The Little Big Things - @sohoplace / NT At Home

[showtoones]

Oct 11, 2023 16:03:11 GMT thistimetomorrow said:

Oct 11, 2023 15:52:20 GMT showtoones said:

And what row would be ideal?

i feel like the first balcony is pretty good because then you're not looking up and you don't have set pieces in the way. in terms of long and short side, I sat short side and it was fine, but I feel like you'd be fine any side?

If you sit in the stalls, would you recommend being first or second row, or farther back? Thanks so much!

[anthony40]

On the two occasions that I have seen it, I sat in the stall, in the second or third rows, on different sides any each time, my view was fine.

[Matt]

2nd balcony was absolutely fine, looking down a bit but you’re not looking at the top of their heads.

[jj9692]

Was at the matinee today, with a front row TodayTix rush.

I have cried at many shows. But never as much as I have this afternoon. 7 times a tear was shed. And looking round the audience at one point most were the same. One woman, actually started properly sobbing, which I think srt off a few more people who were trying to be strong and holding back.

It was probably one of the most beautiful shows I have ever witnessed. The entire cast really put their all into this.

Ed Larkin really has got great stage presence. He just draws you to him. Amy Trigg was the standout for me. Perfect mixture of comedy timing while also being serious when she needed to be.

Linzi Hately broke my heart during the argument scene when she just spouted out "like you looked after him in Portugal". After the initial audience gasp, you could hear a pin drop.

Glad I got the chance to see it. Helped to make up for the double Sunset Boulevard cancellation.

[theatreian]

Was at the matinee today and fabulous performances from all the cast. Really thought provoking.

[richey]

Saw this on Thursday matinee and really enjoyed it. Great positive message and loved the use of colour throughout the show ( saw Sunset Boulevard in the evening so total contrast!) I thought the big cast songs worked better than some of the solo numbers.
All the cast were good. I'd only gone to see Linzi but was impressed with all the performances. Amy Trigg was a standout for me, her timing was brilliant
I had my seat upgraded as I'd booked the second balcony, but they closed it so I ended up in row B of the stalls and felt totally immersed in the show as I was so close to the stage with one of the walkways next to me.

[theatreian]

Oct 21, 2023 14:59:58 GMT richey said:

Saw this on Thursday matinee and really enjoyed it. Great positive message and loved the use of colour throughout the show ( saw Sunset Boulevard in the evening so total contrast!)

I did exactly the same! Agree with all your points.

[anthony40]

Cast recording coming soon

[alece10]

Linzi Hateley has just put a pic up on Instagram of Abbey Road Studios and says "I'm going in".

[anthony40]

Oct 25, 2023 15:33:11 GMT alece10 said:

Linzi Hateley has just put a pic up on Instagram of Abbey Road Studios and says "I'm going in".

Abbey Road Studio is just down the road from me.

I go past it regularly on the bus- always stop for tourists on the crossing.

[distantcousin]

Sept 5, 2023 21:55:07 GMT theatrelover123 said:

Will write more later but generally I will say that I don’t think this is worth the gushing praise. Lots of heart and a committed cast and nice staging. Funny in places (mainly Agnes). Great to see broad representation on stage. Shoddy script, terrible lyrics, too many earnest overemoting and glib fun songs, naff choreography, weirdly offensive and patronising about disability in focussing on how everybody around Henry was feeling but little about his feelings and struggles in comparison (and not even showing him with his brush in his mouth). Felt like a touring production of Our House performed by NYMT. What a shame

Well, that's saved me some time and money then! Thanks. All things I absolutely can't stand in a musical!

[distantcousin]

Sept 15, 2023 8:02:36 GMT BVM said:

It's a musical. The flying moments are simply used to enhance dramatic moments in a theatrical context. I don't think anyone looks at it and thinks they're claiming disabled people have special magical powers. Non-disabled people have been "flown' in many musicals - nobody thinks they can actually fly either. It doesn't have to represent anything. It's just a visually nice effect which in conjunction with singing, dancing, theatre lighting, dry ice/theatre smoke (all of which also wouldn't have been present in Henry's real life) enhances the moment.

