Welcome and thank you for coming out to see this year’s spring musical, Big Fish. It is a pleasure to introduce this show to many who are not familiar with it. When I first listened to the complete score, I was struck by the wide range of emotions and truths that resonated so strongly from these songs. The messages are simple but the reminders are important.
Edward Bloom is a kind, sincere man from a small town that sees everyday as a new possibility for adventure. Edward uses his many stories as his means of connecting with his son Will. We are all a version of Edward Bloom. Our lives become a compilation of our stories. Some we embellish. Some get a little blurry over time so we let our minds fill in the gaps. Some we remember the characters in them as being greater, scarier, larger or funnier than they may have been but ultimately that doesn’t matter. Big Fish is about the stories we tell - to our family, friends and to ourselves and how those stories become tangled with the reality of who we are. But what matters most is the way our stories live on through the people we love.
The process of directing this production with this cast and team will become one of my own stories. Each person involved contributed a unique perspective, ideas about the characters and the story and brought up questions that we all collaboratively answered. I am so grateful for the seemingly effortless teamwork that took place to create what you will see onstage. Will Mandelbaum, Jorie Janeway, Jack Parrotta, Craig Gehr, Mary Brannan, Christian Planton, Jim Durkin, Will DeBernardis and this entire cast, crew, musicians and parent volunteers are the real heroes of this story. I just hope that all of our work creates a great story for all of you to take home. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Kathryn Luckstone
