Photo credit: Rhonda Schmidt
Waukesha Civic Theatre’s production of Big Fish will not disappoint. It has song, dance, humor and heart. A wonderful cast performs with power and grace and leaves the audience dazzled. It’s the story of father, husband, traveling salesman and master storyteller Edward Bloom; his devoted wife, Sandra; and their doubtful son, Will. Growing up, Will can’t understand why his father tells so many crazy stories when he’s home from his work on the road, and as a young man, Will is bitter that his father was never there for him as a boy.
While the entire cast is great, the three leading actors give very strong performances. As Edward, Mark Neufang belts out various songs while gracefully dancing across the stage. Katie Berg’s vocals as Sandra are well executed, especially in her rendition of “Two Men in My Life.” As Will, Eric Bergendahl is powerful in “Stranger.”
When Will is about to get married, he asks his father not to tell any stories at the wedding. Edward does, however, blurt out to the guests the fact that Will’s bride is pregnant. This leads to a fight between them, and an angry Will vows he will leave with his bride and never come back.
Edward and Sandra have kept a secret from Will: Edward has cancer. Finally, they decide he should know, which brings Will home to try to patch things up. The message here is that life can be short, and we must communicate with and learn to love each other. In later years, as Will’s son is growing up, Will finds himself telling his son some similar tales to those his father had told him in his youth. Life, indeed, has a way of coming full circle.
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Due to the evolving situation regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic, performances of Big Fish are postponed indefinitely.
