Activity 4: Stage Time

In the musical production of “Big Fish” of the Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, the scene with the Western trial did not particularly stand out to me because although it was done well, it could be improved in several ways. This particular scene in the script caught my attention for it could be shown in an infinite amount of styles, and it would be interesting to see how our own school’s production would do it!

In my own imagination, here is how I’ve pictured it:

Sandra sits in the chair beside the bed, shuts her eyes. As Edward tries to sleep, the television comes to life.

[SFX: STATIC. BUZZING. (Sounds from a Western)]

(The beginning of a dementia dream.) The colour in the background changes to red, as the lights dim.

Cowboys and Western townsfolk emerge from the TV. The bedroom transforms into an Old West saloon.

The Western townsfolk is divided in two groups, one coming on from stage left, and the other coming on from stage right. In staggered lines, they move across downstage. They mingle shortly upon passing each other.

They then form a semicircle, opening up to the audience, Edward in the centre. He notices the commotion, and proceeds to say his line. (“Who are you people?! Get out of my room!”) Will appears downstage dressed as a Wild West sheriff. The music starts, and Will and Edward begin the song. The Western folk reacts to the song appropriately and with lots of energy.

After the first chorus ends(There’s gonna be a hangin’ tonight), a dance sequence (a pair of dancers or a small group) will materialize in the centre, Will on one side of it and Edward on the other, showing the two opposing sides. The Western folk cheer as they dance.

The second verse starts and upon reaching the line What comes next, the Western folk move around Edward and Will, gathering together on one side of the stage to form a jury (two rows of people, the front row kneeling or leaning down in order to avoid blocking the back row from the audience view). The judge will be further upstage at the centre, standing in a podium.

The song continues, Will and Edward throwing accusations at each other, until the judge makes his decision to that Edward is guilty. On “Take him away,” a couple of the Western townsfolk grab Edward and drag him to his bed, lifting him onto it as he gestures as if there is an imaginary noose around his neck.

As the song builds towards the end, the townsfolk gather around the hospital bed, regarding Edward with accusatory looks. On the last line of the song that is held, everyone turns to the audience as the finale, while Edward falls onto his bed in a resigned manner.. When the song ends, Will and the Western Characters exit. The lights get bright once more, and the colour in the background switches from red.

[SFX: THUNDER]

Edward screams, clutching his neck. He takes his hands away, surprised to find there’s no noose. Sandra wakes, panicked to see Edward in this state.

I believe that our school’s production could easily pull off this scene, for it doesn’t really need much props except for the bed and the podium, which definitely would fall under budget. This scene has great potential to impress the audience and stand out among all the other scenes because of the intensive choreography between Edward and Will, as well as various formations of the Western townsfolk. The movement around the stage would help decorate this scene. Overall, I feel that if this scene is pulled off on stage, it would be one of the greatest and most entertaining ones out of the entire musical!

Activities 1 & 2: Movie vs. Musical

As an audience of both the film and the musical version of “Big Fish,” I have loved both pieces, and though they’re very similar in various aspects, I’ve also realized the great difference between the two. Comparing the movie and the musical to one another, I feel that the musical has a greater emotional impact to the audience mainly because of using music and dance to narrate its tale, whereas the movie could only rely on words said to imply meaning  and tell the story. For example, Edward’s death in the movie was indeed very emotional and teardrop-worthy for most, the scene depending on the actors’ facial expressions to portray sadness and grief. However, in the musical, the song “How It Ends” really helped the audience relate and express their feelings a bit more. Moreover, I think that the shortness of the movie scene was also a factor as to why it was less effective,  that prolonging the picture in the musical through the song helped develop more of the audience’s emotions. Same goes for the happier or more romantic or more comical parts of the story, like the scene where Edward Bloom works for Amos Calloway in order to learn more about Sandra. In that scene, the circus enough gives off the whimsical vibe in both the film and the musical, but with the song “Closer to Her,” the musical surpasses the movie by adding to the wackiness and entertainment of the scene.

In the film, the scene that stood out to me the most was the part when Edward found the town of Spectre. This part of the movie really brought out the characteristics that we find in every Tim Burton film: the eeriness, the overwhelming fantasy, the too bright and too happy atmosphere, and that strange feeling you can never put a finger on. And I absolutely love every bit about it! Admittedly, I was very disappointed to discover that this particular part of the movie is not in the musical! On the other hand, in the particular musical version that I saw, the part that stood out to me above all the others was the Alabama Stomp! The dance was really done well by the Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, the steps were done by the students in almost a perfect sync, while the cast had loads of energy that made you want to join in on the dance! I hope that our school’s own production would be able to do just as well, if not better!

Although the movie and the musical are different in some aspects, they are also similar in many more, such as their moral lesson. I feel that because they narrate ultimately the same story, it just serves right that they would have the same message. As an audience, the moral lesson I took away after watching the movie and the musical was that you should never be afraid to live to the fullest and pursue your ambitions. Starting from his youth, Edward has shown his desire to outgrow his hometown Ashton by literally growing dramatically in size. He encounters an interesting fact about the goldfish, revealing that it grows more as its habitat increases in size. With that in mind, he decides to accomplish as much in life and dream as big as he could. Comes Karl the Giant, and Edward leaves Ashton to discover the world beyond his small town, diving into challenging and impossibly frightening adventures soon after. This showed me that I should never settle for something small and to pursue my dreams even if it seemed impossible at first, to not be afraid to take risks and take my own path, not following others, because the only thing that is stopping us from achieving high is ourselves. If we don’t limit ourselves to low ambitions, like a goldfish being confined to a smaller space, then it would give us more freedom and more courage to achieve higher.

With that said, the significance of the metaphor of “Big Fish” is Edward’s ambitions to be something bigger. He tells tall tales to his son Will because they represent the adventures and the dreams that Edward was not able to accomplish, but he wished he had done and he hoped Will would be able to do. Though his stories seemed impossible and illogical, they were merely a twisting of the truth. From the day he was born, he wanted his son to believe that he should not limit himself for he has the potential to be something big. Edward himself believed this, saying that on the day Will was born, he had caught a big fish; which really pertains to Edward being given the gift of a son, a son that would in the future achieve more than he had. He wanted Will to understand that Edward was merely a “big fish in a small pond,” a man with high ambitions in a small world, and through his tall tales, he leaves his legacy to his son.

I think that having a deeper level of understanding of the story really helped me appreciate not just my character, but all the characters of “Big Fish.” It gave me a connection to each of them that I would not have achieved with just one glance or one look at the movie or the musical. Particularly, portraying the mermaid, I have learned and understood that she opens Edward’s eyes to love by being his first kiss and ultimately leading him to his romantic tale. This helped me develop my character for learning more about my role gives me more to relate to. In this way, I would be able to consider or envision during each scene what the mermaid could be thinking in that particular moment and be able to give a more accurate representation of the role.

Having said that, I am very excited to finally start rehearsing the musical in order to further develop my appreciation of “Big Fish” and I hope to well portray my character as best as I can!