Giant Show Poster

Giant Critics’ Reviews

Based on the classic novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber, Giant is a new American musical that spans generations in an epic chronicle of the state that’s like no place else on earth: Texas. Amid a turbulent culture of greed, bigotry and money, a powerful cattleman, his new East Coast bride, their family and friends – not to mention their enemies – embrace and confront the joys and sorrows that loom as large as the state they call home. With a book by Sybille Pearson, music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and direction by Michael Greif, Giant will come to life in an appropriately huge production with a company of 22 actors and a 17-piece orchestra.

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About Giant

What is the Story of Giant?
Giant is an epic new American musical that spans three decades as it chronicles the life of Bick Benedict, a Texan cattle rancher, his socialite wife, Leslie, and rival oilman Jett Rink. Bick and Leslie’s enduring marriage frames a larger portrait of the state of Texas, a vast landscape filled with greed, bigotry, money, power, clashing cultures, death and birth. With a book by Sybille Pearson and music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, Giant brings the great state of Texas to life like never before.

Reviews

critics reviews Critics’ Reviews (4)
A collection of our favorite reviews from professional news sources.
Backstage

"Director Michael Greif stages the show seamlessly on Allen Moyer’s spare set, which combines with lighting designer Kenneth Posner’s washes of color on a cloud-strewn scrim to effectively suggest the tale’s vast open spaces."

Backstage

Erik Haagensen

The Wall Street Journal

"'Giant' is the most important new musical to come along since 'The Light in the Piazza.' It's a show of immense and fully realized promise—and it deserves to move uptown."

The Wall Street Journal

Terry Teachout

The New York Times

"Mr. LaChiusa has a wide musical vocabulary, and he deploys it deftly in numbers that subtly incorporate the styles of different eras and cultures, from the 1920s to the 1950s."

The New York Times

Ben Brantley

Entertainment Weekly

"Michael John LaChiusa's ambition is as big as Texas, which seems appropriate for his sprawling and terrific new musical...the composer has crafted one of the finest new American musicals in recent memory."

Entertainment Weekly

Thom Geier

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