Big Fish Downsized by SpeakEasy Company Rises to the Challenge

Photo: Craig Bailey, Perspective Photo. Aimee Doherty and Steven Goldstein.

Big Fish now playing at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion is the third dramatized version of Daniel Wallace’s magical realist novel, all adapted by John August over many years. As a movie, directed by Tim Burton, its whimsy appealed to a certain audience base. August, a playwright as well as a script writer, decided it had the makings of a musical and teamed up with composer Andrew Lippa. Ten years later, Big Fish opened on Broadway to mixed reviews. Critics found it lavish, opulent and, in some cases, overdone. Despite its fans, the production closed within a few months.

August and Lippa’s belief in the show’s possibilities brought them to Boston and SpeakEasy’s artistic director Paul Daigneault, known for his skill with musicals. All three artists were committed to simplifying the show, emphasizing its Alabama roots, deemphasizing the Broadway pizzazz, and making Edward Bloom (Stephen Goldstein) more understandable, and his son Will (Sam Simahk) more sympathetic.

The original cast of twenty-one now stands at twelve and the Broadway style orchestra has become a six piece bluegrass style band. Several songs from the original show have been cut and others brought in. The music does its job in telling the story as, for example, the opening and closing song, “Be a Hero,” which encapsulates the protagonist’s deepest belief.

Jenna McFarland Lord’s abstract, simple, and beautiful set creates the mood and style of the work. Its main feature, a deep blue rounded false proscenium, is the frame for a highly theatricalized production. Occasionally, however, the false proscenium interferes with the sightlines. Images by Seágham McKay that reflect the dialogue and give the audience a sense of place are projected on upstage scrims. Karen Perlow’s lighting is extremely effective, particularly in the manner which it plays with color.

Big Fish opens with a short somber scene with all the characters seated without relating to each other. They get up, take their chairs, and leave. The story begins. Will Bloom, a journalist, has returned home for his wedding to Josephine (Katie Clark), a television correspondent, several months pregnant. Fearful that his father will embarrass him, Will begs Eddie not to give toasts or tell stories at the reception. Unable to contain himself, the voluble Eddie announces his new daughter-in-law’s pregnancy.

The play slips back into Will’s childhood when Eddie was a repository of stories that the boy (Jackson Daley) enjoyed. Eddie’s stories were filled with magic creatures – witches, giants, werewolves – who had become his friends. In his own world, Eddie, like a mythical character, undergoes trials to find his beloved, and becomes a hero. But bit by bit, the stories alienated Will who came to view them as an example of his father’s egocentricity and deceit. His mother Sandra, the peacemaker, tries to help Will accept his father, whom she explains in “Magic in the Man.”

Strangely, this musical theatre piece is reminiscent of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in its muddled relationship between father and son, the protective wife, Eddie’s dreams and failures, even his ultimate career as a salesman.

Paul Daigneault’s astute direction tells the story clearly. In the musical’s new iteration, Will is a more compassionate person, for which Sam Simakh deserves as much credit as the authors and director. Stephen Goldstein, who plays Eddie from young manhood to old age and death, is a fine all-around performer. With only a change of wigs to denote the passage of time, Aimee Doherty is strikingly believable in moving from Sandra’s youth to almost grandparenthood.

Some of the smaller roles were unevenly played. However, Lee David Skunes is notable as Karl the Giant, and not just because of his height. The show’s weakness is in the dancing.

SpeakEasy’s Big Fish plays at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion until Spril 11, 2015

Book by John August
Music & Lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Based on the Novel by Daniel Wallace and the Columbia Motion Picture Written by John August

Directed by Paul Daigneault
Assistant Director Alex Lonati
Musical Direction by Matthew Stern
Choreography by Larry Sousa
Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord
Costume Design by Elisabetta Polito
Sound Design by David Reiffel
Lighting Design by Karen Perlow

Projections Designs by Seághan McKay

Cast

Katie Clark … Josephine
Sarah Crane … Girl in the Water
Jackson Daley … Young Will
Aimee Doherty … Sandra Bloom
Steven Goldstein … Edward Bloom
Will McGarrahan … Amos Calloway/Dr. Bennett
Zaven Ovian … Don Price
Sara Schoch … Jenny Hill
Sam Simahk … Will Bloom
Lee David Skunes … Karl the Giant
Daniel Scott Walton … Zacky Price/Mayor
Aubin Wise … The Witch