Big Fish - 2013 Broadway History , Info & More
Neil Simon Theatre (Broadway)
250 W. 52nd St. New York, NY 10019
BIG FISH is a new Broadway musical featuring direction and choreography by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, The Scottsboro Boys), music and lyrics by Tony nominee Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family, The Wild Party) and a new book by esteemed screenwriter John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can), Tony nominee Kate Baldwin (Giant, Finian's Rainbow) and Tony nominee Bobby Steggert (Giant, Ragtime) lead the cast of amazing characters.
Based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed Columbia Pictures film directed by Tim Burton, BIG FISH centers on Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest... and then some! Edward's incredible, larger-than-life stories thrill everyone around him--most of all, his devoted wife Sandra. But their son Will, about to have a child of his own, is determined to find the truth behind his father's epic tales.
Overflowing with heart, humor and spectacular stagecraft, BIG FISH is an extraordinary new Broadway musical that reminds us why we love going to the theatre--for an experience that's richer, funnier and BIGGER than life itself.
Big Fish - 2013 - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Big Fish
Broadway Review: ‘Big Fish’
7 / 10
Resisting the usual Broadway tendency toward over-production, this show is perfectly scaled to the modest level of Edward's boyish daydreams. Invention, not excess, seems to be the dominant house rule, from the tight choreography, which is quick and clever and never over the top, to the primary-color projections by Benjamin Pearcy that make a comic-book universe of Julian Crouch's sets. William Ivey Long captures the playful vibe with ingenious costumes that move in unexpected ways (like the fishtail of a mermaid's silvery costume) and contribute their own magic to the storytelling (like the witches that materialize from the trees in a forest). The main thing missing from this show - and might have taken the edge off its unlikable hero and unpalatable message - is the mystical sensibility that flavors Southern storytelling. Although supposedly set in Alabama, there's not a hint here, musical or otherwise, of the traditional magic found in regional folktales. The kind of magic that might transform a selfish character like Edward Bloom into the hero of his own dreams.
A Dad’s Tall Tales and a Down-to-Earth Son
6 / 10
For a show that celebrates tall tales, 'Big Fish' feels curiously stunted. Granted, this movie-inspired musical about a whopper-spinning traveling salesman, which opened on Sunday night at the Neil Simon Theater, is certainly big by most conventional measurements...'Big Fish' fails to forge the crucial connection between its characters and their fantasies. Featuring songs by Andrew Lippa and a book by John August, this musical is about one of those impossible, wonderful, embarrassing fathers whose ghosts have done so much to keep psychiatrists in business...[Susan Stroman] seems to be drawing almost randomly from her bottomless bag of tricks. Yes, her use of dancers to embody an enchanted forest and a campfire is delightful. And it's hard not to chuckle when those two-stepping elephants make a cameo appearance. But if the show is all about the need for personal myths, it has to let its leading mythmaker take charge...Not once did I feel that what I was seeing had been spawned by the teeming mind of Edward Bloom. The show's de facto theme song may advocate 'be the hero' of your own life, but somehow 'Big Fish' turns everyone into a local-color extra.
Category
Big Fish History
Other Productions of Big Fish
| 2013 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2017 | London |
London Premiere London |
| 2017 | West End |
The Other Palace Revival West End |
Big Fish - 2013 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Bobby Steggert |
| 2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Andrew Lippa |
| 2014 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Larry Hochman |
Videos

