Whitewater High School Players present fall musical
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
For many in the Whitewater community the holiday season will start out not with Thanksgiving Day, but a week earlier, with the Whitewater High School Players’ fall musical production.
This year, more than 60 WHS students will be putting their talents – as actors, backstage crew members, or pit orchestra musicians – to the test in four performances of “Big Fish” at the Whitewater High School auditorium. Show times are 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 17-19, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20.
Jim McCulloch and Liz Elliot provide leadership as co-directors and Abi Pulvermacher directs the pit orchestra.
General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens, and can be reserved by calling (262) 472-8178 or purchased at the box office one hour before the performance.
Beginning about 30 minutes before each performance, photos of the three prior WHS fall musicals will be shown in the auditorium.
The actors for “Big Fish” include: Allisan Barrett, Gracia Boley, Caleb Bols, Henry Bresser, Carina Casillas, Colin Chenoweth, Gianna Creanza, Mitchell Dalzin, Hiqmet Dauti, Haley Deiter, Maddie Elsworthy, Jillian Harkness, Lauren Harkness, Michael Hilliger, Alec Holt, Jimmy King, Weston Lema, Andra Matthews, Sophie Mayer, Angie Mckelvey, Stephanie Ordaz, Gabe Schemmel, Nicole Sedmak, Caty Strait, Remi Van Daele, Lydia Wiley-Deal and Catherine Yang.
Providing the essential – and often invisible – backstage support for the projection are: Natalia Adsit, Maribel Alvarez, Rosie Aschenbrener, Savannah Boss, Jared Clapper, Courtney Coleman, Sophie Elsworthy, Katrina Griffin, Josie Hintz, Dakota Isbell, Morgan Janovec, Cally Julson, Jordyn Korf, David Kromholz, Andrea Kuhl, Michael Kuhl, Jacob Lee, Thomas McManaway, Gwen Smith, Sage Spear, Slate Spear, Kylee Traylor and Emma VanDaele.
Adding musical magic to the show are pit orchestra members: Allisan Barrett, Rhiannan Carlock, Abby Center, Caroline Crowley, Grace Ejnik, Nick Kuzoff, Natalie LaBreche, Jack Mayer, Elliott McCulloch, Miriam Navejas, Roberto Navejas, Alisha Parboteeah, Luis Ramirez, Lydia Wiley Deal and Jacob Zuehlke.
The play is based on Daniel Wallace’s 1998 novel, “Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions.” The novel was also re-shaped into a 2003 motion picture directed by Tim Burton, including performances by Albert Finney, Jessica Lange and Danny DeVito.
“Big Fish” tells the tale of Edward Bloom, a man who leads an extraordinary life – at least according to the stories he tells his son, Will. But Will, who is getting married and expecting a child of his own, doesn’t think there’s any truth to the extravagant tales his father tells about meeting witches, kissing mermaids or joining the circus. He doesn’t even believe the story of how his father proposed to his mother, Sandra, in a field full of daffodils.
When Edward’s health begins to decline, Will visits his father and tries one last time to find out the truth behind the tall tales. As Edward and Will’s relationship becomes increasingly strained, Will must decide whether to accept his father’s wild stories as fact or risk losing him completely.
Filled with plenty of memorable songs and a variety of dance numbers, “Big Fish” is overflowing with heart and humor and offers its audience a theatrical experience that is richer, funnier and bigger than life itself.
Liz Elliot guides the actors in their singing. She said the music of “Big Fish” “has really grown on me, and with many of the cast members as well.”
“As most musicals, ‘Big Fish’ provides a variety of musical styles for students to sing. It seems to have more music than some shows we have done, which puts more pressure on our leading actors and actresses,” she continued. “This show tells such a unique story and it has been fun to dissect the lyrics with the students (and) to discuss what the meaning is behind the different pieces.”
