Misfits fit in at weight-loss camp in a resonant new off-Broadway musical.
By Brandon Voss
Fat people are often a punchline, but Gigantic, which is set at a weight-loss retreat for chunky teens, treats them with respect. “It’s really about coming to terms with yourself and the journey of adolescence,” says Tim Drucker, who co-wrote the pop-rock musical with Randy Blair and Matthew roi Berger. “That alone has enough inherent comedy, so we didn’t have to rely on fat jokes.”
The Vineyard Theatre staging of Gigantic opens off-Broadway December 3 at the Acorn Theatre. Previously titled Fat Camp, the show premiered in 2009 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. While Blair had attended weight-loss camp, Drucker drew inspiration from his own experiences at sleepaway theater camp. “It’s the same social structure: a group of outsiders coming together and feeling ‘normal’ for the first time,” the out writer explains. “Being 11 or 12, knowing you’re gay, and going to a place where you can be yourself for the summer — it was a lifesaver for me.”
Gigantic’s treatment of body-image issues may also resonate with gay men, but Drucker feels that the show’s themes are universal. “Who doesn’t want to look better or different?” he asks. “Everyone in the show has such different points of view, there’s no way someone won’t hook on to one of these characters.”
If there is a big message to be gained from Gigantic, it should go down smoothly — like a Lipozene in a bowl of ice cream. “First and foremost, it’s a summer camp comedy, but there’s something deeper there,” Drucker says. “It’s about boxes people put us into, boxes we put ourselves into, and figuring out how we can break out of them.”
Next, December 2015.