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Big Fish (musical)

Big Fish is a musical with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and 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 John August and directed by Tim Burton.

This article is about the Broadway musical. For other uses, see Big Fish.

Big Fish

Andrew Lippa

Andrew Lippa

John August

2013 Chicago tryout
2013 Broadway
2017 West End

Big Fish revolves around the relationship between Edward Bloom, a travelling salesman, and his adult son Will. The story shifts between two timelines. In the present-day real world, sixty-year-old Edward Bloom faces his mortality while his son, 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.[1]

Big Fish opened in an out-of-town tryout at 's Oriental Theatre, running from April 2 to May 5, 2013, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.[2] The cast featured Norbert Leo Butz as Edward Bloom, Kate Baldwin as Sandra Bloom, Bobby Steggert as Will Bloom, Krystal Joy Brown as Josephine, Brad Oscar as Amos Calloway, and Ryan Andes as Karl, with scenic design by Julian Crouch, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting by Donald Holder, music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, and orchestrations by Larry Hochman.[3] The musical was produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen in association with Stage Entertainment.[4]

Chicago

"This River Between Us" – Edward Bloom and Will Bloom (in the "Showdown Sequence")

"Magic in the Man" – Sandra Bloom (instead of "Two Men In My Life")

Sources: PlaybillVault;[1] Internet Broadway database[18]


Cut Songs


Two bonus tracks were added on the cast recording. These songs were initially in the show, but were later cut for various reasons.[19]

Instrumentation[edit]

Big Fish was orchestrated by Larry Hochman, with additional orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, for a fourteen-piece orchestra. The instrumentation calls for two keyboards, two guitars, bass/bass guitar, drums, percussion, two woodwind players (Reed 1: piccolo, flute, alto flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax; Reed 2: flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax, bassoon), trumpet, French horn, violin, viola, and cello. This orchestration was used on Broadway, conducted by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and will be licensed with the show. Additional string players were added for the cast recording.[22]

at the Internet Broadway Database

Big Fish

Big Fish at Theatrical Rights Worldwide's website