Big: the musical

Big
The Musical
Original Cast Recording
Music	David Shire
Lyrics	Richard Maltby, Jr.
Book	John Weidman
Basis	1988 Film Big by Gary Ross and Anne Speilberg
Productions	1996 Broadway 1998 US National Tour 2016 UK and Ireland

Big The Musical is a 1996 musical adaptation of the 1988 film starring Tom Hanks. It was directed by Mike Ockrent and featured music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., with choreography by Susan Stroman. It involves Josh Baskin, a 12-year-old boy who grows up overnight after being granted a wish by a Zoltar Speaks machine at a carnival. With the aid of his best friend, Billy, he must cope with his new adulthood while finding the machine so that he can wish himself back and more.

The pre-Broadway tryout started in Detroit in January 1996. The musical opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on April 28, 1996, and closed on October 13, 1996, after 193 performances. Although it was nominated for five Tony Awards, (Best Actress, Supporting Actor, Book, Score, and Choreography), it was one of Broadway's costliest money-losers.

The show had a US National tour, directed by Eric D. Schaeffer starring Jim Newman and Jacquelyn Piro Donovan, which began in February 1998 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. It was "restaged and largely rewritten for the road".

Reviews were sharply divided on the musical, but not on the 1998 US National tour, which was a hit after much rewriting from authors, John Weidman (book), Richard Maltby, Jr. (lyrics), and David Shire (music). Alvin Klein, in his New York Times review of a 2000 regional production of it, wrote, " 'Big' cannot be cavalierly dismissed as a failed musical that was no match for a blockbuster movie. It is satisfyingly good -- and it was shortchanged." The revised version is available through Music Theatre International, and continues to be mounted in amateur, school, and professional theatre productions around the US.