  Fancy costumes? Intricately choreographed dance numbers?  This show didn't need any of that. In fact, having seen this version I can't imagine how it could have been any good when it originally ran on Broadway with all of that overkill. Some shows need all of that. Some shows don't. That's why I'm glad there are Musicals in Mufti which gives us a chance to see some of these shows in their natural state without all the trapping, the way they should be seen. I really enjoyed my first experience seeing a Musical in Mufti. I can't wait for my next one.

And that's our view. When is the last time you saw a show or movie that really surprised you in a good way?

Tune in tomorrow for Funny Friday.