2. P A G E 2
Table Of Contents
Story of Big Shot
Song List
Reviews
Company History
About The Creator
About The San Diego Fringe Festival
Press Clippings
Next Steps For Big Shot
3. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 3
At the heart of Big Shot is ambition. Jeremy Crocker is a precocious young
lawyer focused on staking his claim in New York’s legal profession. Carrie is
an artist from Ireland who is in a relentless search for an investor, someone
to take her work to the world stage.
In New York, the City of Cities, their journeys becomes entwined when Car-
rie begins working in Vivienne’s café, a hotspot for hotshots and one that
Jeremy frequents. In Jeremy, Carrie sees her investor, an opportunity to
achieve the greatness that she believed she had to emigrate to
find. Crocker becomes hopelessly infatuated with Carrie, seeing her as both
someone that could complete him, and someone he could protect.
However innocent and well intentioned this romance might be, it threatens
to derail Jeremy’s ambitions when it becomes apparent to the lawyer that
Carrie is engaged to Hank Midden, a notorious white-collar criminal. Hank is
a client of Jeremy’s who has recently been charged with murder. The
young advocate is faced with a dilemma that carries a double-edged sword:
Can he bring himself to forsake Hank’s case in order to be with Carrie, or
will he stay true to his path and save Hank from the shackles of the
law? Will he choose love or justice?
A story of ambition and love, Big Shot captivates with a blend of energy and
poignance infused in its music and its characters. Big Shot is an exposition
of original Irish composition and writing that simply cannot be missed.
Story of Big Shot
4. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 4
Act One
I Won
No Evidence
Can Anyone Be Trusted
Live A Little
Believe
Every Part Of Me
Poignant
Act Two
Coffee Shop Song
Carrie’s Song
The Thrill Of The Kill
What’s A Man To Do
Rick’s Reprise
If Hank Gets Caught
What Have I Done?
Poignant Reprise
I Need You
Take My Hand
I Need You Reprise
Song List
5. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 5
What makes the entrancing Broadway-style show even more incredible is that writer
and creator Lauryn is only 22 years old
As recipes for stage success go, the award-winning Irish musical Big Shot pretty much
has it all.
A dab of murder, a pinch of love and a shot of coffee combined in front of a capacity
crowd in Dublin’s Liberty Hall Theatre last night to whip up a theatrical storm worthy of
a Tony gong.
With a hotshot hunky lawyer, a shy raven-haired damsel stuck in a love triangle, a ruth-
less villain, a flirty cafe owner and a comedic ladies man to turn up the laugh-out-loud
factor, Dubliner Lauryn Gaffney’s musical had all the ingredients to make it an instant
hit.
And what makes the entrancing Broadway-style show even more incredible is that writ-
er and creator Lauryn is only 22 years old.
Her story - and the cast of mainly north Dublin Malahide and Swords natives aged 21 to
25 - tells the story of high-flying New York defence lawyer Jeremy Crocker and the love
triangle he finds himself in when he falls in love with struggling Irish artist Carrie - only
to discover he’s defending her gangster fiance Hank against a murder charge.
The course of true love never runs smoothly and unfortunately for Crocker, there’s a
heartbreaking twist at the end.
But there’s enough intrigue, high energy dance routines, punchy one-liners and chart-
worthy hits to keep the musical light and fun.
Ultimately, Big Shot is a tale of love, justice and living in the moment and the raw talent
of each and every star leaves the audience in no doubt as to why it scooped the very
prestigious Spirit of Fringe award at the acclaimed San Diego International Film Festival.
The show is 18 songs squeezed into an action-packed and unmissable two hours and 15
minutes of musical theatre genius and apart from a few sound issues, the performance
was flawless.
Sadly last night was the only opportunity for Irish audiences to catch the show while it’s
home, but don’t be surprised when these young stars appear on Broadway in a few
years.
6. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 6
'What's a man to do?' the bigshot 'never loses a case ' lawyer sings in one of the best songs of the
night. Lauryn Gaffney, book, music and lyric writer of this new musical, didn't seem to ask any
such question when she finished writing it; she just went and put her show on. I spoke with
Gaffney last summer, just as she was about to embark on a journey to the San Diego Fringe Festi-
val with her score, cast and band. Last Thursday,Bigshot was back in Dublin playing the Liberty
Hall Theatre for one night only, where I finally got a chance to see it and catch up with Gaffney follow-
ing her San Diego adventure, where they picked up the 'Spirit of the Fringe Award' nod as well.
The usual route for musicals are, of course, adaptations. Think of any major musical and its proba-
bly come from a novel, play, or in recent times, movie. Original musicals have cropped up from
time to time such as Next To Normal and Love Never Dies, with varying degrees of success, but
they are few and far between. If you are going to write a musical the most obvious path is adapta-
tion. So, Gaffney's decision to write an original could be seen as brave, but the choice fits her 'can do'
energy and drive.
