Big Fish: World Premiere

I didn't love this movie, but also hadn't seen it in so long that I forgot why. Luckily, the movie was on TV the other day, so it gave me a chance to remember the cause for my distaste. It wasn't that the movie was so bad; a cast comprised of Ewan McGregor, Alison Lohman, Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, & Albert Finney with direction by Tim Burton couldn't really be that bad. It’s that Daniel Wallace’s short story was not a great cinematic fit; luckily this short story was created for a musical theatre adaptation; the artistry, interpretation, & performance quality of this production not only exceeded my expectations, but set a new Broadway bar in my book. The grandiose story-telling & picture-painting in this musical is reason why the musical exists: sometimes there are moments & emotions so substantial that nothing short of a song preformed in a setting of suspended reality will suffice to communicate them. 

10 REASONS WHY BIG FISH RULED: 

• PRE-BROADWAY WORLD PREMIERE: It is a rare & awesome opportunity to see a pre-Broadway tour that everyone should take advantage of whenever possible. 
• REMINISCENCE OF CLASSIC MUSICALS: Musicals are not islands. A Great American Musical cannot exist without influence from an authentic theme & its’ predecessor musicals. Big Fish’s most notable musical influences derived from: the schmoozy traveling salesman dynamic + all-American, Pleasantville set from The Music Man; Side Show’s freak-show/circus dynamic; Whistle Down the Wind’s sad,  Southern, & hopeful sound; & the contemporary sound/energy of Spring Awakening. 
• WATERLAND by GRAHAM SWIFT: Waterland is one of my favorite novels of all time. The basic premise is that, just as our bodies are 90% water & 10% mass, our beings are 90% past & 10% present. Will Bloom [Edward's son] presented a similar metaphor: 10% of an iceberg shows over the ocean while 90% still swims under the sea. It is strange how the imagery surrounding swamps, cycles, & water consistently serves to force us to re-visit our pasts & picture our futures, but it is an effective & dynamic image that was utilized impeccably in this production. This water/reality is a interesting theory in which I have always found truth & I was excited to find one of my universal truths present in this bright, new musical. Go read this book after you see the show!

• SUSAN STROMAN: Ms. Stroman is an all-star who has won 5 Tony Awards for direction & choreography, most notably nabbing a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards for a little show called The Producers (which also made its’ pre-Broadway debut in Chicago). But, more importantly, she & I share Wilmington, DE as our home-town. Thank you for representing women in theatre from the greatest little city in the world, Ms. Stroman! [if you are reading this, Ms. Stroman, let’s go get some meatball sandwiches from Wawa, Italian ice from Rita’s, or a Bobbie from Capriotti’s…anytime, my treat.]
• CHOREOGRAPHER/DIRECTOR DYNAMIC: Playwrights frequently turn director, but the case is not so frequent for choreographers turned director. Personally, I think that choreographers make excellent directors: they make their staging choices are more inventive, exotic, excellent, & (above all) GRACEFUL. That grace was especially necessary for a show with such extensive sets.
• THE SETS: Seriously, there were 30 sets & they weren’t cop-out sets that incorporated slight changes to differentiate…they were fulfilling, imaginative, differing sets that used every inch of stage space & every application of creative & contemporary innovations. We were taken to the inside the belly of a giant fish, a daffodils field, a circus ring, split-set hospital rooms, a witch’s woods, scooping elephant’s poop behind the circus curtain, the list goes on & on & on...

• KATE BALDWIN as Sandra Bloom: In the film, the role was shared by Alison Lohman & Jessica Lange, but Ms. Baldwin played the role in it’s entirety in the musical adaptation. She is a truly stunning woman & almost reminded of me a young Glenn Close [I’d also like to see her play Mother in Ragtime]. She belted beautifully & performed with an ageless grace that lit up the stage every time she appeared. 
• NORBERT LEO BUTZ as Edward Bloom: In the movie, Albert Finney played old Edward & Ewan McGregor played young Edward; in the musical, Butz played the role alone in its’ entirety. Butz made his Broadway debut in the original cast of Rent & grew into something of Broadway royalty. He has won 2 Tony Awards [Catch Me if You Can & Dirty Rotten Scoundrels] & originated the role Fiyero in Wicked. Edward Bloom is an extremely demanding role that only a seasoned actor like Butz could conquer & conquer it he did. His singing was strong, his acting was poignant, his storytelling was engaging, & his performance was overall impeccable. I predict Mr. Butz will be adding a trophy to his collection this year. 

• ANDREW LIPPA: Mr. Lippa won me over with his score for The Wild Party & re-affirmed by love with The Addams Family (another pre-Broadway Chicago opening).  His musicals tend to have an upbeat, almost jazzy, borderline rocker vibe that always remain true to classic musical theatre sound. 
• THE FATHER DYNAMIC: Tim Burton's [movie director] father died from a heart attack,which was a motivating force in his choice to make this film. Andrew Lippa [music/lyrics], & John August [book] both lost their fathers to cancer. So did I; as the child of a cancer-killed father, it was difficult to sit through the final minutes of this production, but I have to applaud their authentic interpretation of this intense, insane, & indescribable personal hell. It was difficult, shocking, & beautiful musical finale, but don’t the adjectives difficult, shocking & beautiful describe every quality musical you've ever seen?

Both John August & I lost our fathers to cancer a few years apart. So when we wrote the final scene of the play we withheld that scene from ourselves & let the desire to write that scene build up over a very long period of time. One day, we were in a hotel room, I cannot even recall where because we used to meet all over the country & work on the show. We sat in the room & John said, “This is what I want you to do, I want you to talk about your relationship with your father, things that made you sad & things you wish you had done or said.” We both started talking about our fathers & burst out crying & became incredibly emotional, and then he looked at me & said, “Okay, go write the song right now.” And I did, right there with John in the room. He was working on the scene & I was working on the song, it’s called ‘How It Ends.’ It speaks to a truth about how we feel about our own lives & how we feel about our fathers.

New City 4.4.13 Dennis Polkow