at him. Misreading her intentions, Josh innocently tries to find something they can do together, and finally turns on a toy planetarium that fills the room with stars. Beguiled, Susan finds herself spending the night at Josh’s - angelicly in separate bunks. At a company party, Paul learns of Susan’s night with Josh and picks a fight with him. Susan comforts Josh and once again, his innocence wins her heart. MacMillian challenges his executives to come up with a new Christmas toy, and demands of them they find a way to relate to their children. Josh suggests dancing. He gets everyone to do a line dance, during which Susan gives him a kiss unlike any he had ever received as a boy from his mother. When Billy arrives with the list of carnivals which has finally arrived, Josh chooses to go off with Susan. The adult world is beginning to attract him. Act II In a suburban mall, Billy, angry at being jilted by Josh, seeks the company of other kids. He meets Josh’s mother: today is Josh’s birthday and the party would have been at the mall. Billy reassures her that Josh is coming home, which only makes Mrs. Baskin more aware of how fast Billy, and all the children have grown up. The mall turns surreal, and becomes the scene of the birthday Josh is missing. Josh wakes up in Susan’s office. They have been up all night trying, unsuccessfully, to invent a toy. They try thinking as children instead of adults - Susan can’t remember how she felt as a 13-year-old, but under Josh’s prodding the memory returns. The moment fills with emotion, Susan moves to Josh. The scene freezes. Young Josh appears to sing a duet with Big Josh about his inner feelings. The next morning, Josh bowls into the office as a new man. His secretary, Miss Watson, is overwhelmedr. Not only does Josh feel like an actual grown-up, but during the night, he has thought up a Christmas toy. The executives help him develop it for MacMillan. Billy returns with the list of carnivals, having located the Zoltar machine. Josh is, however, full of himself and does not want to return to his former size. Billy accuses Josh of betraying himself, but at that moment Susan appears and kisses Josh. Billy finally understands why he has been dismissed, and leaves. Susan invites Josh to a dinner party with her friends, and Josh excitedly exclaims that he is going to a real “grown-up dinner party with Susan’s grown-up friends”. The party is a disaster. Josh humiliates himself and realises how far he is from being an adult. Susan takes this moment to tell Josh her true feelings for him, feelings that Josh is too young to return. Josh tells Susan the truth: that he is really a 13-year-old boy. Susan, seeing only a grown man, assumes this is some kind of elaborate brush-off. It breaks her heart to have been wrong about another man. For the first time, Josh understands that being a grown-up is more than just being big. It is being responsible - in this case, for someone who you care for and who cares for you in return. Josh realises that everything you say and do carries a certain weight that a kid can’t imagine when you’re a grown up. He returns to his neighborhood, and watches boys and go through the first nervous motions of pairing-off events appropriate to being thirteen. Josh finds Billy and tells him he wants to go home. Billy has found a Zoltar in a warehouse filled with discarded remnants of amusement parks. Josh asks Susan to meet him there. Before he can make his wish and leave the grown up world for the time being, he must say goodbye, to make sure Susan understands. Arriving, Susan finally accepts the magic of what has happened to Josh. She tells Josh how he changed her life and, understanding that it’s the only way. She tells Josh to make his wish. As he does, Mrs. Baskin enters with Billy. Josh returns to being small, and as he and his mother embrace, the curtain closes with Billy examining the Zoltar machine. CAST: 9 men, 5 women, 2 boys, 1 girl • Josh Baskin • Susan • Billy • Cynthia Benson • Mrs. Baskin • Mr. Baskin • Young Josh • MacMillan • Paul
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