Score: Andrew Lippa; Book: John August, based upon Daniel Wallace's novel. At: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. Tickets: 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com; $33-$100. Runs through: May 5
The Broadway-bound world premiere musical Big Fish features gobs of clever stagecraft that simply take your breath away. But then there are also moments when you scratch your head and think, is that the best that they could do?
I'm happy to report that Big Fish is largely in ship-shape forma relief to risk-averse Chicago theatergoers wary of shelling out big bucks to be audience guinea pigs. But Big Fish has room for some improvements.
At the heart of Big Fish is a tender parental story between tall-tale-talking Alabama father Edward Bloom (an insanely engaging Norbert Leo Butz) and his skeptical son Will, double cast as youth by Anthony Pierini and Zachary Unger and as a grownup by an upstanding Bobby Steggert.
Edward's autobiographical stories are filled with fantastical embellishments, involving mythical creatures like a witch, a giant, a mermaid, and moremuch to the annoyance of Will. A longtime rift between father and son is bridged when Will and his French wife, Josephine (Krystal Joy Brown), learn that they're not only expecting a son, but that Edward has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
As Will strives to seek out the truth to Edward's stories, we get to see many episodically reenacted on stage. This gives director/choreographer Susan Stroman the chance to pull out the razzle-dazzle stops, particularly in numbers involving a backwater Witch (Katie Thompson) and her chorus of oversize dancing moths, the circus flashback involving a ringmaster with scary secrets (Brad Oscar) and a tap-dancing chorine-filled USO sequence that allows another chance for the super-talented Kate Baldwin (as Edward's wife, Sandra) to glam it up and shine.
Projection designer Benjamin Pearcy for 59 Productions creates a plethora of astonishing live and video animation effects against the wooden-framed sets of designer Julian Crouchvery much a visual way of representing how Edward Blooms stories liven up the hum-drum Alabama existence he truly lives as a traveling salesman. Adding to the fantasy immeasurably are William Ivey Long's costumes and the lighting design of Donald Holder that also show the delineations between everyday reality and flights of imagination.
Where improvements could be made are in John August's episodic bookparticularly the introductory scene between Edward and Karl the giant (Ryan Andes) that needs punchier humor or a greater sense of menace. Composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa might also consider a catchier opening number to encompass the whole thrust of the show. And the dancing campfire woman is obviously an awkward filler bit to cover a quick costume change.
The producers of Big Fish should be proud of what they have on their handsa fantasy-filled father-son tale that tugs at the heartstrings. Big Fish isn't perfect just yet, but it's nearly there.