HANCEVILLE, Ala. – At the end of a long and dreary news day, from the revelation of Alabama’s first confirmed coronavirus cases to numerous announcements of organizational shutdowns and event cancellations, The Tribune found cars parked around the Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre at Wallace State Community College Friday evening, as Wallace State Fine and Performing Arts put on night two of its production of “Big Fish.” With spring break coming up next week for the community college’s students, and word that campus events would be canceled, the audience was smaller than usual, but the show went on.
As the cast prepared to take the stage, Director Lauren Salerno told The Tribune, “We’ve had some challenges, but they’re excited to tell the story and to show the work that they’ve done. And I think that, at times like this, art becomes really important, because it’s our way to express ourselves and our humanity. I think that things like theater and music become really important. People want to escape; they want to feel something different, so what we’re hoping to do is help them feel happy. This show has some really fun numbers and some excellent performances, so we hope we do that.”
“Big Fish” is the story of reconciliation between a father, Edward Bloom (Riley Adams), and his estranged son Will (Eli Parker). Edward is approaching the end of his life, and all Will knows of him is a collection of quasi-fairy tale stories his father has told repeatedly over the years. After Will learns the very real truth that lies behind the fantastic tales, he is charged with creating the conclusion to his father’s one unfinished story.
The Broadway musical version put on by Wallace State is a mix of comedy and drama with several big musical/dance numbers. A live score was provided by an orchestra under the leadership of Wallace State’s Ricky Burks.
In putting on “Big Fish,” Salerno said she particularly enjoyed “The styles, because there’s a lot of different- it’s folklore and it’s myth. The tales are sort of this bigger-than-life situations that he lives. There’s lots of different styles of choreography and music, and that’s been fun- to get to live those different things.”
Aside from having to focus on the show in the context of current events, the cast faced its own challenges from the production itself.
Said Salerno, “Most of the people are playing like seven different characters. The actors have to play multiple ages. The lead actors, Edward and Sandra, have to be teenagers, middle-aged and older- like 65-ish- so finding a way to make that believable is difficult, but I think we’ve done a good job of it.”
Still showing!
As of Friday night, Salerno reported that weekend shows were still on, with performances at 7 p.m. Saturday and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday.
Cast
- Edward Bloom – Riley Adams
- Will Bloom – Eli Parker
- Sandra Bloom – McCoy Cleghorn
- Karl – Jady Pipes
- Jenny Hill – Chloe Nutt
- Amos Calloway/Red Fang – Samuel Hewitt
- The Witch/Ensemble – Jorrelle Webster, Isabelle Garlowich
- Young Will – Doc Porter
- Don Price/Ensemble – Conner Gulley
- Zacky Price – Caleb Douglas
- Josephine – Marie Bean
- Bennett/Ensemble – Talia Ponas
- Mermaid/Ensemble – Beatriz Iannucci
- Mayor/Fisherman/Ensemble – Claudio Ramirez
- School Teacher/Ensemble – Deanna Brunetti
- Little Girl/Ensemble – Zauria Foster
- Nurse/Ensemble – Courtney Bryant
- General Patterson/Ensemble – Isaiah Washington
- Over-Excited Scout – Boyd Porter
- Will’s Son/Scout – John Isaac Richter
Crew
- Stage Managers – Conner Gully, Samantha Drake, Hannah Dempster
- Assistant Stage Managers – Abby Drake, Dayton Brunetti, Dakota Brunetti, Brett Henderson
- Dressers – Abby Drake, Hannah Dempster
- Wireless Mic Operator – James Carter
- Light Board Operator – Samantha Drake
- Spotlight Operators – Jessica Webster, Hannah Glassco
- BOTS – Riley Adams
- Set Construction – Cast
- Lighting Design – Samuel Hewitt
- Assistant Director – Samantha Drake
- Director, Choreographer, Musical Director – Lauren Cantrell Salerno
Orchestra
- Conductor – Ricky Burks
- Piano – Dale Moore
- Keyboards – Duke Cleghorn
- Drums – Aaron Williams
- Percussion – Chandler Ogles
- Trumpet – Drew White
- French Horn – Evan Curtis
- Flute – Charli Smith
- Clarinet/Saxophone – Jacob Keisler
- Clarinet/Saxophone – Jimmy Simpson
- Bass – Cayla Bagwell
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