I do get the point that I also wanted it at times to be a bit more depressing and gut wrenching - but as I said upthread that genuinely seems to be Henry's story and he's a uniquely positive guy. From what I've read, the plot of the musical seems very true to his story. He did do art before the accident but only developed the passion for it afterwards. Obviously he didn't learn to mouth paint overnight, but again time in a musical is not the same as actual time!

The music (to me) sounds very much the same style as the light "pop" that younger writers of musical theatre seem to go for these days. To my ear it sounds much better than Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Come From Away, Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home and indeed most of the stuff in that genre.

Do I wish there was a deluge of new musicals written in the style of ALW or CMS? Yes. Is that ever gonna happen? No. This is very typical of the way successful new non film non jukebox musicals are written.

Couldn't agree more. When is this style going to phase out? It's been like 25 years now! Anything post Rent really!

[distantcousin]

Sept 15, 2023 14:10:27 GMT shownut said:

Sept 15, 2023 13:31:09 GMT Jon said:

I see certain people are looking down on British creatives as usual.

That would be me and yes, I absolutely do have a dismissive view of British creatives in terms of musicals. 

I would love nothing more than to find British writers whom I am convinced know the craft and can deliver close to top-notch musical theatre. Aside from LONDON ROAD, SIX and TAMMY FAYE, I can think of no other home-grown British musicals over the past decade or so that didn't make me wince at its lack of skill in terms of score, lyrics, structure or all three combined. 

THE LITTLE BIG THINGS was, to me, a text-book example of bad to mediocre writing dressed up as 'the next big thing'. The idea was great, the delivery was not. Musicals are capable of more than manufactured emotions and sitcom-level characterisations. Yet, this is what British writers give us again and again and again.

I had no intention of seeing this show as I had sworn off new British musicals after constant disappointments. Like a fool, I took the comments here as a sign that there might be a change in the air and booked a ticket.

Lesson learned.

Agreed. This is a real problem we have in the UK. Like them or not, but where is the next Andrew Lloyd Webber or Tim Rice? 

British writers haven't been making waves for some time - except possibly the writers of "Jamie" and "Six" but the lack of talent and skill is very noticeable.

[iwanttix]

I went to see this last night. I hadn't been intending to see it but I went in and asked if they had a cheap ticket about 50 minutes before it started and they sold me row D in the stalls for £25. I'm so glad I did because I loved it. We had 3 understudies but I didn't even realise until I saw the sign when I was leaving. I found the songs catchy and the performances brilliant. As I looked around I saw a fair amount of people wiping their eyes and I admit at one point I did too. This is definitely going on my revisit list.

[darreno]

Caught the matinée of this on Thursday and I enjoyed it. Some catchy songs, some genuine pathos, particularly when Linzi Hateley is on stage. I would have liked a little deeper character development but I'm aware that that can be trickier when writing a true story, particularly when the people involved are still around and involved!

Best thing: Genuine feelings ahoy! Could see a lot of tears around the audience and that's one of the reasons I go to musical theatre.

Worst thing: The choreography isn't for me. Not a criticism so much as just not for me. Although I must say Jordan Benjamin gets everything possible out of it. He really gives 100% committment despite his part being limited.

A mixed bag, but I'd see it again.

[BVM]

Oct 26, 2023 16:58:33 GMT distantcousin said:

Sept 15, 2023 8:02:36 GMT BVM said:

It's a musical. The flying moments are simply used to enhance dramatic moments in a theatrical context. I don't think anyone looks at it and thinks they're claiming disabled people have special magical powers. Non-disabled people have been "flown' in many musicals - nobody thinks they can actually fly either. It doesn't have to represent anything. It's just a visually nice effect which in conjunction with singing, dancing, theatre lighting, dry ice/theatre smoke (all of which also wouldn't have been present in Henry's real life) enhances the moment.

