Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical [Hardcover]

Barbara Isenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

Long-time theatre writer and Los Angeles Times correspondent Barbara Isenberg received rare access to every aspect of the creative process and the financial planning that went into Big...The Musical. "Marvelous. Barbara Isenberg's precise and perceptive account of Big from its birth pangs to its final delivery is a gripping tale of blood, sweat and toys." -Larry Gelbart

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a year when the downtown musicals Rent and Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk have electrified audiences in New York City, freelancer Isenberg unfortunately chose to track a far more conventional musical: Big, based on the popular movie starring Tom Hanks. As the title suggests, this is indeed a diary, with many episodic, telegraphic entries, offering an accumulation of detail (auditions, rehearsals, advertising, press coverage, tryouts, etc.) but little opportunity to develop characters, narrative or point of view. Still, for fans of Big or the musical form, Isenberg's story may entertain: in this case, a movie with no introspection had to be transformed with lyrics that dig deeper into a child's psychology. At tryouts in Detroit, the musical's creators adjusted lyrics, but reviews weren't good and the show's Manhattan opening was postponed for technical reasons. When it opened on Broadway in April 1996, one-third of the score had been changed. The New York Times praised Big, but others found it lagging behind Rent and Funk. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Nov.) FYI: As this review goes to press, Big's producer, James Freydberg, announced the show's closing on October 13, after losing $10.3 million. There are plans, however, for national and international tours.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A charming 1988 movie, Big became the basis in the mid-Ninties for a Broadway musical, to be created by a strong team of producers, writers, and artists. Theater journalist Isenberg was allowed to observe the whole messy process over several years. This book is her diary of the conception, funding, writing, rehearsing, trials, travels, and tribulations of Big, The Musical. It has a lovable and dedicated cast of characters, who should have produced a real winner. But miscalculation, bad decisions, and truly wretched luck drive this story of excellent work gone awry?which eventually resulted in one of the most expensive failures in Broadway history. This book is not for the weak-hearted or those with illusions about Broadway as the home of art; making this musical was more like making war. A cautionary tale for producers, writers, and artists as well as audiences; recommended.?Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 214 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 1st Limelight ed edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879100885
• ISBN-13: 978-0879100889
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara Isenberg writes and lectures about the arts. Formerly a staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for Time, Esquire and London's Sunday Times. Her most recent book,the Los Angeles Times best-seller Conversations With Frank Gehry, reflects her interviews with the celebrated architect over the past 20 years. Prior books include Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical,and State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work. Founder and host of the Getty Center's Art Matters public interviews, she received a Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center, has been a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute, founded and annually hosts British Theatre Backstage with Barbara Isenberg and was formerly Associate Director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities at USC. For more information, visit: www.barbaraisenberg.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive and fascinating look backstage., July 25, 2000

By 

Matthew Murray (New York City, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical (Hardcover)

The cost of Broadway musicals in the 1990s was so astronomical that when shows succeeded, they succeeded big. And when they flopped, they flopped even harder. Big was one of the latter. And, though this book often feels like it wants to paint the opposite picture, from the trials and tribulations it covers, when you've finished it, you know why it's failed. Most of the book is wonderfully informative and well-written, but the show's lingering death is glossed over in a very ineffective epilogue, and its post-Broadway life is not even discussed at all. If you are at all interested in how Broadway musicals are conceived of and produced, you shouldn't miss this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, April 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical (Hardcover)

Barbara Isenberg's living diary of "Big" reads like a fast paced novel of suspense. With everything in it's favor, it seems that "Big" will be a big hit, but the personal reflections of cast and crew reveal a deep undercurrent of doubt, fear and troubled feelings. After reading the book and sharing the journey, you feel the pain, the hope, the excitement and the ultimate disappointment. This wonderful work studies and embraces the birth pangs of creating a new work in musical theatre and the grieving period that comes with its closing. This is must reading for any theatre buff. Once you start it, you won't be able to put it down. I read it in one sitting