Background and Productions
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. The musical was "restaged and largely rewritten for the road".
Reviews were sharply divided on the Broadway production, 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 the musical, 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.
Read more about this topic: Big: The Musical
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