Big Fish (musical)
| Big Fish | |
|---|---|
| Music | Andrew Lippa |
| Lyrics | Andrew Lippa |
| Book | John August |
| Basis |
John August's screenplay for the 2003 film Big Fish and Daniel Wallace's 1998 novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions |
| Productions | 2013 Chicago tryout 2013 Broadway 2016 Warrnambool |
Big Fish is a musical with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by John August. It is based on Daniel Wallace’s 1998 novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, and the 2003 film Big Fish written by August and directed by Tim Burton.
Big Fish revolves around the relationship between Edward Bloom, a travelling salesman, and his adult son Will, who looks for what is behind his father’s tall stories.
The story shifts between two timelines. In the present-day real world, sixty-year-old Edward Bloom faces his mortality while Will prepares to become a father himself. In the storybook past, Edward ages from a teenager, encountering a Witch, a Giant, a Mermaid, and the love of his life, Sandra. The stories meet as Will discovers the secret his father never revealed.
The story has drawn comparisons to The Odyssey, The Music Man and The Wizard of Oz.
The musical plot differs from the 2003 film in certain aspects. The mythical town of Spectre -- and Edward's quest to save it from destruction -- has been folded into Edward's home town of Ashton. In the musical, The Witch and Jenny Hill are two distinct characters. In the film, Jenny Hill and The Witch were aspects of the same character played by Helena Bonham Carter. The character of Norther Winslow, played by Steve Buscemi in the film, doesn't exist in the musical, nor do conjoined twins Ping and Jing.
The curtain rises in Alabama on Edward Bloom, who is skipping rocks on the river. His son, Will, who is about to get married, comes to ask Edward not to make a toast or tell any of his crazy stories at the wedding. Edward cannot understand why Will feels this way, but assures that he will oblige. Entering a flashback to when Will was a child, Edward tells him a story. Edward is walking down the river when he meets a man trying to catch fish to no avail. So Edward teaches him that the proper way to catch fish is by doing the "Alabama Stomp," saying "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man the Alabama Stomp, you feed his soul!" The entire company joins in with them and they are able to catch many, many fish. At the very end of the song, a giant fish jumps out of the water into the fisherman's arms ("Be the Hero"). When he finishes his story, Edward's wife Sandra tells them it's time for Will to go to bed. Edward refuses behind her back and tells Will another story of a witch that Edward met as a teenager, who showed Edward and his high school enemy, Don Price, how they would die ("The Witch").
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