Big Fish Preview Thread- Page 7

[Noel&Cole]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 12:48pm

Response on this show is so all over the map.... is the general consensus that this a show that will require positive to rave reviews to run? It's numbers in previews are solid, but not fantastic. I wonder what sort of advance they have.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 3:22pm

What's the runtime/endtime been like lately? I have out of town guests running from this on Friday to the 10:45p show at 54 Below. How brisk a pace will they need to run those two blocks?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 5:50pm

FYI: Bobby Steggart is rreally ill right now. He's doing his best to get through every performance. Don't be disappointed if you see the show and an understudy is going on in his role. (Are the u/s's prepared to go on yet?)

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/2/13 at 12:52am

I saw the show tonight and thought it was pretty so-so. Most of my sentiments echo those that have already been stated on here ad nausem (mainly that the show is over-directed to death and only two or three of the melodies are really memorable).

The book is fine, if a bit rote and lacking in humor, especially for a story with such thrilling, larger-than-life premises and stories. The score has some really lovely lyrics, but 80% of the melodies are banal and generic-sounding. Only "Time Stops" and "Fight The Dragons" really stuck in my head. Each song, however, is delivered to absolute vocal perfection by the cast.

This is one of Norbert Leo Butz's stronger leading man performances in my book. The role seems almost unbelievably perfect for him and without his charm, warmth, and energy, the part could easily become cloying. Every bit his equal are Kate Baldwin and Bobby Steggert, even if I wished they had more to do. Their respective solos are vocal highlights. Everyone else is strong, giving their all, many doubling, tripling, quadrulping, or more in their roles.

Stroman's direction is manic. There is so much going on at any given moment that it's incredibly distracting, unnecessary, and way too busy. Do we really need to have ensemble members walk across the stage for no reason in almost every scene (hospital/nurses, wedding/guests, park/joggers, circus/performers, etc, etc)? I think the woman is capable of creating genius onstage, and I wish she would have taken it down a few notches here. There are some great and creative visual moments (I loved the elephants...clever, funny, and well-suited to the off-beat story. That moment even got applause from the audience.)

I also thought the projections were far too frequent. I was in the second row, so maybe I didn't get the full effect, but they just looked silly and a bit cheap after a certain point to me. I don't mind projections if they're done well, used in the right places, and aren't overwhelming. And while these aren't crappy to look at, there was just too much of them for my taste.

For a show with such wild and wackily inventive stories and characters, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that BIG FISH feels too safe, too unsurprising, and not magical enough. But it does benefit from a great cast, it's mostly nice to look at, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't choked up at the end. I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't frequently bored.

After seeing the show, it doesn't seem like they're doing much to it during the preview period. Campfire girl is still there, the awkward western number is still there, the jogger/park people are still there, the witch song is still there, etc. It seems (more or less) untouched and unchanged.

Next to the two other new musicals that have opened so far this season though, BIG FISH looks like WEST SIDE STORY.

Updated On: 10/3/13 at 12:52 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/2/13 at 7:56am

"I found the show so visually unappealing."

Me too. I found it one giant eyesore.

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 10/2/13 at 4:32pm

Have they changed the Witch's number? I noticed on playbill vault a song listed call "The Witch". Did they just re-name I Know What You Want?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/2/13 at 10:12pm

Saw the show at today's matinee. My biggest complaint is that it has trouble setting its "tone" and the first act meanders as a result. Also, the physical production is too bright and cheery for a score that has its dark side. It's not a bad score--some of the music is quite good--it's just that with all those bright colors on stage, the music should have had a more Jerry Herman or Cy Coleman bounce to it.

The performances are all very good and I felt that Bobby Steggert's performance gave and element of gravitas to the show and made the second act more compelling than the first. He sand extremely well for a guy who's sick as a dog right now.

The audience seemed to adore it, though.

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 1:53am

Like Wicked, I was there tonight. I love Norbert--I think this is the 9th show I've seen him in!--and always enjoy Bobby Steggert and Kate Baldwin, too.

But honestly, they deserve so much better. Boring, over-directed, and with no memorable songs...I moved closer to the stage at intermission, hoping it would grab me and it still left me cold. Really disappointing!