I do get the point that I also wanted it at times to be a bit more depressing and gut wrenching - but as I said upthread that genuinely seems to be Henry's story and he's a uniquely positive guy. From what I've read, the plot of the musical seems very true to his story. He did do art before the accident but only developed the passion for it afterwards. Obviously he didn't learn to mouth paint overnight, but again time in a musical is not the same as actual time!

The music (to me) sounds very much the same style as the light "pop" that younger writers of musical theatre seem to go for these days. To my ear it sounds much better than Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Come From Away, Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home and indeed most of the stuff in that genre.

Do I wish there was a deluge of new musicals written in the style of ALW or CMS? Yes. Is that ever gonna happen? No. This is very typical of the way successful new non film non jukebox musicals are written.

Couldn't agree more. When is this style going to phase out? It's been like 25 years now! Anything post Rent really!

Dunno but I really wish it would. I do find it very frustrating. To me the whole point of a musical is amazing MUSIC. I did really enjoy The Big Little Things but was kinda in spite of the very average score, not because of it. (Having said that I do think it’s a better score than all the similar ones it’s been compared to).

But yeah, I do kinda go into most new musicals knowing I’m never gonna get hooked on the CD.

Despite it being flawed in various ways I went back to see Rebecca and haven’t returned to this. Cos the Rebecca score is brilliant IMHO which for me makes the return trip worth it!

[audioice]

Oct 27, 2023 22:36:07 GMT darreno said:

Caught the matinée of this on Thursday and I enjoyed it. Some catchy songs, some genuine pathos, particularly when Linzi Hateley is on stage. I would have liked a little deeper character development but I'm aware that that can be trickier when writing a true story, particularly when the people involved are still around and involved!

Best thing: Genuine feelings ahoy! Could see a lot of tears around the audience and that's one of the reasons I go to musical theatre.

Worst thing: The choreography isn't for me. Not a criticism so much as just not for me. Although I must say Jordan Benjamin gets everything possible out of it. He really gives 100% committment despite his part being limited.

A mixed bag, but I'd see it again.

To be fair, most of the choreography is sign language isn't it? 

[darreno]

Oct 28, 2023 1:13:54 GMT audioice said:

Oct 27, 2023 22:36:07 GMT darreno said:

Caught the matinée of this on Thursday and I enjoyed it. Some catchy songs, some genuine pathos, particularly when Linzi Hateley is on stage. I would have liked a little deeper character development but I'm aware that that can be trickier when writing a true story, particularly when the people involved are still around and involved!

Best thing: Genuine feelings ahoy! Could see a lot of tears around the audience and that's one of the reasons I go to musical theatre.

Worst thing: The choreography isn't for me. Not a criticism so much as just not for me. Although I must say Jordan Benjamin gets everything possible out of it. He really gives 100% committment despite his part being limited.

A mixed bag, but I'd see it again.

To be fair, most of the choreography is sign language isn't it? 

Yep, interesting way to incorporate BSL into a performance but it doesn't work well for me. It falls flat and sits between two things, not quite tight choreo and not quite a signed performance. The overall choreo just doesn't do it for me, although I don't expect a story like that to be Fosse of course.

[alece10]

Appearing at the Royal Variety Performance

[ceebee]

Saw this Saturday afternoon and glad I did. I enjoyed the story and the staging. It was moving at times, though like others have said, I think this type of pop musical is getting a bit safe and dull now. I'm glad I saw it though.

[Oobi]

I saw this yesterday evening, and I'm kinda surprised by how much I disliked it. While well-staged, I found it to be a shallow, schmaltzy bore, laden with bland music and cliche characters - less "feel-good", more "Hallmark movie".

It's like... every conflict is plausibly deniable. Is the Dad working too hard? Maybe - but he doesn't seem to be neglecting his family; he's the one who does all the work to get Henry painting, for example. Is the Mom irresponsible by taking her son clubbing? Maybe - but Henry had a good time and it's not like anything bad came of it. Are Henry's brothers hiding from him out of shame? Maybe - but they all stood by him earlier in the act, working together to prepare the house for his return from the hospital. The end result is a show where every character is more or less on the same page for the entire duration, except for one scene in the second act where they all spontaneously turn into massive assholes. The writers were apparently aware that pacing-wise, the show needed a big argument at approximately that point in the script; they just had no idea how to set it up or to resolve it or to execute it.

