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Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: GavinL 05:30 pm EDT 03/16/14

So, I finally got around to listening to this. It's quite charming and funny... I enjoy the songs, the orchestrations.

I also enjoyed The Addams Family ... I'm one of the few, I suppose.

I don't understand the complaining about Lippa that his scores are dull or weak... so my question is: are they considered weak because they add nothing that isn't already in the books of the shows, respectively? I mean, are the songs unnecessary additions to the story? Was that the problem?

I know, I know... "what's the use of wond'rin?"

:)


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re: Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: Lisa 03:43 pm EDT 03/18/14
In reply to: Big Fish-- OBC - GavinL 05:30 pm EDT 03/16/14

As a huge fan of the plot of Big Fish, I really enjoyed the musical. It wasn't perfectly laid out, but I know it so well that it didn't matter.

Seeing the show, I found a lot of the songs forgettable. That being said, I really have grown to love the recording. Strange how that works sometimes!


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re: Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: BroadwayLouBlaze 01:50 am EDT 03/17/14
In reply to: Big Fish-- OBC - GavinL 05:30 pm EDT 03/16/14

I have the cast album too. I really am enjoying it. I saw the show twice. It really was not very good and none the songs except the opening made any impression at all. But out of context on their own. I really think some of them are just terrific. The opening number was wonderful but the songs were just poorly framed in the storytelling, I guess. There was so much happening in the story and in the staging that the music just did not resonate for some reason. I mean they left NO impression. Well that's not true. I thinks it's called I DON'T NEED A ROOF? That was beautiful. It was strange. The same thing happened with his music in ADDAMS FAMILY. I never even bothered with that recording. Maybe I would enjoy that out context. Of course, I thought that was a truly awful show. Your post reminds me that I heard a demo of...is there something called titledGIANTS..something??? In BIG FISH. The demo...beautiful.....in the show, did not register at all. I remember thinking when I saw the show the first time, what happened to the song about Giants. Strange, I know. Clumsy storytelling...set a song up poorly....it just sort of evaporates. Gonna get ADDAMS FAMILY now. What's your favorite track on that one?


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re: Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: GavinL 11:12 am EDT 03/17/14
In reply to: re: Big Fish-- OBC - BroadwayLouBlaze 01:50 am EDT 03/17/14

I quite enjoy "Happy/ Sad" and "The Moon and Me" (I think those are the titles...)

I also enjoyed the opening number and the "Full Disclosure" song.

As is the case with Big Fish, I never saw the show, just purchased the cast album (for Lane and Neuwirth).

Maybe I'm easy to please.


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re: Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: Carol2 09:17 am EDT 03/17/14
In reply to: re: Big Fish-- OBC - BroadwayLouBlaze 01:50 am EDT 03/17/14

I enjoyed the show on Broadway and saw it twice (partly because it was discounted). But as a whole it was sometimes cloying and felt overstuffed. I look forward to seeing it again in a regional theater.

The album is a treat. I agree that out of context many of the songs shine. I know I will be playing "Time Stops" often.


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re: Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: BroadwayLouBlaze 01:58 pm EDT 03/17/14
In reply to: re: Big Fish-- OBC - Carol2 09:17 am EDT 03/17/14

I have been thinking about this. Why do you think that we are having this experience. In the show forgettable vs. on their own, pretty enjoyable. I mean, the GIANTs song...heard it before seeing Big Fish. Loved it! Did not even notice it while watching it in show. The obc is pretty much the same arrangement and melody? And for me...the Big Fish score just felt like nothing in the theater. It is as if the terrible book just somehow erased the score??? Curious if others have this experience occasionally and what they attribute it to?


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re: Big Fish-- OBC

Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 04:43 pm EDT 03/17/14
In reply to: re: Big Fish-- OBC - BroadwayLouBlaze 01:58 pm EDT 03/17/14

Of course, over the years there have been a number of flawed, commercially unsuccessful Broadway musicals that produced great, highly enjoyable cast recordings: House of Flowers, Candide, and The Grass Harp come to mind.

I haven't liked Lippa's earlier scores (john and jen, The Wild Party, and The Addams Family), but I was really impressed with Big Fish -- I think it's his best work to date. However, I am one of the minority on the ATC board, who really connected with the show itself. I saw it twice (in Chicago) and was really moved by it.


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