#the version we did didnt have magic in the man or river between us but its ok

[nyancheetosmusical]

Things about Big Fish that make it so amazing

Full disclosure (what a miserable game BA DUM BA DUMP), some of these are based on our production of the show so it might not be universal. Some of these also have to do with the musical composition bc Andrew Lippa is like Orpheus incarnate sans all the sad stuff i think

-The show opens on the banks of the river and ends on the banks of the same river with a father and son

- EDWARD “Here’s to what’s next.” (EDWARD exits)

WILL “...What’s next.”

GUYS ITS LITERALLY IN THE OPENING SCENE OF THE SHOW AND IT OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE SHOW IN THE DIALOGUE UNTIL YOU FINALLY GET TO “WHAT’S NEXT” AT THE END

-Alabama Stomp is actually fun AF

-Young Will, responding to Be The Hero and the Alabama Stomp

YOUNG WILL “Dad, what the hell was that?”

-The argument after the wedding eventually escalates to:

EDWARD “Grow up, Will.”

WILL “I did! You weren’t there! You were never there! All I got from you was a bunch of crazy stories about how awesome you were dad, and, I’m sorry, that’s not the man I see!”

EDWARD “Well maybe you never bothered looking.”

and honestly at this point you don’t know who to be mad at- Edward for ruining his son’s wedding, or for Will treating a character the audience already loves with such harshness

- WITCH: “Soooooo-OOOOOOOO-” ear candy right there I love it

-The fact that Will learns he’s going to have a son at the exact same time Edward learns his cancer is terminal

- In Stranger:

“But after almost thirty years...” (music builds in a freakin awesome way)

“I still don’t know the man...” (music somehow keeps building)

“I wish I knew the maaaaaaaan-” (UGH WILL YOU’RE KILLIN ME HERE)

- Stranger establishes the pattern of Will being too late. He’s always too late. he sings about finally excited to repair his relationship with his dad through his son, when he learns that his dad won’t live long enough to see his son be born. Time is never Will’s friend in this story

-Okay it’s not on the OCR but the song before Out There on the Road is called Ashton’s Favorite Son, it’s maybe 45 seconds and it’s the entire town singing about how awesome Edward is and it’s honestly ridiculous and hilarious, he’s a great baseball player, football player, science intellect, student body president, and then Jenny gets a little number and it’s honestly so adorable and cheesy (also it’s where we’re introduced to Jenny’s theme)

-TIME STOPS. JUST ALL OF IT. PAY ATTENTION AND GET USED TO THE MAIN TUNE OF IT BECAUSE IT PLAYS ALL THROUGHOUT THE STORY DURING SANDRA’S AND EDWARDS INTERACTIONS AND IT HURTS MY HEART

- Also sad because one of the big themes of the show is the fact that time will always pass and there’s nothing you can do to stop it...but sometimes if you find the right person, they can help you stop time for at least a little (which you hear in the music, near the end, it builds and builds and then everything pauses for a split second)

- Edward trying to convince Mr. Calloway to tell him who Sandra is:

EDWARD “I’m gonna find that girl, and I’m gonna marry her, and spend the rest of my life with her!”

Because he knows how he goes...he’s gotta find her, then marry her, than live with her until he dies, which is far before when she goes

- EDWARD: “He told me you loved...daffodils...” I literally get chills every single time

- Daffodils begin to fall from the sky on “Let’s build a world of daffodils/that never fades and never dies/I see the answer in your eyes...” and continues to the end of the song

(blurred my castmates faces out of respect of privacy but dang look at how freaking cool it is)

-Edward tells the story that is Red White and True to Will’s Boy Scout troupe on a campout. He starts to tell the story, the tappers take the stage, then the lead performer of the USO show....

OVER-EXCITED SCOUT “Is that your mom?!”

YOUNG WILL “In my dad’s stories, the prettiest woman is ALWAYS my mom.”

-After Red, White, and True, Edward sends the scouts off to bed, but Will stays behind to talk

YOUNG WILL “When did all this happen?”

EDWARD “Well during the war!”

YOUNG WILL “But which war?”

EDWARD “I...you know, the war! Don’t they teach you anything in school these days?”

YOUNG WILL “That’s just it dad, they do teach us.” (YOUNG WILL storms off)

-In our version of Fight the Dragons, Young Will actually sings:

EDWARD “You’ll come to me and say...”

YOUNG WILL “...let’s fight the dragons/ and storm the castle/ ‘till we win what needs to be won...”

EDWARD “So when I’m old and tired/ you’ll do the job required./ You’ll be there/ telling stories to your son!”

EDWARD and YOUNG WILL “And we fight the dragons/ and we storm the castles”

EDWARD “And I do the best that I can!/ But everybody knows that’s how the story goes/ to turn each boy into a bigger man.../So I fight the dragons..../ ‘till...”

YOUNG WILL “I can...”             EDWARD “You can...”

