Big Fish

[dazzerlump]

So Ive just got the sound track and I'm confused with the casting of Kelsey Grammar, is he going to be playing Edward throughout the whole show or will they have a younger version? as I cant imagine him singing some of the songs Norbert Leo Butz sings and especially not in the same key!

[sophie92]

Oct 27, 2017 10:42:52 GMT dazzerlump said:

So Ive just got the sound track and I'm confused with the casting of Kelsey Grammar, is he going to be playing Edward throughout the whole show or will they have a younger version? as I cant imagine him singing some of the songs Norbert Leo Butz sings and especially not in the same key!

Jamie Muscato is playing young/story Edward

[ali973]

^ Per sophie92, yes Grammar is old/dying Edward. In Broadway, as you correctly stated, they had Norbert Leo Butz play older/younger throughout. I'm not sure if the need to have an older and younger version of the same character was for storytelling/artistic purposes or just to give Grammar a role and hope to have a star in the show.

I personally find Grammar insufferable, and Leo Butz to be the epitome of Broadway charisma- but I'm glad that the British premiere is taking its own route and completely different art direction whether their motivation is commercial or artistic.

[dazzerlump]

Phew I was worried it would be a Grammar overload!!

[mallardo]

Well, in the original version of Big Fish the contrast between the generally effective production numbers featuring the fantasy world of young Edward and the generally drab and ineffective family scenes featuring the old, dying Edward was stark. How will splitting the role and adding another actor to play old Edward fix that unless those family scenes have been heavily improved? Perhaps that is the case. It's hard to see Grammar taking the part otherwise. But, we shall see...

[Deleted]

Anyone else at the first preview tonight or is it just me from the board??

[viserys]

Not going until late December, but please do report back!

[Deleted]

Just got to the theatre, show is 2h, 28m including an interval.

... amd not a typo, the girdt half is 78 minutes according to their poster.

[HereForTheatre]

I'm sure it will get cut down.

[Deleted]

Cheeky spoiler, can't do spoiler tag on mobile so don't kill me, you've been warned!

SPOILER: Click to show

Any fans of the Broadway production, I'd throw out your cast recordings. The song list has loads of new songs, loads of cut songs and some in different places. The opener on Broadway has been cut by the looks of things.

They have created a proscenium stage, and have made it, the stage, curtain and wings all white or baby blue. Stage has a water type print. Even the hand rails on the stairs are white, and the light panels in the wall. They also have tonnes offairy lights trailing from the stage to the back of the theatre, over the audience in white. There is also a blue light doing a water effect over the stage and curtain.

I'm excited and intrigued, even more now with the no-colour giving anything away!

[Deleted]

Wow. I mean, nope, that's about it right now, wow. That Act I finale is stunning, and I'm not the only one wiping tears away.

[Deleted]

Oh ya'll don't even know what's gonna hit you when you see this show!

[Mark]

Nov 1, 2017 22:15:31 GMT danieljohnson14 said:

Oh ya'll don't even know what's gonna hit you when you see this show!

Oh yay! Glad it's good!

How do you recon those front side seats would be for this one? Might go for one of those.

[cmj]

Sat in b28 so on end of row. Some parts restricted view but for the cheaper price well worth it.After the interval shuffled along a few seats and was rewarded with Kelsey Grammer sitting next to me briefly. Luckily have booked to go again.

[Deleted]

This show has truly broken me. I will write up a full thing later, but wow. I can't remember the last time I was so moved, maybe Titanic. Most of the audience appeared to be in tears. A great show, great cast, amazing video and projection design, and a really moving story that hits you somewhere we all hit at some point in life. This is the kind of show that will move alot of people.

[nash16]

Nov 1, 2017 23:21:16 GMT danieljohnson14 said:

This show has truly broken me. I will write up a full thing later, but wow. I can't remember the last time I was so moved, maybe Titanic. Most of the audience appeared to be in tears. A great show, great cast, amazing video and projection design, and a really moving story that hits you somewhere we all hit at some point in life. This is the kind of show that will move alot of people.

