Storefront City Chicago

Big Fish The Musical

A big welcome to our first Sunday Guest Author, a Chicago playwright and director, who weighs in on the recent pre-Broadway world premiere of Big Fish The Musical. Our guest author is pleased to be joining us as a contributing author, providing a unique perspective from behind the curtain of the theatrical world.

WHAT: Big Fish The Musical
WHEN: April 02 – May 05, 2013 (schedule)
WHERE: The Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St.)
RUN TIME: 2 hours and 30 minutes with a 15 minute intermission
WHO: Broadway in Chicago
PRICE: $33-$100

GUEST RATING: Do it!

Growing up doing plays in grade school and theater camp, I was endowed with a deep appreciation for the Broadway musical. After five years of living in Chicago though, I’ve come to prefer the intimate to the spectacular and emotional honesty to razzle dazzle, which the Chicago storefront community ably provides. Nevertheless, when I saw the soon-to-be Broadway production of Big Fish at the Oriental Theatre, I couldn’t help but remember my childhood wonderment with everything Broadway.

If you’re thinking about seeing Big Fish, it’s important to understand that this show is geared towards New York. It’s designed to appeal to tourists and present large scale spectacle for mass consumption. There is nothing particularly adventurous about its storytelling or characters. However, in spite of this, Big Fish proves to be tremendously satisfying and echoes enough of what is good about the modern Broadway musical to make you forgive everything that is wrong with it.

(bigfishthemusical.com)

Big Fish is based on the 2003 Tim Burton film of the same name, which itself is derived from the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace. John August, Big Fish‘s screenwriter, wrote the book for the musical, using much of the same dialogue, while the music and lyrics are written by Andrew Lippa, best known for the musical version of The Addams Family. The story is set in Alabama and focuses on Will Bloom’s relationship with his father, Edward. Edward communicates with his son through tall tales about everything he’s done and accomplished during his life, featuring fantastical characters including a witch, a werewolf, a giant, and, of course, a big fish. When Edward is dying of cancer, Will must use the stories to understand the true story of his father’s life and legacy.

(Photo by Paul Kolnik)

I was very eager to see this production and ever since I saw the film, I knew it was strong musical material: a simple, emotional story with ample room theatrical magic. Spectacle is something that Big Fish gets absolutely right. It uses projections quite well, and the spectacle does more than just dazzle: it surprises. Surprise is really one of the great strengths of this piece, and director Susan Stroman‘s visual tricks are effective not because they are lavish or expensive but because they surprise the audience and move the story forward. Andrew Lippa’s score is strong for the most part. There are a few clunkers that don’t belong (hopefully they will be removed before the Broadway run) but also some incredibly successful pieces including like “Fight the Dragons,” “Closer to Her,” and “How it Ends.” The score is not a “hummable” one, and I’m not sure I’d listen to the cast album, but the songs that work serve the play well.

(Photo by Paul Kolnik)

For all the good songs, Big Fish still has a lot of problems, but it’s biggest overarching issue is that it just doesn’t trust its audience. This is perhaps a symptom of it being a commercial production. The creators are so afraid of our attention wandering that they refuse to take their foot off the gas and let the story unfold. They keep the pace frantic, the musical numbers big and plentiful, and moments of character development few and far between. The biggest improvements Big Fish could make before moving to New York involve spending more time with its individual characters in both dialogue and song. There is a wonderful moment where Edward’s wife Sandra (played by Kate Baldwin) sings about her husband, saying, “There’s magic in the man,” a beautiful turn of phrase that surely would work well as a song and a way into her character. However, rather than exploring Sandra Bloom, the song cuts back and forth between her singing and Edward’s encounter with a mermaid. This I think is very emblematic of what is wrong with the production, but it’s nothing some careful changes cannot fix.

(Photo by Brian Harkin)

Additionally, there seems to be a lack of clarity about the show’s protagonist. Make no mistake, Big Fish is Will Bloom’s story. He is the character who changes, who ends the play differently than where he began it. Edward has more stage time, which is fine, but the artistic team needs to find a way to highlight Will’s journey. Frankly, I think the Will role might need to be recast. Edward is played by two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, and he dominates the stage vocally and emotionally. The actor playing Will, Bobby Steggert, simply cannot match him and never makes a direct connection with the audience. Part of this is because Will is never really given his own musical number early on in the play, a huge miscalculation. What the show really needs is a strong enough actor in this part to be on equal footing with Butz. Yes, Norbert Leo Butz is the marquis name, but his character doesn’t help create a coherent story.

(bigfishthemusical.com)

Tickets for this show are expensive, though they do offer some great promotional offers. If you love musicals and are willing to see something as a work in progress, then this is an absolute must see. The show is only a few changes away from being a front-runner for next year’s Best Musical Tony Award, and it would be a shame for any musical fan to miss it while it is playing in Chicago.