-STRANGER REPRISE STRANGER REPRISE STRANGER REPRISE

-I can’t put it all but the pre-showdown dialogue is PHENOMENAL, Will is trying to talk to his dad about what actually happened in his life

WILL “Do you know anything about icebergs, dad?”

EDWARD “Icebergs...they were hauling one down to Texas for drinking water! Only they didn’t account for an elephant being inside...”

WILL “Dad...”

EDWARD “The wooly mammoth kind.”

WILL “DAD!”

EDWARD “What?”

WILL “I was trying to make a point.”

EDWARD “Well then, you shouldn’t have started with a question. People like answering questions [which this near exact conversation happens in reverse between young will and edward at the start of the show, showing you how similar they are]. If you wanted to make a point, you should’ve said, ‘the thing about icebergs is’-”

WILL “The thing about icebergs is, dad, you can only see this little part that’s sticking out above the surface. The rest of it is hidden below the water [motif of water again] where you can’t see it...and that’s how it is with you, Dad!”

-Will’s slide during Showdown (”toniiiii-iiiiiiiight”) is beautiful

-Just how happy and cheerful Showdown is...considering the main point is “there’s gonna be a hanging tonight” and trying to convict Edward

- I Don’t Need A Roof....but I do need a tissue...cause that song made me cry every night waiting backstage for my cue...it’s so powerful. It starts out as a lullaby but then the music swells and you can’t help but breathe in with it

-Edward writhing in pain during certain swells just sells it, and our Sandra has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard, the way she sings it is better than the OCR

- SANDRA “Hear what the rain says, [the flute sound indicating the rain is so perfect]/ know what it knows,/ after the rain something groooows/ I don’t need a roof to say I love you” that swell right there KILLS ME

-But what kills me even more in I Don’t Need A Roof is right after “I don’t need a roof to say I love you,/ I don’t need a roof to call you mine” BECAUSE THE TIME STOPS THEME PLAYS RIGHT THERE QUIETLY UNDER THE MUSIC AND OUCH MY HEART

- SANDRA “Stay with me.../stay with me....” and then she added in there, right at the conclusion of the music, a whispered “I love you”, her voice cracking because she’s crying

-Can you tell I have a lot of feelings about I Don’t Need A Roof

- Start Over doesn’t actually musically resolve like it does in the OCR. Will actually cuts it off before the music can conclude...

ASHTON TOWNSFOLK “Tomorrow begins-”

WILL “Wait! If that’s what you’re saying, then that’s the biggest thing my father has ever done”

And actually, most of the songs with Edward’s stories lack a conclusion. Showdown is another obvious example, but Closer to Her is another one I know off the top of my head, mostly because his story just isn’t finished yet. It’s only with How It Ends we get a genuine conclusion, because, well, that’s how it ends.

-WILLS LITTLE MONOLOGUE HE GIVES TO HIS DAD ALONE IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM RIGHT BEFORE WHATS NEXT HURTS ME SO MUCH

- Edward suddenly comes to a little and-

EDWARD “Will...tell me how it happens....”

WILL “How what happens?”

EDWARD “Tell me...how I go...”

WILL “Y-you mean what the witch showed you? D-dad, you never told me that part of the story-”

EDWARD “Will...”

WILL “Dad, I can’t do this! (EDWARD looks desperate. He can’t do this on his own.) O-okay, b-but you have to help me...how does it start?”

EDWARD “Like...this...” (gently gestures to the conductor of the pit. The music of What’s Next begins)

-Will’s story telling getting better and better as he makes the ending for his father

- Edward’s “I-I don’t know! Will, I don’t know!”

-Will remembers all of the characters in his dad’s stories, even the one he’s most cynical about...

WILL “Yes!/ Even the witch is there!”

-THE ENSEMBLE PART OF WHATS NEXT ADFASDADS

-What’s Next fades quietly out into silence...in the silence you can hear the heart monitor of the hospital beeping very quietly

- EDWARD “I know I wasn’t perfect/ I know my life was small/ I know that I pretended that I knew it all...” If i wasn’t already crying by this point I am

-How It Ends musically begins to fade away. We return to the hospital bed, with Will holding his father’s hand. He’s done it. He’s finished his story for him

WILL “And that’s how it happens...that’s how you go...” (heart monitor flatlines with the fade out of the music)

-Dropping daffodils in the pit during the funeral :(

-Right before Be The Hero Reprise:

WILL’S SON “Grandma grandma!”

SANDRA “What is it sweetheart?”

WILL’S SON “We just saw the biggest fish! It was at least as big as a car!”

WILL “Now Eddy, let’s stick to the facts...it was as least as big as a truck!”

HE NAMES HIS SON AFTER HIS FATHER DAAFADFAAFS

SORRY I LOVE THIS MUSICAL WITH ALL MY HEART AND I HOPE OTHER PEOPLE CAN COME TO APPRECIATE THE FREAKING MASTERPIECE THAT IT IS