Big Fish

It was with some trepidation that I went to see this latest offering from BOS Musical Theatre Group. I am a huge fan of Tim Burton and, way back in 2003, his Big Fish movie (based on the novel by Daniel Wallace) became a firm favourite of mine. It is a beautifully cinematic film, and I wasn’t sure how that would transfer to the stage, particularly with added songs. I needn’t have worried. I absolutely loved the musical and was listening to the soundtrack in the car on the way home.

Big Fish revolves around the relationship between a retired travelling salesman called Edward Bloom, and his adult son, Will, and moves between two timelines. In the present day ‘real-world’, Edward Bloom faces a cancer diagnosis while his son Will prepares to become a father for the first time. In Edward’s ‘fairy-tale’ past, he ages from a teenager, goes on adventures and discovers a world of magical characters.

In this timeline, Edward Bloom was played to perfection by George Tompkins who lit up the stage every time he entered. It was a joyful performance, full of energy and nuance, his acting was natural and effortless. His ‘deep South’ accent was spot on and the country twang in his excellent singing voice was ideally suited to his songs. He was a delight to watch and even managed to capture some of the mannerisms of the actor playing the older version of himself, Matthew Brown.

Matt is an asset to any cast, and always delivers a solid performance. He had some heart-warming, and heart-wrenching, scenes and played the emotion with skill. His singing voice is powerful, and he really can lift the roof when he wants to. In fact, on occasions, the sound operator needed to be more responsive to this as it was a little too loud.

Another asset to any show is Rob Callaby who has great stage presence and is evidently a passionate performer. He played the older version of Edward’s son, Will. It’s a tricky role, full of angst and bitterness, which did occasionally tip Rob’s performance into melodrama. I would have liked to have seen a little more ‘light and shade’ to the performance but maybe the character didn’t allow for that. However, there is no denying, that Rob has a beautiful voice, and his songs were fabulous to listen to. He also had a good chemistry with his onstage wife, Josephine.

This character was played with real warmth and tenderness by Zoe Trigg. It was an unremarkable role in the fact that she is on the peripheries of the plot, a character looking in at the stories and the unfolding drama, a role that could have easily been lost or forgotten. However, Zoe ensured that didn’t happen and her unstated naturalism was a genuine pleasure to watch.

Completing the family was Sandra Bloom, wife to Edward, mother of Will. Lucy Potter played the older version of this character, and she should be congratulated on a moving and well-crafted performance. The audience see the character in her thirties and then in her sixties, and Lucy shifted between these embodiments with great skill, subtly changing her body language and demeanour to capture the age difference. I really enjoyed watching her act and her singing voice was enchanting.

As was the voice of Abbi Vinters who played the younger version of the character. Abbi gave another great performance as the charming, playful and strong, Sandra Templeton. She complemented George’s performance perfectly and their duets together were showstoppers.

Outside of the family dynamic, there were many other delightful characters littered throughout Edward Bloom’s fantastical stories. The Witch was played by Anya Bryant, whose stunning voice was showcased in the number ‘I Know What You Want’. Comic relief was provided by Todd Vizard-Jones and Josh Harwood as Don and Zacky Price, a really amusing double-act to watch and both brought an undeniable energy to the stage. Karl the giant was portrayed by Ben Green who demonstrated some impressive stilt work and equally impressive character acting. More wonderful character acting came from Rob Bingham, clearly having great fun as Amos the lycanthropic circus ringmaster and delivered his lines with a rasping huskiness reminiscent of Danny Devito. BOS stalwart, Stuart Bull, was warm and sincere as Doctor Bennett. Poppy Sinnott sparkled as the mermaid and was very believable as the love-struck younger Jenny Hill, and there was a lovely cameo from Andrea Townshend as the older version of Jenny. In an exquisitely played scene, Andrea encapsulated the agony of living with unrequited love for years, just with the pain in her eyes and sorrow in her voice. A special mention to Jack and Ethan Allen-Evans who both gave fabulous performances and held their own alongside the adult performers.

I would like to praise the director, Jenny Cartwright, for her excellent direction, drawing out such fantastic acting from her cast, and to Adrian Reed as the musical director for bringing out the best in their strong singing voices. Completing this dream team is Clare Allen-Evans, the choreographer. Her routines were phenomenal, sharp and imaginative, and she was evidently playing to the strengths of her cast. The ensemble numbers were very strong and the whole cast were given an opportunity to shine. The ‘Alabama Stomp’ was inspired, and it was super to see a full-on tap routine which was cleverly merged with a comedy fight scene. I loved the use of the huge ‘wings’ in various scenes, the effect of the lighting on these was magical.

The lighting was highly effective and impactful, serving to enrich the scenes rather than distract. The sound was impressive, however, as I’ve mentioned before, there were times when the radio mics needed more balance in response to the power in certain singers’ voices.

Scene changes were slick and unintrusive, well done to Kip Barrs, Dan Poulson and their backstage team for seamlessly moving the story forward, and for holding together what was a very technical show. The set downstage was beautifully designed by Christian Slingsby, I thought the river was particularly well done. I wonder whether the upstage scenery needed more development, sometimes the ’black box’ didn’t reflect the colour and vibrancy of the rich storytelling. The ‘Daffodils’ ending to Act One was glorious and represented the storybook feel I would like to have seen more of. For me, the star cloth was overused and therefore lost its impact. I really enjoyed the multi-media feel to the production and would like to see this explored a little further in future productions.

Congratulations to Rachael Hockmeyer for providing a seemingly endless wardrobe for the cast, an unenviable task. The costumes were vivid and colourful and fitted well. I wonder whether the use of costumes to aid the storytelling might have enhanced the show further. I felt the ‘past’ costumes needed a stronger impression of one particular era. For example, in the town of Ashton or in the circus, there was a definite fifties feel to some of the costumes but then there was more modern suits or seventies style outfits.

Big Fish the musical is a show about family, friendship, hope, dreams and imagination and, in a world that desperately needs a little more of all of these, BOS should be hugely proud of themselves for celebrating them with such skill, talent and love. A fitting tribute to Mark Parkin who the show was dedicated to.

Jenny, Clare, Adrian, Christian and their whole team set out to bring awe, wonder and magic to the stage, and they very definitely succeeded. Well done and thank you.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.