Giant

About

Michael John LaChiusa is probably one of the only working composers with the guts to translate Giant, Edna Ferber's 1952 novel about the Texas oil rush, to the stage. For one thing, the new musical, co-produced by the Dallas Theater Center and The Public Theater in New York, is a whale: three hours long, a huge cast (most theaters are struggling to pay two actors, let alone 23), and a 13-piece orchestra. But LaChiusa is only echoing the scale of the book, enamored as it is with wide open spaces, huge piles of cash, and endless cups of coffee. The story is equally epic, spanning decades and generations but begins when Bick, a rich cattle baron, makes a trip to Maryland and comes back married to a sophisticated socialite who doesn't adapt well to the misogynistic, racist culture of the family ranch. It's difficult to imagine a pair of actors who can smolder like Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, who starred in the popular 1956 film of the same name, but we guess it's time to start trying.