Big Fish

[mallardo]

Well, I saw the Broadway version and I don't recognize it from what you've written here, Steve. This must be one of the most comprehensive rewrites in MT history. I guess I have to see it now.

[viserys]

Would love to hear from those who've seen it on Broadway. I loved the movie and I think the cast recording is if not brilliant, at least fairly decent, so it will be interesting to read direct comparisons. Definitely glad now that I booked!

[bellboard27]

Saw this yesterday and agree with the comments from Steve

I could see quite a few around me were in tears at the end, so it really touched some people.

[synchrony]

Saw this on Friday (spoilers below).

I saw an amateur version of this in a village hall in early 2016. I didn’t know the piece before, but it had me properly sobbing by the end and I’ve constantly listened to the score ever since, which I love. I didn’t see the Broadway version, but this amateur version used the same man for old and young Bloom (and the same woman for Sandra), and seemed to keep to the same score.

So I was very excited to see a professional production and interested to see how it worked with different old-and-young actors. I didn’t realise beforehand that they’d cut some of the songs and added new ones.

I enjoyed it, but had some mixed feelings.

The good –

I liked Grammer. His singing wasn’t amazing, but I really believed in his character and he did both touch me and make me laugh.
I thought that young-Bloom was great. I also liked Will and young-Sandra.
I generally thought that using different actors for old and young characters worked well, except in the final number where I found young-Bloom distracting.
I’m not normally a Clare Burt fan, but I really enjoyed ‘I don’t need a roof’.

Wasn’t sure –
I personally really disliked the ring master. I can see why an earlier poster said he was a scene-stealer. But I didn’t want him to steal the scenes. He isn’t the main character. He annoyed me and I felt like it was too much.
I missed several of the old songs that I really like and didn’t find the new ones particularly memorable. I don’t really know why they changed some of the things they changed. I missed ‘Two men in my life’ particularly because of what it tells me about how the relationship between Will and Edward affects Sandra, and the way she views her husband.
I didn’t cry at all in this version. I don’t know if it was because of the way the final scene was staged, or because I’ve seen it before. TBH I think it was the way the final scene was staged that didn’t work for me. I wasn’t completely unmoved, but just not as moved as before.

The majority of the audience leapt to ovate at the end so in general it seemed very popular. I overheard a lot of people afterwards saying they’d been crying. The friend I went with said he had a tear in his eye. It was good. I enjoyed it. Just not as much as I’d enjoyed the Amateur version I saw.

[Marwood]

Email from The Other Palace this morning:

'BIG FISH has accepted the kind invitation from the Royal office to be part of this year’s Royal Variety Show. As a result there will not be a performance on the evening on November 24th'

[Marwood]

Nov 6, 2017 11:40:51 GMT Marwood said:

Email from The Other Palace this morning:

'BIG FISH has accepted the kind invitation from the Royal office to be part of this year’s Royal Variety Show. As a result there will not be a performance on the evening on November 24th'

The email then goes on to say:


'Please could you call 0207 087 7900 to arrange a new date to attend Big Fish at no extra charge.'

Having just called The Other Palace, and spent at least 10 minutes listening to the most boring, soporific music while on hold that I think its ever been my misfortune to have to endure, I was put through to an operator who didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about. I asked for a date towards the end of next month, only to be told that I'd have to pay an additional £2.50 to do so. After repeatedly reading out the bit about 'no extra charge' I was told that the prices go up in December - after trying to explain that is not my fault and that they had decided to cancel the show, not me, and that I realised the show I'd booked for was at the end of the preview period but I was not trying to grab a free upgrade to premium seats (I had booked row B), I decided to cut my losses and get a refund, I'll go and see something somewhere else where the ticket office have a bit more class and understanding (was not expecting too much from this to be honest, I thought the film was pretty terrible and only booked to see Kelsey Grammar, but as it looks like his Broadway gigs are drying up when he starts playing venues like this, he'll probably be appearing in panto this time next year).

[lou105]

At least you've had the email. I realised last week that the performance I'd booked for clashed with the Royal Variety and saw that it had been taken off the website. A confused box office worker eventually got confirmation from a supervisor that I was correct but said I should wait for an email. By Sunday afternoon I decided just to book another set of tickets then get a refund when the email arrived. Still waiting..

[TallPaul]

Okay, here's a question for those much closer to the coalface than I am.

I know it's all for charity, but you only really appear on the RVP, especially if it means cancelling a long scheduled performance, to sell tickets, an album, or comedy DVD.

By the time the RVP is broadcast on ITV, there will be less than a month of Big Fish's run left. So, does this mean a future life is on the cards, otherwise why bother?

[wickedgrin]

Given the positive word of mouth on this forum from early previews, I think a transfer is very much on the cards.

Lloyd Webber always said that the Other Palace was going to be used to work on musicals before they become too fixed with the computer programming required with a big show.

