Review: Garden Theatre Finds BIG Fun in Seldom-Staged Musical

BIG props to the artistic team behind BIG: THE MUSICAL at Garden Theatre. They built a BIG all-wood roller coaster right on stage. It's a beauty to look at, honestly as dazzling as the famous real-deal I rode at Dollywood two weeks ago. You can't ride the Garden's, but it does move. The show's various scene settings, whether a two-story apartment or a Manhattan office building, are hidden within the coaster's twisting support beams and break out to roll downstage.

It makes a BIG Impression. Cliff Price has done gorgeous set design at the Garden before, but this has to be among his most striking work, buoyed by handsome woodcraft from carpenters Jason Friend and Oceas Rodriguez.

That roller coaster is the second BIG-gest surprise here, trumped only by the fact that the Garden is doing this show at all. Based on the smash-hit Tom Hanks movie of the same name, BIG bowed on Broadway in 1996, on tour in 1998, and on West End in 2019, never to much critical acclaim. It's not common on regional stages in Orlando or elsewhere, so Central Floridians have a rare opportunity at the Garden, now through December 19. But what about those bad Broadway reviews?

Whatever director Joe Walsh and his team have done in their adaptation - and I can't speak to the original Broadway run - BIG is big fun at the Garden Theatre.

No, the show won't stir your soul to its core, but BIG is exuberant and good-spirited with enough childlike charm to keep a smile on your face... even when some of the plot wrinkles don't iron out.

As any 80s kid can tell you, BIG is the story of a young boy named Josh Basken who makes an ill-fated wish at a carnival. He wants to be a grown-up, or at least he thinks he does... until the next morning when his wish comes true. Now a little boy in a grown man's body, Basken must navigate adulthood in 1996 New York.

Along the way, he encounters a toy company whose CEO won't decide on this year's big Christmas toy until the company Christmas party - a production pipeline that could only work in a fairytale told through a child's eyes. Ditto the plight of an antagonist coworker who somehow has easy access to employee personnel files. Such contrivances can cut any tether to reality and might best be viewed as the larger-than-life staples of a very tall tale.

BIG is a bouncy musical with songs from Richard Maltby, Jr., and David Shire. The songbook has not gone down as one of the Great White Way's finest, but it does have pluck and plum. Some numbers even stand out as not altogether unmemorable - truly a feat in the realm of big-screen comedies translated to stage. Those numbers are in good hands with the Garden's five-piece live band under direction from Chris Endsley. The band sounds alive and full, and it's wonderful to hear live instrumentation at the Garden, something of a trend in recent times but historically not always the case.

The Garden has assembled a cast of child actors who exceed expectation, even if their ensembled choreography isn't always in sync. In the role of young Josh Basken, Camden Robinett is delightful and believable as a frustrated 12-year-old everyman. But it's Josh's best friend Billy, played by Jack Jessup, who gets the bulk of the under-20 set's stage time, a tag-along for big Josh's misadventures. Jessup is distinctive, likeable, and truly funny.

Chase Williams is appropriately frantic when grown-up Josh needs to be, and he nails the eager energy of an inner child. His character's Manhattan love interest is played by Olga Intriago, whose princess-worthy vocals are outright fantastic. Her biggest solo is in a song about stars, and on this stage, she is one. Williams has a fine singing voice of his own that isn't always well served by the songs assigned to him but nevertheless finds times to shine.

Christine Brandt is another strong singer. She plays Josh's mom and stands out early on for her strong stage presence and charismatic movement. The show features a surprising amount of showy choreography, and Brandt's cadence is on point. Those talents make her later return in a secondary role (that of toy worker Watson) a welcome one, even if Mrs. Basken seems too important a character to share Brandt with Watson.

Michael Morman returns to the Garden in another strong performance as George MacMillan, simultaneously stately and joyous. His singing lands on some nice notes in the MacMillan role, but when he doubles up as Zoltar, his few musical lines falter. Joshua Oliveras goes very broad as Basken's rival Paul. It's certainly a memorable and committed performance. A more grounded approach might serve the role better, but then the material doesn't lend itself to a three-dimensional read on Paul.

BIG is, at the very least, a small pleasure at the Garden. To boot, it's set at Christmas, which lends the whole proceeding a festive flair. Erin Miner's lighting design and Joshua E. Gallagher's props create carnival charm. A few missed cues during the reviewed performance did little to detract from that.

Oh, and there's BIG news, by the way! BIG marks the Garden's first show since the onset of the pandemic to feature an entire cast unmasked for the entirety of the show. It really makes quite a difference. (The Garden did not specify whether cast members are fully vaccinated.) Additionally, the venue's seating has been restored to 75% capacity. Face coverings are still required for the audience, programs are still exclusively digital, and concession sales are still suspended. Tickets are available directly from the Garden Theatre box office and online.

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What did you think of BIG: THE MUSICAL at Garden Theatre? Let me know on Twitter: @aaronwallace

Photos by Steven Miller Photography, courtesy of Garden Theatre

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