The musical big fish consisted of the exaggerated, semi true stories told by the main character Edward bloom. He had 36 basic stories that were told in multiple variations that constantly changed in content. Edward claimed he had met a witch that told him his future, made best friends with a giant, and saved an army general from an assassin. Will Bloom (Grant Latus) childhood was surrounded by all his father's tales. As Will gets older and becomes married he doesn’t know what he should believe is true, when it comes to the tales his father has told him. Will's mother, Sandra Bloom, constantly tries to guide Will into understanding his father, but seems to never get her point across. The approaching death of Edward Bloom brings up many questions, which …show more content…
are gradually solved with the help of all his past stories that he told Will.
In the end Edward blooms tales are passed on to his son Will who lives to them to his own son whom is present in the end of the play. The central theme of the musical Big Fish is Death and all the underlying factors that go along with it. There was an abundant number of roles that played a role in the success of big fish. The three roles I am going to be discussion in my paper include the main character (Edward Bloom), the lighting, and the orchestra/sound effect.
The role of the main character or protagonist (Edward Bloom), which was played by John Divney was one of the most important roles of the play. Edward was the central topic of the play, so John's good acting contributed to the plays success majorly. His vocal skills and ability to correctly alliterate like a true Alabama man with an appropriate accent made the play feel that much more realistic. He also did a good job of always projecting his voice in a calm manner. He even successfully improvised when part of the scenery wall pieces broke off. The act of improvising during the play showed John had strong intangible skills. For example, his lines seemed to be fully memorized,
he smoothly improvised, and he always correctly responded to other characters. After breaking part of the set John casually brushed the whole thing off and acted like it was simply supposed to be a part of the play. Edward bloom (John Divney) in a way integrated foreshadowing into his acting by grasping his side in pain, while skipping stones. The action of grasping his side later revealed the reason behind why Edward bloom was dying. The stage combat that occurred between Edward Bloom and the other supporting characters was carried out safely, while looking realistic. The major stage combat that happened in the play was when Edward bloom and the assassin battled it out, while Edward was trying to protect the army general. Lastly, his body language throughout the play blended nicely with the other characters no matter what seen was going on. An example of this in the play includes the way Edward acted towards his wife, which came out so carefree and naturally. The play wouldn’t have been the same without all the supporting characters that backed up the main character. The main supporting characters included Will Bloom/Young Will, and Josephine Bloom. All the characters that were in Edward Blooms visions were also important, but the role of the family members was significantly more important. The second aspect that played an important role in the play was the lighting and or lights. The lighting designer Hideaki Tsutsui did a good job when it came to light placement and using a variety of colors throughout the lighting. There were a ton of lights in the play including in the ceiling, in the floor, in the background, and projected on screens. The lights played a key role in all the different settings and moods that took place in the play. The lighting was dark for a majority of the play, due to the gloomy theme of the play, but lightened up during the cheerful tales that Edward told. The variety of colors that flashed on and off did a good job of signaling what the specific mood was supposed to be during a scene. An example of this includes the yellow daffodils, which made the mood romantic, due to them showing the love Edward had for his wife Sandra. Red, Blue, purple, and basically every other color of the rainbow was used at some point in the play. The costumes and lighting combined did a good job of teaming up to show a certain mood. For example, the colorful costumes of the circus performers signaled an upbeat mood, while the boring, bland colors worn by the giant and dark lighting signaled the depressing mood that ocurred. The lights also provided texture, which was important for both the design of the play and the mood. The water running in the river was accurately portrayed and had a more realistic feeling with the help of the textures given off by the various lights. Some other examples of texture used with the help of lighting from the play include the daffodils that came out from the floor and the projections that played on the screens above the stage. The third aspect that played an important role in the play was the orchestra and sound effects. The vocals of the actors themselves also went hand in hand with the other aspects of sound, due to the play specifically being a musical. The play would not have been the same without the music that was played throughout. The instrumentals were very smooth and flowed nicely from scene to scene. Whenever an entirely new scene came up the same intro melody was played this did a good job of signaling a transition. The sound effects also added to the realism of the play and made the play more proactive. For example, the noise of the rock skipping across the water really added to the scene of Edward throwing stones without the sound effect it would have been hard to tell what was happening. The resolution of the play is nicely wrapped together by all the characters in Edward Blooms tales and Edwards family gathering and singing a mournful symphony together, which is also backed up by light instrumentals in the background. Big Fish was a colorful, fast moving, and creative musical that was very enjoyable to watch. The musical flowed very smoothly and was filled with talented actors that seemed to know exactly what they were doing. A wide range of important roles and characteristics led to the success of the play, which I ended up covering three of these characteristics in my paper. I strongly recommend seeing the musical Big Fish it is a well-rounded play that teaches a good lesson in the end.