The framing device of the two Henrys is interesting in theory but I don't think it's utilized fully. Younger Henry never mounts any serious resistance to the idea of moving forward, while older Henry never surrenders to hopelessness. For the most part, they agree with each other and work together, which doesn't lend itself to compelling drama. The script make a big deal out of younger Henry's refusal to remember the accident, but then in act 2, he sings a song about it and reveals that what happened is exactly what the audience thought happened: he jumped into the sea and landed on his head. Why was this such a big deal?

I've seen some people in this thread compare the music to Dear Evan Hansen's. While stylistically they're very similar, DEH has the advantage of tonal diversity; the somber, lullaby-esque melody of Requiem sounds nothing like the pulsing momentum of Disappear. For the most part, if you took the lyrics of one DEH song and tried to arrange them to the melody of another, the result would feel discordant.

The Little Big Things, on the other hand? I'm actually kinda stunned by just how many of the musical numbers can be summed up with "upbeat, life-affirming pop anthem sung by whole company". We've got the opening number, we've got the flashback sequence in the Portuguese bar, we've got the act 1 finale, we've got the act 2 opener, we've got the Monopoly club dance, we've got the title song... They aren't bad songs in of themselves, they just all sound the same! It would be like if every other song in DEH was You Will Be Found.

I cannot believe how much I loathed Agnes. To be a mentor character is one thing. But to be a perfectly insightful and discerning mentor character, who also gets all the funniest and cleverestest lines and immediately endears herself to every other character she meets? ... No. Just, no. This character is not real; she's a puppet, and every time she opens her mouth, you can practically see the writer pulling her strings from on high, compelling her to dispense the exact pieces of idealized wisdom the other characters need to hear in that moment. Her dialogue swings between "sagely life advice" and "snarky undercutting humor" with predictable, pendulous regularity; I feel like it could've been written by an AI trained on the dialogue of coaches from sports movies.

Also... look, I hate to play the "swap the sexes" card, but Jesus Christ, swap the sexes. Imagine if an adult male medical professional flirted openly with an underage female patient of his, visited her house wearing a fetish outfit, then took her out to a club. It's seriously f***ed up that this behavior not only went unexamined, but was consistently played for laughs.

On the positive side of things, the staging was pitch-perfect. I don't think I've ever seen lighting used so densely throughout a show. The single most powerful moment of the evening for me was the momentary blackout in the accident flashback - very simple, very effective. Loved the use of harnesses too.

Finally, if you haven't seen the show, you'll just have to trust me when I say that the scene where Henry got his balls fondled by his brother was great. It felt real to me in a way that the rest of the sanitized material did not.

4/10. I'm clearly in the minority on this one though.

[mkb]

First Sunset, now this. Oobi you are posting some of the best critiques of shows on these forums. I can't disagree with any of your points, but, even if I did, it's healthy to hear well-articulated opinions that run counter to the prevailing mood.

[Oobi]

Nov 18, 2023 13:44:25 GMT mkb said:

First Sunset, now this. Oobi you are posting some of the best critiques of shows on these forums. I can't disagree with any of your points, but, even if I did, it's healthy to hear well-articulated opinions that run counter to the prevailing mood.

Thank you very much! I hope all my negativity doesn't make me sound too crotchety. It's often easier to write about shows you dislike, but for balance's sake I'm going to start forcing myself to leave positive feedback on shows I enjoy, even if the posts are short.

[theatrelover123]

Nov 17, 2023 19:18:11 GMT Oobi said:

I saw this yesterday evening, and I'm kinda surprised by how much I disliked it. While well-staged, I found it to be a shallow, schmaltzy bore, laden with bland music and cliche characters - less "feel-good", more "Hallmark movie".

