Big Fish

Big Fish, book by John August, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, which might have been called “Life of a Salesman,” is the most entertaining show in town at this time. Director/choreographer Susan Stroman fills the tall tales of salesman Edward Bloom (a powerful, moving Norbert Leo Butz) with brilliant innovation as she brings to life the mythical characters he describes to his son (such as an amusing giant, played by Ryan Andes) and gives us folk-based dances like The Alabama Strut that expand dance vocabulary to new imaginative heights.

Costumes by William Ivey Long are delightfully playful, and Julian Crouch’s fantastic, active set, with Benjamin Percy’s projections as part of it, is as good as set design gets. Big Fish offers plenty of laughs to go with its heart-felt emotion. The story, from Daniel Wallace’s novel, is ultimately quite moving as we experience the decline of this vivid man, and the vicissitudes of his communication with his son. The songs are melodic and memorable, with terrific singers: Butz, Kate Baldwin as Bloom’s wife and Bobby Steggert as his son at an older age. Two other sweet-singing women in the cast caught me: Krystal Joy Brown is a joy as the son’s wife, and Kirsten Scott moved me as the son’s ex-girlfriend. This is top-level Broadway musical entertainment with strong emotional content.