Hello Beautiful People,
I loved Big Fish the book. I adored Big Fish the movie.
Big Fish on Broadway…well, that’s taking it to another level.
There’s only two songs that have been released to the ears of the public, and so far, I’m in love. In. Love. The movie had magic, and spark, and heart, and the type of lively electricity that just permeates the bloodstream; if the music is any indication of what’s to come, well, I believe this show will take your breath away.
For those of you who don’t know, I teach in a program that is home to kids who were/are at risk for dropping out of high school. Affectionately called “night school”, the program is home to a colorful collection of characters, many who have stories that will tug at your heart and bring a tear to your eye.
But alas, I digress.
At this moment, the song Fighting Dragons particularly warmed my heart. I’m a big believer in teaching through music and lyrics, and the lyric “So I’ll fight the dragons, till you can…” hit me like a ton of bricks; it also seemed to be a perfect way to introduce the movie and the concept of storytelling.
For those of you who haven’t listened to the song, you best get on that right now. But, it highlights the relationship of the father and son in the story. It highlights one of those beautiful elements of being a parent, wanting to fight battles for your child, wanting to protect your child, wanting to shield them from all that is bad and dark, wanting to keep them safe until they are able to conquer their own battles on their own.
So I asked my kids, did your parents tell you stories when you were younger? Did you have a favorite bedtime story? A favorite tale? Did they have a way with words that made you feel protected? Loved? Like they were your own personal superhero?
You could hear crickets.
The silence was deafening.
“Nobody fought for us, Ms. Min. We fight for ourselves.”
Ugh. Blech. That just hits me like a ton of bricks. Even reading it on the screen right now…it hits me straight in the gut. Makes my heart a little…aw hell, it hurts my heart a lot. My kids, some of them are so hard, cause that is how they’ve fought their own battles. That’s how they’ve conquered their own dragons. They’ve put on their own armor, and dealt with the monsters that cross their paths.
At first, when I played the song and told them they were going to watch the movie, they thought it was cheesy. True to teenage form, they complained. A lot. And then the next class they wanted to know when we were going to watch the movie again, and wanted to know if there was more music from the show.
To the cast & crew & creative team of Big Fish – Happy First Preview! I have no doubt Chicago will love y’all, and I know that NYC can’t wait to dive right into the magic of Big Fish on Broadway.
Live, Love, Learn,