Speaking about the festival experience, Gaffney says that it "was a dream come true. The dedica-
tion and enthusiasm from the cast members were what snatched us the award in the end." The
cast is made up of students from various courses that happen to include dance, acting and in the
case of one cast member, Actuarial Mathematics. Passion is a big ingredient for them all.
"The audience in America in some aspects reacted differently to the show," Gaffney told me.
"They found certain lines very funny that we wouldn't necessarily laugh at! With regards to the
ending the Irish always react unexpectedly but in America the reaction was constant. Overall they
reacted better than I anticipated."
For the festival they had a shorter running time to contend with, which brought about it's own is-
sues. "The shorter time task initially was a huge challenge. Cutting the songs in half and eventually
cutting entire numbers wasn't easy," but in the end, it brought up "various ideas that ultimately,"
Gaffney explains, "made the show better." Reminding us that musicals, as it was famously said,
aren't written, they're rewritten.
The restaging in Liberty Hall was over two acts with Gaffney's music being the star of the night,
moving from both moody to light, yet always melodic, with tunes that are hummable and memo-
rable. It wasn't only the music that impressed, Cormac Ó Brion as Rick did too, looking very much
at home onstage in a confident, at times menacing, pitched perfect performance, creating and
maintaining the character well, showing good singing and acting skills in his songs 'If Hank Gets
Caught' and 'Can Anyone Be trusted' with the already mentioned Hank (James Hazlett).
Red Curtain Review
by Alan Foran
Taking Stock of Big Shot The Musical
Continued next page
7. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 7
The show itself isn't perfect. There is work to do on it, but that can be the life of a musical,
with Andrew Lloyd Webber closing Sunset Boulevard mid-run to put new changes in, doing
something similar with Love Never Dies. The subplot ofBigshot following a romance between Vivi-
anne (Sarah Mc Loughlinn, playing it for laughs) and Frankie (James Deegan, also the director)
feels the most developed with twinges of old style musical theatre; the power play between Hank
and Rick takes centre stage by act two; while the central story of Jeremy Crocker (Donal Brennan)
and Carrie (a good belt voice in Jade Young, who also doubled up as costume designer) is the thin
line that the other stories hang from.
The second act is better than the first, coming together well by the end, the first not really get-
ting much dramatic tension by blackout. At times there are choreographed sequences that
take away rather than add. A more free flowing direction might have aided it better. But there
are some well realised moments too leading up to the final court scene.
Gaffney isn't one to be put off, and she has further plans for Bigshot. " Our next plan is to take
it to the Irish Arts Centre in New York. It would be the perfect fit for our story." Indeed it would,
as well as being near Broadway and a place where musicals are more common, and the city where
the story is set. There are also more goals for her show in Ireland as well, "I'm not sure we've
(quoting Carrie) 'exhausted every avenue".
As for Gaffney herself, she plans to write a lot more. "Especially music, I'm currently collaborat-
ing with an Irish artist." Exciting times indeed. Collaborating is something she loves to do, and
to collaborate with Irish theatres, well: "We would LOVE to collaborate with theatres!! That
would be fantastic. Collaboration is the key to art." There are many out there who would
agree, and maybe a few other artists and theatre's who might like to take her up on that. Time
will tell.
One thing her journey to San Diego allowed was a trip to California and Mexico as part of the
Bi-National Fringe Festival, so the tequila Frank tempts Jeremy with in Act One is the real deal.
As a composer of music, Gaffney is too.
What is certain is Gaffney has a talent for melody that will get better and better, and a drive
and ambition to match. This is her first go on the musical merry-go-round and I have a feeling it
won't be her last. This is only the beginning. I, for one, will be eagerly waiting to see what her
next endeavour might be.
Book, Music and Lyrics: Lauryn Gaffney
Red Curtain Review Continued
8. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 8
"Lauren Gaffney and the cast of 'Big Shot' were an absolute success for the San Di-
ego International Fringe Festival. It's amazing to see these talented artists taking
the initiative to fly all the way to our part of the world and tackle as much as they
did. It's wonderful to see how they're all note able to add international touring to
their resumes as they've premiered in the United States AND Mexico.
Upon their arrival they hustled their show busking on the streets and to their avail,
they ended their run with a full house that jumped to their feet for an overwhelm-
ingly monstrous standing ovation!!
They ALL were an absolutely delicious enhancement to the San Diego Fringe.
They've only been gone a few days and they're already so very missed."
Lauryn's vocal talent is off the charts, that's why I asked her to sing at the closing
ceremonies. Then, especially noteworthy for unexpected appearances were James
& Brian. They're so fucking fantastic as emcees. They're treasures. It would take us
forever to find guys like that via traditional auditions.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Kevin Charles Patterson
Actors Alliance, Chairman of the Board
9. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 9
Lauryn Gaffney is a 23-year-old Dubliner, who recently graduated with a B.A in Music and Human Develop-
ment from St Patrick’s College in Dublin (DCU).
