Giant

These days, Off Broadway, and especially at a not-for-profit venue, you don’t see a big, sprawling, three-hour musical (with a cast of 25+ and 17+ musicians). But what other treatment could you expect for Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson’s adaptation of the 400+ pages of Edna Ferber’s sweeping tale of three generations of Texans, Giant?It covers the `30s, the U.S. entry into WWII, and on to the `50s oil boom that changed Texas forever. (The engagement at the Public Theater has been extended through December 16, 2012.)

Congratulations to the Public and the Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Fund for mounting this musical, originally presented at Virginia’s Signature and in Dallas (with a different cast and creative team).

“Giant” is the basis of the 1956 Oscar-nominated film, directed by the brilliant George Stevens, who won Best Director honors. It starred Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor – both at their peak of screen power and attractiveness – James Dean, Mercedes McCambridge as Bendict’s sister Luz, and Chill Wills as Uncle Bawley.

It stands as one of the best-cast films of all time. Hudson and Dean competed for Best Actor (it was Dean’s second nomination). McCambridge was nominated in the Supporting category. Visually stunning, the film was shot by master cinematographer William Mellor. (Good news: “Giant” finally arrives on Blu-ray in February from Warner Home Video.)

As conceived by director Michael Grief and production designer Allen Moyer, the stage Giant captures the essence of Texas and the prejudices of the era. It chronicles pioneering cattle barons, the Benedicts, who own several hundred thousand acres of “spread” (the nearest neighbors are 80 miles away). The central focus of the novel is bigger-than-life Jordan "Bick" Benedict (excellently portrayed by Brian d’Arcy James, who proves quite equal to the task), who ventures into Virginia horse country to find a steed and comes away with a beautiful society belle, Leslie, played by Kate Baldwin, whom he introduces to the staggeringly dry, tumbleweed-infested Riata. Culture shock ensues. Not only that, but different social values become stumbling blocks.

Among the excellent cast are a superb Michele Pawk as Luz (you really want to have more of her in the film, and you get that bonus in the stage adaptation) and John Dossett, who goes way beyond Chill Wills and etches a wise and memorable portrayal as Uncle Bawley.

It’s an enviable task to portray Jett Rink, since James Dean in the film was letter perfect as the rebel with a cause, and his persona is still so well known. It takes a while to warm up to PJ Griffith in the role – partially due to the awful costuming choices made for him early on. In that era, ranch hands just didn’t deck themselves out as gay caballeros in low-riders with the jean legs tucked into boots. Indeed, he has big boots to fill, and he eventually manages to squeeze into them.

At over three hours, “Giant” made for a sprawling movie (the musical is just under three hours). It adheres closely to Ferber’s novel. The stage adaptation doesn’t. Grief’s production, echoing the vastness of the Lone Star state, is as sweeping as any Broadway epic; however, as the characters gallop off against a vista of cattle land dotted with oil rigs, librettist Pearson makes strange choices that don’t lift the musical to the plateau it deserves.

One of Ferber’s interesting plot points is that you don’t have to be so big to grow rich and powerful. In the case of irascible Jett Rink, it takes only a tiny parcel of land for him to segue from orphan cowhand to billionaire. Another point is that racial bias really doesn’t change; but when, suddenly, a member of your family is the target, you stick up for the underdog even if it chafes.