"Be the hero every time you get the chance!"
Big Fish is a 2013 musical adaptation of David Wallace's 1998 novel, "Big Fish: A Novel of Epic Proportions"; and its 2003 film adaptation written by John August and directed by Tim Burton. August also wrote the book for the stage show, and music and lyrics were written by Andrew Lippa.
This musical provides examples of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Don Price is still a jerk, but he eventually becomes Mayor and is actually an honest politician who cares about the people. (Though still not very bright)
- Adaptational Nationality: Josephine is American rather than French here.
- Adapted Out: The town of Spectre from the book and film is omitted, with Edward saving his own hometown from a flood. Also removed are the clown Mr. Soggybottom (though some productions portray the bad juggler as a clown), poet Norman Winslow, and even the titular giant catfish.
- Age Lift: Possibly; see Vague Age below. In the film and book, Edward's death is at least partly due to old age. In the show, since he's played by the same actor as his younger self, he appears more middle-aged than elderly. However, some productions follow the film and cast an older actor as "present-day" Edward.
- Angry Mob Song: Edward puts a stop to one after a single verse during "Out There on the Road". As he's showing Karl the giant the outside world, the townspeople come at them with torches and pitchforks and sing "THAT'S HIM RIGHT THERE!" But Edward soothes their concerns by describing how smart and gentle Karl actually is.
- Big Finale Crowd Song: As written, the play ends with Will reprising "Be The Hero" alone; but many productions have the ensemble come back in to sing the last couple of lines.
- Broken Bird: Poor Jenny thought she and Edward were endgame, but he rather callously broke her heart by seeking the woman he (allegedly) was told he would marry. When we see her as an adult, she's rather sad and disillusioned.
- Crowd Song: The ensemble gets several moments to shine:
- The entire ensemble in "Be the Hero"
- The citizens of Ashton in "Ashton's Favorite Son"
- The Ashton townsfolk again in the latter part of "Out There on the Road".
- The circus performers back up Edward and Amos in "Closer to Her".
- "Start Over"
- Death Song: "How it Ends" is Edward's final soliloquy, ending in a flatline.
- Decomposite Character: In the film, Jenny and the Witch were the same character. This is done away wflatland.
- Friendship Song: Edward and Karl have "Out There on the Road".
- "The Hero Sucks" Song:
- In "Showdown", Edward dreams about his own son giving him one in the form of a western number.
- "The River Between Us", which replaced "Showdown" in some productions, has both father and son give this to each other.
- Don Price's line of "Start Over", where he warns the townsfolk against trusting Edward, the man who left the town and waited decades to return.
- Innocently Insensitive: Edward doesn't mean to break Jenny's heart, but he sees their relationship as a part of high school he'll leave behind when he sets off on adventure, while she fantasizes about marrying him. He at least tries to make it up to her by buying her a house in the new Ashton, which causes his son to think he had an affair with her.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the film, Edward passes after making amends with everybody, even bully Don Price. In the film, Don remained bitter until his prophecied death.
- Parental Love Song: "Fight the Dragons" is Edward's love song to his son; and "What's Next" is Will's to his father.
- "Setting Off" Song: "Out There on the Road" is about Edward and Karl leaving Ashton for adventure.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Don outlives Edward here, though by that point they've buried the hatchet.
- Standard Hero Reward: Karl and Amos both get beautiful wives, thanks to Edward's influence.
- Summon Backup Dancers: The Witch is supposedly a loner who lives away from civilization, but when it comes to her big number she has a group of witchy backup dancers.
- Tenor Boy: Notably for a lot of musicals in this era, Will is the only major male singer described as a tenor. Edward, Don, and Amos are baritones, and Karl is a bass.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Edward and Jenny dated in high school, but this was always a shallow temporary thing for Edward, who (supposedly) knew he'd marry Sandra because a witch told him so.
- Vague Age: How old Edward is in the "present day" is pretty vague, since unlike the film, most productions have a single actor play him and due to the nonlinear storytelling, old!Edward can't do a bunch of old man makeup. He's old enough to have a 30-year-old son, but not much else is known. This extends to Don and Zachy (his school peers who outlive him) and his wife Sandra.
- Villain Song: Don Price, the closest thing the musical has to an antagonist, starts off the song "Start Over".
