The announcement that BIG, the musical, will play a limited season at the Dominion Theatre is great news for fans of the classic 1980s family film but also for producer Michael Rose who originated the UK version.
He’s long been associated with various large scale productions of varying class and quality across the UK and his producing or co-producing CV includes such titles as Irving Berlin’s WHITE CHRISTMAS, ONCE, the tryout of a new musical about 60’s pop group the Monkees, pantomime at the O2 arena and the plays CHARIOTS OF FIRE and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, which both ran at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End.
However in 2014 the Stage newspaper reported that Rose’s disastrous tour of the musical, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG had forced his company into liquidation with debts totalling £1.12 million.
It’s great that he’s bounced back from such calamity and that he and his partner, the director and choreographer David Morgan, are now confidently at the helm of this new West End production which they originally tried out in Plymouth in 2016.
But will it sell tickets or are Rose’s finances in jeopardy again?
The movie of BIG, starring Tom Hanks, is remembered fondly by those who were around in the 1980s but I wouldn’t categorise it as anyone’s all time favourite film and there are now two generations of younger ticket buyers for whom the title means very little.
Perhaps it’ll sell on the back of 1980s nostalgia to those over 40 and the full cast hasn’t been announced yet so maybe they have a major star up their sleeve, however the video promotion still features clips of the Plymouth company which included Jay McGuiness (The Wanted singer and Strictly Come Dancing champion) who’s definitely returning to play the lead alongside “West End stars” Jessica Martin, Diana Vickers, and Gary Wilmot. This is a strong line up but hardly likely to provoke a ticket buying frenzy if it’s replicated.
BIG will also have a lot of competition for the attention of family ticket buyers this autumn, not only from long running family hits like MAMMA MIA and THE LION KING but high-profile revivals of JOSEPH and MARY POPPINS.
However the trailer makes it look fun, even if its cheap and cheerful vibe seems unlikely to find favour with snobby theatre critics. Let’s wish BIG and it’s producer the best of luck. They may need it.
These two guys have dominated musical theatre writing for the last half century. Their style is as different as chalk is to cheese but both celebrated birthdays recently (on March 22nd the populist, Lloyd Webber, was 71 and the sophisticate, Sondheim, was 89) so let’s have fun frivolously comparing and contrasting.