Musical Time
After watching “Big Fish the Musical”, I learned a few things. From watching the musical, and seeing how things were supposed to fall in place, I realized and comprehended, not only the beauty of the story, but the depth and seriousness of it all; which was something I was able to pick up on during our first reading of the script. Another thing I learned; which was a personal connection; was why my mom acts the so childish and silly. She, like Edward Bloom, has a positive, though sometimes ridiculous, attitude towards life and the people around her. Edward would try to make any and every moment memorable and worthwhile, as he used outrageous stories to make his son, Will, smile. My mom does the same, though she chooses to act like an outrageous goof, rather than tell a few, wild stories. After I grasped the story of “Big Fish”, and started to notice the detail, I realized that Edward Bloom, and my mom, both have the right idea; they both tackle the world with the proper attitudes, even if they can be a bit much. If anything, watching this musical has helped me to better understand my mom, which, at some times, can be easier said than done.
Continuing with the idea of my mom being the female Edward Bloom, in mind, scenes that stood out to me in the musical, were many of the scenes in which Edward and Will are alone on stage. Whether it’s Will warning his father to behave himself, or the two of them arguing about something that one of them understands, watching those scenes, for me, is like watching clips from my own life. The truth is, Will and Edward’s relationship in this play, is so much like the one between my mom and I. She, as Edward, is very laid back, silly, and sometimes very ridiculous; I, as Will, am very serious and logical, and I’ll be darned if there has ever been a time when I haven’t told my mom to behave herself. Just like Will and Edward, we don’t always understand each other, and we do argue, but we also care about, and love one another, so very much. So while, not all these father-son scenes are happy and friendly, they still express the relationship between two relatives.
The moral lesson that we get from this musical, is to live life with the right attitude. Instead of looking at the negative side of things, and being way too serious all the time; like myself and Will; be like Edward Bloom, who tries to find the positive in everything, and steps up when there’s a problem, or being comical at every chance, and looking for loopholes to every rule. There’s a time and place for every personality trait, but Big Fish teaches us that in order to find happiness in life, we sometimes, need to let go of all the emotions, and problems that hold us back, even if its only for a second. Live freely, and not controlled.
“Big Fish in a little pond” is a classic metaphor that we often use to describe someone who is meant for things that are bigger than what’s currently in front of them. However, what’s considered as “bigger things”, are determined by own definition of the phrase. What some people call big, others might call small, but all depends on where you stand. That is what makes this metaphor so significant; because it means something different for everyone; because everyone is their own person, who stands in their own spot.
In any sort of production, every role, no matter how small, or seemingly pointless, is important. In the “Big Fish”, our chorus members portray different attitudes and characters throughout the musical. While these roles don’t tend to have many lines, they still help set the tone of the scene or song. The ensemble jumps back and forth, between the characters that they side with; the townsfolk of Ashton praised Edward Bloom while he was there, and when he came back, Don Price was the person who was on top. Or the western folk that bounce between Will and Edward in their argument, in Edward’s dream. Basically, what I’m saying, is that, by understanding how the minor roles help or harm, or understand or ignore, some of the more major characters, I have a better understanding of how my part fits into this musical. As a cheerleader, I support Edward; as a circus person, I sort of understand the toil he deals with while working for Amos. Even as a cowgirl, or just a random Ashton citizen, I’m taking sides; Edward, Will, or whomever. The story of “Big Fish” depends on both major and minor characters, in order to keep it moving, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a story at all.
Singing Time
When I listened to the score while following along with my music, I found that I could hear the harmonies in the individual songs better, probably because I knew that they were there. It also helped me to identify the differences and similarities in each song. For example, when I first heard “Stranger” and “Time Stops”, I felt that the two songs sounded incredibly similar; almost the same song; however, upon hearing them again, with my music, I heard the difference in the two songs, and realized that the real similarity in these songs were, like with almost every song in the musical, was the rhythm, and how much repetition we see in the music throughout the entire musical. Actually, after hearing both “Stranger” and “Time Stops”, and discovering that they were more different than I had thought, I found that “Stranger” was a song that I really enjoyed. As opposed to when I didn’t notice a difference and didn’t like the song, all that much. However, that is no longer the case; and by listening to the songs, and following along with my music, I now know that there isn’t as much repetition in the music as I had originally, once thought.
“Start Over” was one of the songs that I especially liked; I just found it upbeat and hopeful; just a positive song in general. I picture this number with everyone feeling like they’ve lost hope, and when Edward starts talking/singing, we’re all just a little confused; whether its his plan in general, or how it could possibly work, as would probably be the case for a character like Don Price. I can picture Edward going to his friends, Karl and Amos, for help and them being only too happy to help him, which leads to Edward’s excitement increasing and affecting the townsfolk in Ashton. One minute, Edward is kind of on his own; with everyone having given up; then the next minute, practically everyone is on board with the idea of moving the town. It just turns into this big, cheerful, sing-along, with everyone jumping, and dancing around; like a field trip I went on in middle school, minus the dancing and jumping.
As I have obviously mentioned already, “Start Over” is performed by Edward Bloom and, later on in the song, by the townsfolk of Ashton. In this song, Edward is trying to convince the townspeople to move the town elsewhere when the government plans to flood the valley in which the town lies. No one really believes that Edward’s idea is a viable solution, until he presents the people of Ashton with a new location, and funds to rebuild the town there. Thanks to Edward’s optimism and imagination, the townsfolk of Ashton were able to save themselves and, (pardon me), “Start Over”.
When it comes to something like choir or musical theatre, I generally like all the songs we perform, and “Big Fish” is no difference. Even if I don’t like a certain song at first, after a while, it will grow on me and I will end up enjoying that song. That being said, the one song that is my least preferred, I’m not to suggest any changes to make it better because, not only do I not have any ideas, but I also know that I will learn to like this song, in due time. The song I don’t really care for at the moment, is “Alabama Lamb”, only because I find a kind of silly that I don’t always find amusing. I realize that was a confusing statement, however, I’m merely saying that some days, I will be amused by the, somewhat, immature nature of the song; other days, I will not. However, despite the fact that I am not the biggest fan of “Alabama Lamb”, I don’t think that the song should be changed in any way; I feel that the audience will enjoy this song, I just have mixed feelings about it. I mean, how isn’t this song engaging?
“Alabama Lamb” is sung by Sandra and her two friends; this is their introduction in the story of how Will’s parents initially met. Sandra is trying to get an act in Amos Calloway’s circus; coincidentally, the same place Edward and his friend, Karl, arrive at, after leaving Ashton. Sandra feels that she’s meant to be in the circus and believes that her song, “Alabama Lamb”, is just the thing to get her what she wants. The song, while coming of as a little dirty, is generally about being a coy, young lady from Alabama. Or at least, that’s what I take away from it; I don’t really want to read too much into the lyrics; its just an odd, indescribable feeling I have. That, and I can also be rather paranoid at times, for no reason at all. Anyway, “Alabama Lamb” is like an introduction, or rather, a transition into the next song, “Time Stops”, which is all about love at first sight. I find the switch from something silly like, “Alabama Lamb”, to “Time Stops”, to be an interesting change in pace and mood, in this musical.
