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Big Fish  book by John August, music & lyrics by Andrew Lippa

Love and loss come together in this tear-jerking, outlandish, wild ride of a musical. The struggle between Will Bloom and his father, Edward, is told through extravagant and heartfelt numbers. What is real and what is fake? Will tries to figure out who his father really is as his wife and him get ready to welcome a son into the world. Edward, a traveling salesman, tells extravagant stories about his travels to inspire his son to be the hero of his story. Ending in Edward's death and Will's acceptance that his father was a good man, even if he made mistakes in his past.

Catfish puppet

This catfish puppet was meant to symbolize Edward's soul/essence during his funeral. Honoring Edward's request to "remember [him] as something bigger than [he] was," this catfish totaled out at 6'-5" in length-- 5" taller than our actor.

Materials

luan

purple foam

muslin

dowel rods

chicken wire

Sketches to get an idea together

The structure ended up changing drastically

build process

not pictured: purple foam used to bulk up tail

skinning & painting

I starched the muslin to allow the chicken wire texture to peak through and give a bit more structure

styled after a catfish

red ribbon on tails to match ringmaster's coat

Elephant butts

The main attraction for Calloway's Circus: dancing elephants!

Materials

plywood

chicken wire

muslin strips

glue/water mix

grey fabric

red ribbon

acrylic paint

build process

structure sketches

attached fabric and painted it with dark grey for wrinkles

watered down some brown and spray bottled it to emulate dirt

added feeties for actors to be able to maneuver legs

removed some plywood to make it lighter

 

not pictured:

arm straps to move weight distribution from arms to shoulders/back

Handheld highlights

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