[theatremadness]

Could it also be that because Kelsey Grammer is so well known, what with Cheers/Frasier being the phenomenon it was even in this country, and being the voice of Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons (which most people do seem to know), it was also a good excuse to get someone properly famous on the RVP and so they brought Big Fish along with it? Do shows have to pay to be on there or is it a case of giving up time for free as it's for charity? Or everyone just gets paid anyway?

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2017 14:53:25 GMT TallPaul said:

Okay, here's a question for those much closer to the coalface than I am.

I know it's all for charity, but you only really appear on the RVP, especially if it means cancelling a long scheduled performance, to sell tickets, an album, or comedy DVD.

By the time the RVP is broadcast on ITV, there will be less than a month of Big Fish's run left. So, does this mean a future life is on the cards, otherwise why bother?

Aren't ATG producing? Would definitely imagine they're aiming for a transfer! 

[Deleted]

Production photos have been realeased!

www.broadwayworld.com/amp/c.php?url=Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-BIG-FISH-Starring-Kelsey-Grammer-at-the-Other-Palace-20171108

[wickedgrin]

I saw this show having no previous knowledge of the musical or the film.

I thought it was very well (if economically) staged and performed with special mentions to Matthew Seaton-Young - a glorious voice, Jamie Muscato - a very engaging performance as the Young Edward Bloom and a completely show stealing performance from Clare Burt who had the best moment in the show with a beautiful ballad "I don't need a roof" in the second act, beautifully played. Incidentally she reminded me of a young Millicent Martin - for those old enough to remember!

However, I did not "connect" with the material or the story at all. It was far too sweet and sentimental for me. It felt like a real "Christmas" show somehow and I felt like Scrooge muttering "Humbug"! Parts of the show felt very derivative of others - Wicked, The Wizard of Oz - journeys and stories, with the company all dressed in green at various points. Plus the ending of Act One was a complete restaging of the ending end of Act Two of The Girls just substituting daffodils for sunflowers.

I felt that the fantasy story elements, although well staged, needed more budget to really work.

I have to report though that the packed audience around me LOVED it. Two guys in front of me openly weeping at the end and the whole audience spontaneously rose to their feet at the end.

3* for me - a solid production of a schmaltzy show!

[jamb0r]

Nov 8, 2017 12:00:36 GMT wickedgrin said:

Plus the ending of Act One was a complete restaging of the ending end of Act Two of The Girls just substituting daffodils for sunflowers.

I thought that too, however if you search on youtube you can find footage of the Broadway production (which was pre-The Girls) and this scene was pretty similar to how they've done it at The Other Palace, so it was definitely Big Fish's idea 'first' 😀 

[HereForTheatre]

I think you'll find that The Girls act closer was a restaging of the Big Fish act closer.

[HereForTheatre]

Does the proscenium mean that the seats more at the sides of the rows have a side on/restricted view? I'm looking one a seat now but it's only the 5th seat in the row and i don't want to miss anything.

[jamb0r]

Nov 8, 2017 15:10:37 GMT HereForTheatre said:

The proscenium mean that the seats more at the sides of the rows have a side on/restricted view? I'm looking one a seat now but it's only the 5th seat in the row and i don't want to miss anything.

I was sat 3rd seat from the end of row C and didn't miss a thing.  When I saw the proscenium arch they've put in I was worried, but everything happens in front of it and not behind.

[alison]

I was on the very end of row L and didn't miss a thing.

I loved the show, and really thought that doing it with the older and younger actors worked brilliantly.

[wickedgrin]

Nov 8, 2017 13:12:34 GMT HereForTheatre said:

I think you'll find that The Girls act closer was a restaging of the Big Fish act closer.

Ah OK, so the other way round. As I said, I had no prior knowledge of the show at all.

[dippy]

I sat on the end of row B (high number side) and did miss stuff but I think B is the longest row.

[blobble84]

Hi all - I potentially have a spare ticket for the matinee tomorrow (Thursday). Any takers? Would rather it gets used than go to waste. Drop me a message.

[nash16]

Well, the hoped for transfer for this one now looks unlikely:

www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/09/grammers-turn-as-the-dad-with-a-penchant-for-tall-tales-is-the-best-part-of-this-middling-musical-paean-to-narcissistic-fantasy
2 STARS

www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2017/big-fish-starring-kelsey-grammer-review-palace-london/
3STARS

www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/evening-battered-schmaltz-big-fish-palace-review/
2 STARS

[ali973]

^ I personally don't think reviews in the British press amount to much anymore. In New York, yes. I honestly think in London, most of the shows are driven by the audience and word of mouth.

[Deleted]

Those reviews are wrong. Plain and simple wrong. I understand opinions are opinions, but sometimes they are just wrong.

[lonlad]

I agree completely. These reviews are INCREDIBLY stupid, even by the (already low) standards of London critics when it comes to musicals. I remember Terry Hands (ex-RSC and CARRIE) once saying he would rather do a musical and be panned in NYC than get raves in London where the critical knowledge of the genre is so poor.