HOUSTON REVIEWS
Texas Triangle Magazine (April 11, 2003)
The Big Voice: God or Merman? is the wittiest piece of inspiration you’re ever likely to see or hear. Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu present the first and only autobiographical musical featuring the playwrights and partners themselves. Their repartee is captivating, Their music is scintillating - a pastiche of folk-rock-hymn and high musical theater melody. The lyrics are sophisticated and sassy without being pretentious. Their playing together is magical for its skill as well as the genuine love it radiates. This is “reality theater,” folks - a love story which is unbearably funny and painfully lovely. It spares no nerve in revealing the strains and tensions of gay life and marriage, but it is lavish in celebrating its joys. I’d see it soon if I were you. This is one show you would not want to lament over never having seen when you are old and counting the highlights of your life.Houston Chronicle (April 7, 2003)
The Big Voice: God or Merman? is simplicity itself. The two-man, autobiographical musical consists of just writers/performers Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu, their stories and songs, a keyboard and stool, a table and chair. Yet, this little show is one of those cases in which minimalism works. The stories and songs come from the heart -- and reach the heart, too. Brochu is a natural raconteur -- flamboyant, theatrical and unabashedly hammy, while Schalchlin’s music shows the influence of folkish, soft-pop songwriters such as James Taylor and Carole King. The Big Voice speaks in its own voice, authentic and sincere. That's the main reason this little show carries a big punch.Houston Press (April 9, 2003)
Sardi's Restaurant, Pope Pius XII and a Baptist salvation "circus" from Arkansas are all part of the eclectic equation of Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu's oddly tender The Big Voice: God or Merman? There is no logical reason why the unabashedly intimate autobiographical musical should work as well as it does - but it does. Schalchlin's music rolls along with pop tunefulness and lyrics that are often laugh-out-loud funny. And Brochu's book with jokes about love, religion and showbiz glow with a generous spirit. In the end, it's the sweet, almost heartbreaking honesty of the performer-writers that makes this night of theater irresistible.
Houston Voice (April 11, 2003)
The question asked and then answered by both Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu in "The Big Voice: God or Merman?" is: Where does someone find direction in life? Throughout their separate and combined journeys on stage, the two talented performers share with the audience their travels on the road to understanding their place and God's role in the world. Their tale of discovery, with its subtle humor and tested compassion, includes times when the public's hate for homosexuality is not understood. The question of where God is during those times remains an underlying concern. If you are in the mood, then, to hear personal testimony of the power of theater to change lives, go see The Big Voice: God or Merman? By way of Jim Brochu's and Steve Schalchlin's humor and catchy tunes, you will leave with a lighter heart and a little more "religion." Yes, theatre can be divine!