The Little Big Things (musical)

Act 1

The show opens with Henry Fraser welcoming us to his story – a story about his life-changing accident at the age of seventeen. He takes us back to the summer of 2009, where his younger self, Boy Henry, is being asked to go away to Portugal with his two older brothers Tom and Will (‘NEVER COMING HOME’). We see the Fraser family’s sports-mad life and meet Henry’s ‘dickhead younger brother’ Dom, as well as his proud parents, Fran and Andrew, who say Henry can go away on holiday if he wins the Schools’ Cup Rugby Final. Ecstatic, Henry bumps into Katie, his crush from art class, who he promises to go on a date with when back. Henry wins the final, and after a brief hiccup involving an out-of-date passport, he is on a Portuguese beach with his brothers (‘FEEL LIKE THIS’). But of course, the story must go on, and Henry knows all too well what happens next...

Suddenly, Fran and Andrew arrive at a Portuguese hospital, frazzled and scared, and they are told that Henry hit his head on a bank of sand whilst diving into the sea, damaging the fourth vertebra in his neck. Henry is paralysed from the top of his shoulders down. In the shock of the news, Fran dissociates and disappears into her memories (‘ONE TO SEVENTEEN’). Man Henry can’t remember the accident itself, and though Boy Henry does, he doesn’t want to revisit that trauma. They imagine Katie on Henry’s date – in a gallery with a perfect boyfriend – staring at a black canvas, ‘a tragic life devoid of colour’. But what does it mean? Henrys wake up in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, meeting the tireless staff, fronted by the no-nonsense Dr Graham (‘WORK OF HEART’). The Fraser family are struggling to cope with their shared trauma, with Dom unable to touch his brother, Andrew wondering if it was all his fault, and Fran nearly rejecting Katie’s stacks of cards from his schoolmates – so terrified is she of what Henry’s life will be like now. Luckily for her, Henry’s ‘brutal but brilliant’ physio, Agnes, is there to help Fran begin to see that there is life after a life-changing accident and that the key lies in accepting change (‘PART OF THE PLAN’).

Henry admits to struggling with acceptance, particularly at night time when he thinks he can hear the sea, so his younger self tries to distract him with joyous memories of their last night on holiday (‘UMA VIDA’). The next day, Henry is told he can go outside for the first time in six weeks, and feels his first ‘little big thing’ in the incredible warmth and colour of the yellow sunlight. But as Andrew pushes his wheelchair back inside, Henry sees his reflection in the hospital doors – the first time he has seen himself since Portugal – and he completely breaks down (‘WHY?’). His younger self tells him to pull it together for the sake of his family, who are also trying to put on brave faces (‘DON’T WANNA HAVE TO’). But Henry is in denial, and doesn’t even want to consider Agnes’s physiotherapy. Agnes tells him that acceptance and adaptation has to come from his family as much as it does him, and reveals that she can see Boy Henry. She suggests reading Katie’s card, which she signed with a bright pink heart. The Henrys read all the messages of support from their loved ones (‘THE WORLD IS WAITING’), helping them find the strength to make their way out of hospital eleven months early.

Act 2

Agnes teaches the Fraser family how to ‘adapt for Henry, not the other way around’, and they set about making their home accessible for his return (‘WHAT I NEED’). Henry returns home with a new appreciation: ‘Was the grass always that green?’. However, he finds a different house than the one he left, with his bed in the living room, and even Dom having to take the role as carer. Henry has done so much work, but still hasn’t faced the trauma of his accident, and begs Boy Henry to revisit the day on the beach, which he does, painfully (‘SILENCE OF THE SEA’). For the first time, Dom sleeps beside Henry and holds his hand: ‘I felt a warmth I never had before. It’s like the whole room glowed bright orange’.

Trying to find a way forward, Agnes takes Fran and the Henrys on an emancipating night out clubbing (‘THINGS WE SHOULDN’T DO’), which is great fun until they get home, and find a worried Andrew, Tom and Will. The family get into a huge row, and some terrible things are said, leading to Andrew and Fran storming out, and the Fraser brothers fighting it out between them (‘SYMPATHY’). Man Henry breaks it up by telling them they can never go back to how it was and that all of them need to forget Boy. Andrew returns, apologising about the fight, and shows Henry his new invention: an adapted stylus using his ‘purple protector’ gum shield, so that he can make art on his tablet, using his mouth. Henry is grateful but doesn’t know what to create, and asks his dad what he would paint. Andrew daydreams about good times with the entire Fraser family on his big red boat (‘MILES AND MILES’), and feels some relief in ‘letting go’ of Boy. Henry finds freedom and joy in painting, and doesn’t stop – creating more and more art using his mouth - so many paintings in fact that Fran has secretly arranged a gallery showing, via Agnes, for all his pieces.

Henry goes about inviting all the people from his life to his gallery, including Katie, who he finally gets to take on a date. But before the exhibition itself, he wants the entire Fraser family to go to the beach, and finally look at the bright blue sea. Andrew admits that he sold his boat because they’re a team, and him and Fran find some healing in his sacrifice. Henry tells his brothers that they need to let go of the trauma of the accident, and remember Boy how he’d like: nearly as happy as he is now. Agnes drops by to tell the Henrys that the gallery want a big centre-piece for the showing, something ‘personal’, and Henry finally builds up the courage to ask her how he can stop seeing the Boy. She tells him that they never leave, but when you find peace and acceptance, they ‘take a step back’. Henry asks his younger self to help him paint the big centrepiece, where they celebrate their story together and use the pain of their past, to find joy in the present (‘GUIDE YOU’). Boy tells Henry that he would go on the holiday all over again, and that he can’t wait to be him, before Henry can finally let him go.

The day of the gallery arrives, and Fran and Andrew take a sneak peek of the centre-piece, which is revealed to be a painting of Andrew’s boat. In that moment, Andrew sees a new future for Henry, and is so proud of his son. Henry braces himself to face his audience – mirroring the opening of the show – where he tells us about his story – a story about his life- changing accident at the age of seventeen, and how he wouldn’t be who he is without it (‘THE LITTLE BIG THINGS’).

The Little Big Things (Original Cast Recording) was released on Friday 12 January 2024 and went straight to #1 on the iTunes album charts.

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