![]() The count of past Toner venues rises to as many as a dozen of them scattered around Austin. The Toner family has made a name by transforming blank spaces into theaters and, in some cases, redoing existing performance spaces. Among the quietest and most affecting performances was delivered by Amy Minor as the girl - then the grown woman - who pines for Edward.ĭuring the past 30-plus years, Austin Playhouse and its forebears, the Live Oak and State theaters - all three companies sustained by generations of the Toner family - have produced dozens of musicals, along with comedies and dramas. Sarah Ziringue, as Sandra, wife to Edward and mother to Bill, performs the part with ethereal grace.īrian Coughlin, Braden Tanner, Kia Zhani and Stephen Mercantel sprinkle in humor and spice as a bully, a giant, a witch and a werewolf. One of the advantages of a small blank stage: Even a small thing, like filling it with daffodils during the first-act finale, makes for a bewitching visual spectacle.Ī tiny, half-onstage orchestra, led by Lynn Koenning, reduces the musical’s original rich orchestrations down to just the right match for the 12-member cast.Īs Edward and Bill, veterans Andrew Cannata and Connor Barr act out the father-son conflict with abundant sensitivity and thrilling voices. Haddock upsets this geometric simplicity with wooden slats set askew and draped fish nets. In Austin, the players appear on a series of short platforms. 'Willie fits the award': Willie Nelson accepts LBJ Liberty and Justice for All Award When that son, Will, grows up, he contests his father’s yarns to the point of investigating whether Edward actually used them to cover up some unspeakable sins. The story, perhaps familiar to you from the Daniel Wallace book or the Tim Burton movie, tells of Edward, a smooth-talking traveling salesman, who tells his young son tall tales about his adventures in the world. Distilling the alchemy of ‘Big Fish’ĭirector Lara Toner Haddock never forces the “Big Fish” action beyond the capacity of her newish space’s gently raised stage and intimate seating for about 100 guests. That’s what I urge you to see onstage at Austin Playhouse West Campus. In response, the creators, including composer Andrew Lippa and librettist John August, put together a “12-chair” micro-musical version for small troupes with low budgets. Perhaps because the populous cast and enormous physical scale of the original staging made it impossible to sustain as a business venture. The setting - which blends the real American South with a romanticized one - casts its own lasting spell. The tunes catch the ear and creep inside the soul. The story - fantastical and ageless - flows like a mighty river. Few 21st century musicals are as sublime as “Big Fish.”
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