{"id":3419,"date":"2009-05-17T19:49:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-18T02:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=3419"},"modified":"2009-05-17T19:49:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-18T02:49:00","slug":"be-careful-what-you-wish-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=3419","title":{"rendered":"Be Careful What You Wish For"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>This afternoon, we went to Hollywood to see \u201cbig: The Musical<\/i>\u201d at the West Coast Ensemble<\/a>. For those unfamiliar with this musical, which is based on the Tom Hanks movie<\/a>, it tells the story of 12-year old Josh Baskin. Josh is at that awkward age — too small for girls to notice him, awkwardly growing into teen-hood. One day at a carnival, Josh wishes to \u201cbe big\u201d at the carnival Zoltar machine. The next morning… he wakes up \u201cbig\u201d. A grown up. Of course, his mom thinks he\u2019s a stranger and out of the house he goes. His best friend Billy packs him off to New York to find a job, while he goes to find another Zoltar machine. Josh lands at FAO Schwartz, where he meets a toy company executive who can\u2019t figure out why his toys aren\u2019t selling. Josh, being a kid inside, tells him… and gets hired. Now Josh is in the corporate world… and is a success by being a kid at heart. But he also has to start dealing with things he\u2019s never dealt with before: such as the female co-worker who falls for him. Does he stay \u201cbig\u201d for her, or does he go back to being a kid?<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s just the story. \u201cbig\u201d is really a play about how kids grow up too fast, and what it is really like to be a kid inside. We all lose that kid far to quickly these days. I just heard a wonderful piece on Quirks and Quarks<\/a> about the importance of play… and that\u2019s something that is harder and harder to do in today\u2019s world: just be playful. We see the view of the parents, whose children grow up far to fast. We see the view of the adults, all business. We also see the dilemma through two important sets of eyes: Josh\u2019s, who must face the difficulties of adult love for the first time, and Susan, the colleague who falls for him, who learns that sometimes playfullness is the secret to love. I should note that the book for \u201cbig\u201d is by John Weidman<\/a>, based on the screenplay by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg. Music was by David Shire<\/a>, with lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr.<\/a>.<\/p>\n

West Coast Ensemble is a theatre group that does great things with off-beat musicals like this. We\u2019ve seen them work their magic on \u201cZanna Don\u2019t<\/i>\u201d and \u201cAssassins<\/i>\u201d before, and this production was no exception. Working in an extremely limited space, they created the flexibility to pull this off. As an example, one of the best known numbers in the show is the one where Josh and the president of the Toy Company dance on a gigantic floor keyboard. This theater could not afford a gigantic fancy lit keyboard–so they just painted one on the floor, and as the actors danced on the keys, the ensemble behind them sang individual notes. Their musical director (Daniel Thomas) also created a great sound with what appeared to be a single keyboard. A simple multi-level stage became everything from a schoolyard to bunk-beds in an apartment, to a working office, to a toy store… with just a few props. Credit goes to Stephen Gifford<\/a> for his remarkable stage design and Lisa D. Katz<\/a> for her imaginative lighting design in the limited space. <\/p>\n

Of course, no production would be complete with out the actors, and this production had an excellent set of them. Leading the cast as the adult Josh Baskin was Will Collyer<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, who captured the kid inside of him, as well as being a great singer and dancer. His adult love interest, Susan Lawrence, was played by Darrin Revitz<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, and equally great singer and dancer. Both were just having fun with the roles, which is a joy to see. Others in the cast who particularly impressed me were: Johanna Kent (Mrs. Kopecki\/Panhandler\/Salesperson\/Miss Watson\/Diane), who we saw first in Assassins<\/i> as Sara Jane Moore, and must be one of the most expressive actresses around; Alex Scolari<\/a> (Cynthia Benson\/Goth Girl\/Kid\/Intern), who we saw in 13<\/i> and was just mesmerizing, and LJ Benet<\/a> as the young Josh Baskin, who in his second act solo number demonstrated a remarkable voice. Also worthy of note were Lisa Picotte<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> as Mrs. Baskin and Larry Lederman<\/a> as Mr. MacMillan (head of the toy company). Rounding out the cast were Ashley Marie Arnold<\/a> (Tiffany\/Kid), Sterling Beaumon<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> (Billy Kopecki), Joseph Castanon<\/a> (Brandon\/Kid), Coby Getzug (Derek\/Gang Dude\/Kid\/Intern), Frank Romeo<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> (Mr. Kopecki\/Arcade Guy\/Salesperson\/Birnbaum\/Nick), Jake Wesley Stewart<\/a> (Mr. Baskin\/Drag Queen\/Salesperson\/Barret\/Tom), Sara J. Stuckey<\/a> (Mom\/Homeless Lady\/Salesperson\/Receptionist\/Abigail), Kaylie Swanson (Debbie\/Kid), and Stephen Vendette (Dad\/Stoner Musician\/Paul Seymour).
\n[\u00e6<\/sup> denotes members of \"\u00e6\" Actors Equity<\/a> ]<\/font><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already spoken about the excellent technical side of this production. Completing the backstage element were Sharon McGunigle with an excellent costume design (although I\u2019m unsure whether cell-phones were that prevalent during that period), and Cricket S. Myers<\/a> for Sound Design. The production was directed by Richard Israel<\/a> assisted by Suzanne Doss. Choreography, which was remarkable given the limited space, was by Christine Lakin<\/a>, assisted by Corrie English<\/a>. The stage manager was Amy E. Stoddard\u00e6<\/sup>, who was gracious to take nsshere<\/a> backstage to discuss working in technical theatre. The producer was Ben Campbell. West Coast Ensemble is under the artistic direction of Les Hanson and Richard Israel.<\/p>\n