Northrop Frye is the author of The Educated Imagination. The book talks about literature and methods that improve and enthralls the reader from common fallacies, to how an author can manipulate what is put in the text. These lesson can be put to use outside in the real world such as advertising. These can also be connected to other media pieces such as other books and movies. The movie Big Fish directed by Tim Burton is one of those media pieces that can be connected to Northrop Frye work. The movie is about a son who trying to learn more about his dying father by listening to stories and myths about his life. The purpose of this reflection is to show that in the educated imagination the chapter
reach into the ideas and themes of the play so we will have a good
created the play as a comedy, showing how the world might be in the times of the
Within Death of a Salesman, there are many themes, motifs and symbolism shown to help readers and audiences alike understand the writing. Arthur Miller implemented these developmental characteristics through showing the theme of success and failure, features of a tragic hero and the germination within characters. Through Millers writing, it is shown that the American Dream does not always end in a happy
Throughout Daniel Wallace’s novel, Big Fish, Edward Bloom encompasses the meaning of the title. He is immortalized through the many tall tales he has shared with his son, Will. The stories are a depiction of a man who is larger than life, someone who is too big for a small town. Edwards passion for being remembered and loved followed him to his deathbed, where he passed on his stories to his son. The term “Big Fish” is used to reference the magnificence of Edwards life, and is an embodiment of the larger than life stories that he passes down to Will.
Big Fish is like an incomprehensible film, which never ceases to stop surprising its viewers. The story is an amazing fantasy created by Tim Burton, which transports the viewer to another dimension by means of the main character’s experiences and adventures through the film. In the story the viewer finds a father, Edward Bloom, and a son, Will Bloom. The father is an extravagant storyteller, in which his son grew up hearing his tales and begins to doubt their credibility. Throughout the film the viewer can catch a glimpse of numerous acts of magical realism, but overall identifies the characteristic of mirror reversals which adds a special touch to the story when intertwined with the father and the son as they undergo a life changing journey.
In Daniel Wallace’s novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions and Tim Burton’s film, Big Fish, the relationship between the dying protagonist, Edward Bloom and his estranged son, William Bloom, is centrally to the story in both the novel and film. Like many fathers in today's society, Edward Bloom wishes to leave his son with something to remember him by after he is dead. It is for this reason the many adventures of Edward Bloom are deeply interwoven into the core of all the various stories Edward tells to mystify his son with as a child. Despite the many issues father and son have in their tense relationship as adults, Daniel Wallace and Tim Burton’s adaptation of Wallace’s novel focalizes on the strained relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom. In both Wallace’s novel and Burton’s film, they effectively portray how the relationship between Edward Bloom and William Bloom is filled with bitter resentment and indifference towards each other. Only with William’s attempt to finally reconcile with his dying father and navigating through his father fantastical fables does those established feelings of apathy and dislike begin to wane. With Burton’s craftily brilliant reconstruction of Wallace’s story does the stories of Edward Bloom and his son blossom onto screen.
words so that the sound of the play complements its expression of emotions and ideas. This essay
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
Having looked at Pfister’s work, I have learned a lot as a writer. He has taught me that character choice is important to the overall message. Pfister has taught me that my choice in words needs to be precise in order to capture the perfect image and illustration for my audience. He gives a great example of selfishness by using a beautiful, yet exceptional blue fish, unlike any other fish in the sea. Rainbow Fish goes from being self-centered to becoming selfless. A valuable lesson is taught by the author for the sole purpose of educating our youth and making them understanding that egocentric behavior can lead to a lost in friendships and acquaintances. The moral of The Rainbow Fish has encouraged me to have purpose and meaning behind my writing.
In the novel Big Fish by Daniel Wallace, we are told the story of Edward Bloom, a man of many adventures, who is somewhat of a myth. Big Fish is a collection of the tall tales Edward tells his son about his life, and also of the effect his tales had on his son. The novel comes from an American author from Alabama, while the movie comes from Hollywood and is directed by Tim Burton, who is also American. This story is not an ancient sacred text, so the story’s function(s) is to entertain and to make money.
The Lion King musical is a well-known musical that has taken the stages of Broadway, West End and the rest of the world by storm (The Lion King, 1997). Regarding the process of the musical, Artistic Director Julie Taymor’s first thoughts for choosing the Lion King as the next big thing on stage, was classed as ‘impossible’ due to the film’s lack of theatrical material (The Lion King, 1997). Therefore, staging this particular work contained a great deal of uncertainty and the need for taking huge risks. Taymor (1997) suggests how ‘the Lion King was the worst idea possible to create a stage show.’ It has become evident that a number of significant barriers had to be overcome to secure the practicality of the production. In view of this controversy, this dissertation will critically analyse the success of the Lion King by exploring two significant aspects that have helped to make the musical a success. Firstly, the essential components that make up this theatrical production will be explored and secondly, the roles of each producer within the Lion King and their combined and individual influences they have had from the production will be evaluated. By analysing these two central themes, this paper will show how and why this musical has developed and achieved its phenomenal success.
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
the role of a narrator. One role he takes on in the play is the voice
Dorfman emphasises this by including ‘Sounds of the sea’ as the first stage direction, repeating variations of this line at the beginning of almost every scene. Ostensibly the role of sound appears confined to the creation of suspense in terms of the references: ‘beyond’ and ‘approaching’, in the stage directions: ‘Sounds of the sea beyond. Sounds of a car approaching’. However, the parallel between the audience first experiencing the play through the medium of sound, and Paulina’s music-filled, blinded rape engages the audience’s sympathy in that they appreciate the vulnerability that a reliance on hearing instils in one. This parallel is cemented by the allusion to darkness, in referring to ‘After midnight’ and Paulina hearing ‘wonderful music in the darkness’.