[ggersten]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 9:49am

Well, the preview period is almost over.
As for songs, I find "Time Stops" and "Fight the Dragons" memorable, even though I only saw the show in Chicago. OK, I've watched the promotional clips where Fight the Dragons is heavily used. But, as a father, I relate to "Fight the Dragons" and find myself humming it off and on for several weeks now. I know that one song does not normally make a show. This song could, however. And if people continue to connect to the story and cry in Act II, then Big Fish could run awhile.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 10/5/13 at 10:28am

Saw the show Thursday night, from third row center seat, which is much too close to appreciate the many projections, but a good place to enjoy the performances. Bobby sounded great, would never have known he was ill, but neither he nor Kate have enough to do (although their solo songs are very pretty). Norbert is the show, and I was glad to see him totally in control of his performance, and probably as good as I've ever seen him. Act One is probably better than Act Two (those production numbers are just filler, witches and patriotic tap dance, and Western? yipes!), but Stroman seems to feel that bigger is better. In this case, it's not. Needs really strong reviews to have a long run, and not sure that Norbert can totally carry this.

[aaronb]

Posted: 10/7/13 at 12:46am

Didn't really like this one.

"Big Fish is about what you would expect it to be: it is diverting, colorful, and it goes down easy. If it is slightly disappointing, it is because quite a lot of talent has come together to produce this underwhelming musical, from director Susan Stroman (The Producers) to star Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can). The book by John August is decent if predictable and the music by Andrew Lippa is inoffensive and forgettable when listened to in a Broadway theater but slightly embarrassing if replayed later. “Fight the Dragons,” for example, features the cringe-inducing rhyme, 'I’ve always been a man who said that staying still was playing dead / The kind who’s looking forward to the challenges ahead,' and the anthem-refrain, 'I fight the dragons and I storm the castles and I win the battle for two / Then comes the day it’s time I’m packing up and I am bringing all my stories home to you.' "
My review of BIG FISH

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/21/13 at 9:19am

I revisited Big Fish last night to see how things were holding up after the closing announcement. Plus I hadn't seen the show since previews and wanted to make sure I saw the final product before this show kissed the world goodbye.

Basically nothing, or at least nothing of significance, changed from first preview to frozen show. All of the songs and scenes were still there in unaltered form.

Norbert was SO good last night, and even though it feels unearned I was a weeping mess at the end of the show. I didn't have that reaction the first time around, and even though I knew everything that was coming it really hit me hard. He carries this show so well; everything that works can be attributed this marvelous performance. I very much hope he is remembered by the nominating committee come Tony time.

There are only 4 songs that I think are memorable (Be the Hero, Time Stops, Daffodils and Fight the Dragons), and I admit to humming Be the Hero all morning. Unlike Gentleman's Guide though, whose score grew on me IMMENSELY after a second and third listen, the rest of Big Fish's music didn't take much root in my ear.

I do love a good cry, so my lasting impression of the show will probably be a fond one as it drifts further away into my memory.

[Up In One]

Posted: 11/21/13 at 9:29am

That's exactly the same reaction I had watching the film, tears and tingles in the third act which was preceded by nothing special in the first two. It's the only thing that worked in both film and on stage. But it's a lot of wasted time getting there.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 11/21/13 at 10:10am

That was my reaction too. Just lots of smiling and laughing and "aweing" during the first 3/4ths of the show and the last 30 minutes I was just silent sobbing. It really was a beautiful show though. I didn't think anything was over the top like some people were saying. They could have simplified some things but that's tr whole point of the story. Exaggeration. Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin are just two beautiful people. My friend and I stayed after for the stage door and Kate Baldwin just stood and had a conversation with us.

This I one show I definitely thought would last longer. Let's hope they get everything figured out for a cast recording!

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 11/21/13 at 12:30pm

I remember crying during Bobby Steggert's central park song in act 1, and that was also my favorite song in the whole score. I also cried at the end, and i enjoyed the dancing and scenes and overall show very much, though i didn't feel attached to the score (it's a show that i would be willing to see again but don't feel like getting a cast recording).