I should note that if you are familiar with \u201cbig\u201d from the cast album<\/a>: some of the songs appear to be changed. In particular, I noticed a new song for Josh\u2019s mom (\u201cSay Good Morning to Mom\u201d) in the opening, and I think one or two others were changed. However, a number of my favorites are still there, including \u201cFun\u201d, \u201cStars\u201d, \u201cCross the Line\u201d, and \u201cCoffee Black\u201d. Some of the song changes are explained in the Wikipedia page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cbig\u201d continues at West Coast Ensemble<\/a> through June 28. Tickets are available through West Coast Ensemble<\/a>, and Tix.Com<\/a>; discount tickets are available through LAStageTix<\/a> and Goldstar events<\/a>. The show is well-worth going to, but note that parking in the neighborhood can be difficult, and the seats in the theatre are very narrow. <\/p>\n

Upcoming Theatre<\/b>: Our next production is \u201cThe Green Room<\/a><\/i> at Hermosa Beach Playhouse<\/a> on May 24 @ 7:00pm. The end of May (May 28, 29, 30) brings \u201cFiddler on the Roof<\/i>\u201d at Nobel Middle School<\/a>: we\u2019re planning on going on Fr 5\/29<\/u>. May 31 @ 2pm brings \u201cSetup and Punch<\/a><\/i>\u201d at The Blank Theatre Company<\/a>.<\/u> June 20 @ 8pm is \u201cThe Little Foxes<\/i>\u201d at The Pasadena Playhouse<\/a>. Lastly, July 11 will bring \u201cFat Pig\u201d at Repertory East Playhouse<\/a>. Based on the reviews, we\u2019ve decided to take a pass on \u201cMarry Me a Little\/The Last 5 Years<\/a>\u201d at East\/West Players<\/a>. Other shows pending scheduling and ticketing include \u201cSpamalot\u201d at the Ahmanson<\/a> (7\/7-9\/6\/09), the \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d concert at the Hollywood Bowl<\/a> (7\/31-8\/2\/09), and Liza Minelli at the Hollywood Bowl<\/a> (8\/28-8\/29\/09). Also of potential interest are: \u201cCat on a Hot Tin Roof<\/i>\u201d at the Neighborhood Playhouse<\/a> (Venue Goldstar<\/a>) (7\/9-7\/26\/09); \u201cBreaking the Code<\/i>\u201d at The Production Company<\/a> in North Hollywood (5\/15-6\/20\/09) (on LAStageTix<\/a>, Venue Goldstar<\/a>) (with \u201cEquus<\/i>\u201d over the summer); and \u201cThe Apple Tree<\/i>\u201d at Crown City Theatre<\/a> in North Hollywood (6\/5-6\/28\/09) (LAStageTix<\/a>). I\u2019m also always looking for interesting productions on Goldstar and LA Stage Tix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This afternoon, we went to Hollywood to see \u201cbig: The Musical\u201d at the West Coast Ensemble. For those unfamiliar with this musical, which is based on the Tom Hanks movie, it tells the story of 12-year old Josh Baskin. Josh is at that awkward age — too small for girls to notice him, awkwardly growing Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,28,1],"tags":[320,301,287],"class_list":["post-3419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-theatre","category-lj-xfer","tag-reviews-2009","tag-theatre-2009","tag-wce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}