It's like... every conflict is plausibly deniable. Is the Dad working too hard? Maybe - but he doesn't seem to be neglecting his family; he's the one who does all the work to get Henry painting, for example. Is the Mom irresponsible by taking her son clubbing? Maybe - but Henry had a good time and it's not like anything bad came of it. Are Henry's brothers hiding from him out of shame? Maybe - but they all stood by him earlier in the act, working together to prepare the house for his return from the hospital. The end result is a show where every character is more or less on the same page for the entire duration, except for one scene in the second act where they all spontaneously turn into massive assholes. The writers were apparently aware that pacing-wise, the show needed a big argument at approximately that point in the script; they just had no idea how to set it up or to resolve it or to execute it.

The framing device of the two Henrys is interesting in theory but I don't think it's utilized fully. Younger Henry never mounts any serious resistance to the idea of moving forward, while older Henry never surrenders to hopelessness. For the most part, they agree with each other and work together, which doesn't lend itself to compelling drama. The script make a big deal out of younger Henry's refusal to remember the accident, but then in act 2, he sings a song about it and reveals that what happened is exactly what the audience thought happened: he jumped into the sea and landed on his head. Why was this such a big deal?

I've seen some people in this thread compare the music to Dear Evan Hansen's. While stylistically they're very similar, DEH has the advantage of tonal diversity; the somber, lullaby-esque melody of Requiem sounds nothing like the pulsing momentum of Disappear. For the most part, if you took the lyrics of one DEH song and tried to arrange them to the melody of another, the result would feel discordant.

The Little Big Things, on the other hand? I'm actually kinda stunned by just how many of the musical numbers can be summed up with "upbeat, life-affirming pop anthem sung by whole company". We've got the opening number, we've got the flashback sequence in the Portuguese bar, we've got the act 1 finale, we've got the act 2 opener, we've got the Monopoly club dance, we've got the title song... They aren't bad songs in of themselves, they just all sound the same! It would be like if every other song in DEH was You Will Be Found.

I cannot believe how much I loathed Agnes. To be a mentor character is one thing. But to be a perfectly insightful and discerning mentor character, who also gets all the funniest and cleverestest lines and immediately endears herself to every other character she meets? ... No. Just, no. This character is not real; she's a puppet, and every time she opens her mouth, you can practically see the writer pulling her strings from on high, compelling her to dispense the exact pieces of idealized wisdom the other characters need to hear in that moment. Her dialogue swings between "sagely life advice" and "snarky undercutting humor" with predictable, pendulous regularity; I feel like it could've been written by an AI trained on the dialogue of coaches from sports movies.

Also... look, I hate to play the "swap the sexes" card, but Jesus Christ, swap the sexes. Imagine if an adult male medical professional flirted openly with an underage female patient of his, visited her house wearing a fetish outfit, then took her out to a club. It's seriously f***ed up that this behavior not only went unexamined, but was consistently played for laughs.

On the positive side of things, the staging was pitch-perfect. I don't think I've ever seen lighting used so densely throughout a show. The single most powerful moment of the evening for me was the momentary blackout in the accident flashback - very simple, very effective. Loved the use of harnesses too.

Finally, if you haven't seen the show, you'll just have to trust me when I say that the scene where Henry got his balls fondled by his brother was great. It felt real to me in a way that the rest of the sanitized material did not.

4/10. I'm clearly in the minority on this one though.

Not in the minority. I agree with every word you articulately said here so thank you. Still baffled at the show’s success

[anthony40]

Nov 17, 2023 19:18:11 GMT Oobi said:

 I'm clearly in the minority on this one though.

Although my opinion about this differs from yours Oobi, your opinion is just as valid, as mine is. 

There is nothing wrong with your post.  You are simply expressing an opinion, which is what this board encourages.

However I think the above statement you have made is incorrect.

The reason I say this is because if you scroll through previous posts made earlier, there are many who, just like you, disliked the show.  And other's, who like me, enjoyed it. 

In fact, the spit was so decisive that it was determined that this was a marmite show.