Whilst pursuing this show, she is also currently working as a vocal trainer for both B'Music in Swords and
Atomic Stage School in Dublin City Centre.
In 2014 she received an 'Arts Bursary Award' , an 'Individual Contribution Award' and a Kodaly Scholarship
from DCU and St Pats.
The Malahide native began Musically Directing in 2011 with the sell out show "DCU Glee Live" in the Helix
theatre and has not stopped since. She musically directed 'Mamma Mia' in St Pats last April, and has musical-
ly directed all of her own productions. This year, Lauryn has been hired to work on DCU's musical, which will
also be the Irish premiere of 'American Idiot' in The Helix Theatre.
Lauryn began writing Big Shot in 2013, and continued developing it whilst living in Boston for four months.
When returning home, she decided to gather the best cast and musicians available. Lauryn held auditions in
both DCU and St Pats, only to find that UCD and Maynooth students were also keen to be part of the show.
After the success of the college productions, Lauryn decided to change some of her team, recast, workshop
and rewrite the show to push it to the next level. She decided to hold open auditions online, and through
word of mouth, the show gained interest from actors and actresses throughout the country. Auditionees
came from as far away as Wexford, Louth, Leitrim, Kerry and of course, Dublin.
With the success of several other productions, Lauryn decided it was time to apply for a prestigious fringe
festival. She believed that the United States would be a good challenge and experiment for the show. The
American Audience displayed a keen interest in the musical. The feedback from the San Diego audience was
extremely positive, and Big Shot even went on to win the 'Spirit of Fringe' award at festival’s closing cere-
mony.
Lauryn is currently writing songs for The Voice of Ireland. She is now planning on bringing the musical to a
wider audience, both in Ireland and internationally . The goal is to achieve a successful tour of the show,
workshop in Boston and perform in a place that the team all agree would ideal for the show; New York City.
Lauryn is truly grateful to all of her cast, band and team, who have worked tirelessly to get this show to
where it is.
About The Creator - Lauryn Gaffney
10. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 1 0
Company History
Dublin City University:
Sell out show in the theatre of its initial workshop.
(sits 250)
St Patrick's College Drumcondra:
Sold out full production in the theatre (sits 500)
Bewley's Cafè Theatre:
Grafton Street; sold out acoustic performance. Music
O'Reilly Theatre 2015
Two successful full scale production nights (Sits 500)
11. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 1 1
Company History Continued
The Sugar Club 2015
The Sugar Club: Sold out music performance. (Sits 250)
The Workman’s Club 2015
Cast and musicians sold out another musical performance.
The Helix Theatre 2015.
Asked to perform at the
DCU Leadership Awards
12. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 1 2
Company History Continued
Lyceum Theatre San Diego, California . 5 nights live production.
Spreckels Theatre and Tenth Avenue Arts Center– San Diego, California
Performed at all three press previews for festival
LA CAJA FUERTE Tijuana:
Opening the first ever bi-national fringe.
Winning 'The Spirit of Fringe'
award August 2015
13. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 1 3
Company History Continued
Liberty Hall Theatre—November 2015
Full scale production. Financial and critical success. Reviews and press above
Dublin January 2016
Recording tracks with Billy Farrell In DeadEye Productions
14. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 1 4
About The San Diego Fringe Festival
This summer, Big Shot represented Ireland in the San Diego International Fringe Fes-
tival. The festival had over 400 productions from all over the world. Big Shot had the
biggest cast and travelled the furthest distance to attend the festival. Due to this,
the festival organisers scheduled Big Shot’s cast to perform in 3 out of 3 press pre-
views and also selected two cast members to host a night of press previews. Follow-
ing the success of these previews, Big Shot took to the stage to perform 5 nights in
San Diego’s Lyceum Theatre. Big Shot received outstanding recognition and stand-
ing ovations during its 5 nights at the festival.
Out of 400 productions, Big Shot was awarded the prestigious ‘Spirit of The Fringe’
award. The Spirit of The Fringe Award is awarded to the show that shows determina-
tion, enthusiasm and commitment to promoting their work and the festival.
Festival organisers described Big Shot’s trip to San Diego as an ‘absolute success’
and with five incredibly successful nights in California and one night in Mexico, the
Irish cast were also part of World Theatre History by being part of the first ever Bi-
National Fringe Festival.
25. Story Of Big Shot
P A G E 2 5
What’s Next For Big Shot?
The opportunities for what is next for Big Shot are endless.
With an experienced, determined and talented team, Big Shot has
the ability to progress and develop very quickly. It has already
achieved international recognition and extremely positive reviews.
It is a new original musical that has achieved a lot in its early produc-
tions and has the ability to achieve a lot more. It has the capacity to
attain a run on Broadway, tour and gain a huge following, which shall
lead to record an incredible cast album and sell endless merchandise.
Who knows, it could even be adapted for screen?
There’s no doubt that Big Shot has the potential to become a huge
success!
