Molly GallagherAlix Claps 12/16/13Program Meeting

Absence Write Up

On Wednesday, November 20th I saw the musical Big Fish. I had never read the book or seen the movie so I had absolutely no expectations for the show, nor did I have any idea of what the story was besides Javi telling me he related to the son a lot. I arrived at the Neil Simon Theater after taking a tap class with Germaine Salsburg at The Broadway Dance Center. I was starving so as soon as I got inside I went to the concession stand in the mezzanine and bought a diet coke and a bag of trail mix, i went to my seat and as soon as I sat down I spilt my diet coke EVERYWHERE! The usher had to call maitnence but the lady at concessions gave me another diet coke for free :). I sat back down and right before the show started the ushers told everyone in the mezzanine that they could move up to the front because there were a lot of opened seats :(. I mean it was GREAT for me because I got a better view but it just sucks that people weren't going to the show. So the show began and the lights and projections and set were all amazing. The costumes were so cool, in the first song characters from all the stories told throughout the show were on stage and Norbert (Edward Bloom) began to tell his son Will his first story. In the space where the orchestra pit usually is, in front of the stage was a river and a mermaid appeared who was swimming in the river and Edward talked about the mermaid and how he gave her a kiss and that gave her legs. He also talked about doing the tenessee stomp to get fish to jump right out of the river. It is then revealed that the son, Will thinks his father is making all of these stories up. We are then transported forward in time to Will's wedding day, he still thinks he father has just been telling him make believe stories and nothing about his actual life. Edward then begins to tell another story about a witch he and his friends went to visit in the woods who was going to read them their future. She charged a fee and Edwards friends ran away. Edward stayed and she showed him how he died. During the witches song dancers were disguised in the trees on stage and it surprised me so much when they appeared. It was so cool and the witch was a fierce beltress, it was incredible. Then it is revealed that Will's wife is pregnant and Edward has cancer. Will then spends the rest of the show trying to figure out who his father really is. We are transported back in time through all of Edward's stories that Will is remembering. He saves his home town from a giant, he meets Will's mother at auditions for the circus and spends years trying to figure out who she is while working for the circus and then finds her at her college and confesses his love for her even though they have never spoken before. He brings her daffodils because the circus owner tells him it was her favorite flower. Act 1 ends and the stage is FILLED with daffodils. It was magical, I then went to the bathroom and took my seat for Act 2. Edward is progressively getting more and more sick and his son is still skeptical of all of his stories claiming he has no idea who his father is. Will finds a deed to a house that his father has cosigned with his ex-girlfriend. Will is convinced Edward has been cheating on his wife Sandra. There is this tap number that wasn't the most impressive but I believe that was because Edward is supposed to be the focal point of all of his stories especially in Will's perspective. During this tap number Edward is fighting this ninja spy, this was supposed to be taking place while Edward is in the war. Young Will makes a comment about how his mother, Edward's wife is always the most beautiful woman in the world in his father's stories. This made my already hopeful feelings that Edward was actually telling the truth in all of his stories and that he would NEVER be the type of man to cheat on his wife even stronger. There is then a musical number in which Edward and Will have a western showdown, this is hallucinated by Edward. People come OUT OF THE TELEVISION SCREEN in Edwards room. It was so cool! Will goes to the house of Edwards ex-girlfriend and she tells him the story of how Edward saved their whole town. Will realizes that his father is a true hero and entertains the fact that he could have been telling him his real life story this whole time. Will then receives a phone call from his mother telling him that his father is dying in the hospital. By this time I was hysterically crying, it was just so beautiful. Will gets to the hospital to find Edward unconscious. He begins to tell him he believes him and how he knows how he saved that whole town. Edward awakens and tells Will to finish his story! Will tells Edward that everyone he has ever known loves him and is here for him and then Edward dies. It was so beautiful I feel my description did not do that scene justice but every character who was on stage in the opening number appears around Edward and he says his goodbyes. I was balling my eyes out. Will realizes that his father just wanted him to follow his dreams and see the world and have confidence that he could be is own hero. We are then transported even further in time to Will with his son telling him the stories his father told him at the same age. It was probably the most amazing show I have seen, Edward reminded me of my own father and I'm going to force my family to see this show before it closes. IM SO MAD IT IS CLOSING, I also think that Sandra Bloom is a really good possibility for a character studyhmmmm, she is a red head.