Now watch the film.  It'll make you bawl even more.  Amazing work.

[Deleted]

Mmm. Glad I booked for this one now. Have just looked at the cast and seen that Matthew Seadon-Young is playing Will Bloom.

I remember attending Urinetown there and being disappointed that Richard Fleeshman wasn’t on. (He hadn’t been on the night we saw Ghost either.) I teased the usher on the door, telling him we’d only come to see Fleeshman’s muscles, and it was the second time we’d been denied a peep. I asked him what the understudy was like. The usher looked a bit embarrassed but smiled and said, “Well... you won’t be disappointed!”

It was Matthew Seadon-Young!

We weren’t disappointed. At all!

I’ve seen some cracking understudies over the years.

[jgblunners]

I'm really hoping they do some sort of day seats/lottery for this - I can't afford to see it at full price, but it sounds like something really special

[HereForTheatre]

Did it all go smoothly

[Deleted]

they are performing at this years royal variety

[Deleted]

Ok... so now that I have some time to sit and just write a review here it is. And I will put it all in spoilers but for those who don't want spoilers, just go to the show, its so good and the performances are excellent. It will hit you really hard and move you deeply.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
This is a damn good show! I went into it not knowing anything of the story at all. I won't spoil the story itself as it is fun to watch it unfold before your eyes.

The cast is uniformally excellent. Jamie Muscato pretty much walks away with the whole show! I mean wow, what a performance. Kelsey gives a very subtle, sentimental performance that really touches you when appropriate. Landi and her big solo really was a show stopper and Dean Nolan brings a sweetness to his character, as well as humour and a stunt moment that had the audience cheering like the gays at a RuPaul finale! Clare Burt gives a truly devestating performance, especially toward the end and Matthew's voice is just a dream. Sophie Linder-Lee and George Ure also provide their usual dose of cuteness and stealing attention when needed. You just can't help but watch them! The whole cast though, are uniformally brilliant, not a weak link in there.

The set was surprisingly impressive. It is completely static as a hospital room at first glance, and stays as that the whole show, but then, once the bed is moved, witht he clever use of video and projection, as well as smoke and haze where appropriate, the entire wall and proscenium become video walls, that project moving set pieces. It sounds tacky, but they are so effective, especially in the scene where Jamie is fired out of a canon and is flying through the sky, with the physical actor lifted into the air and the video around him moving. Another really effective use is the cave sequence, where as Jamie walks through the cave, he only walks a few steps back and fourth, but the video wall moves at a normal walking pace to give the illusion of getting deeper into the cave. Its hard to explain but it works beautifully. Other than that, the only times the curtain is closed is the opening scene, which went on a tad too long for me, but it'll be trimmed and the scene in the Circus. Note with the Circus, someone in the audience is almost made to get onstage! And in Act 2, Kelsey and another cast member run though the walkways of two rows (Kelsey the front row, the other cast member a middle row of the Stalls). There is a fair bit of cast running up and down the higher numbers stairs too. Matched with the fairy lights hanging down from the ceiling, its a beautiful sight.

Speaking of illusions, there are some really impressive ones, from a simple use of a fan and some confetti, to a simple bag trick. It was really magical!

Once you are in it, it is a magical show that has alot of heart, a stunning finale in both acts and a cast to die for. A couple  of tweaks here and there, especially in the first scene or two, but that is what previews are for, and even then the tweaks needed aren't because its bad or unenjoyable, just a bit of re-jigging. Any questions, feel free to either inbox or ask me on here.

[londonmzfitz]

Oh, breaths sigh of relief, I've got a week to wait, but am now very excited. Won't read spoilers, but thank you for letting me know I haven't wasted my ££'s xxxxx

[stageyninja83]

Going tonight, maybe I'll make a quick trip to Boots to get tissues 😢

[alison]

I'm there tomorrow and I'm really excited now, thanks for the review! I'll be a little sad if Fight the Dragons is gone though (my favourite from the Broadway CR).

[Deleted]

But the main question for any new musical opening, is there a tap routine?