North Sanpete High presents ‘Big Fish’ Nov. 18, 21, 23
By Blake Gumprecht
MT. PLEASANT—For five days later this month, the stage in the North Sanpete High School Auditorium will be transformed into a small town in Alabama as the setting for the tall tales of a traveling salesman named Edward Bloom.
Students in the North Sanpete High School Drama Department will perform the musical “Big Fish” at 7 p.m. nightly, Wednesday, Nov. 18 through Saturday, Nov. 21, and on Monday, Nov. 23 (no show on Sunday). There will also be a 12:30 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Nov. 21.
“Big Fish” is best known as a 2003 motion picture directed by Tim Burton and starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, and Jessica Lange. It was turned into a musical in 2013, debuting in Chicago and moving to Broadway later the same year. It has since then been performed in cities around the world, including London, Tokyo, and Sydney, Australia.
Based on a book by Daniel Wallace, “Big Fish” is the story of Edward Bloom and the fantastic stories he has been telling all his life, full of giants and witches and colossal catfish. But it is equally an exploration of his relationship with his son, Will, who is more pragmatic than his father.
As Edward nears the end of his life, Will wants to figure out what was true and what was myth in his father’s stories about his life. That is explored using flashbacks.
The musical is directed by Alex Barlow, a drama teacher who is in his 12th year of teaching at North Sanpete. The music is directed by Brian Stucki, a voice professor at Snow College. The choreographer is Sarah Anderson. The musical was written by John August, while Andrew Lippa composed the music and lyrics.
The NSHS Drama Department produces one student musical every year. Barlow and his collaborators have been considering staging “Big Fish” for several years. Barlow saw the movie when it was released, and liked it, but it wasn’t until he saw the musical performed in 2015 at the Hale Center Theater that he began thinking of bringing it to the high school stage. Sucki directed the music for a production of “Big Fish” at Snow College in 2017.
“I thought it was a great show,” Barlow recalled. “I love that it is a really fun blend of adventure and fantasy. There are giants and witches, and great, upbeat music, but, at the same time, the show was really impactful. By the end, it was really moving. We felt like it was a good fit for our students.”
Students were told in the spring that “Big Fish” would be the school’s next musical. Most were not aware of “Big Fish,” since they weren’t alive when the movie was released. They began rehearsing after Labor Day and practice every day after school until 6 p.m., and sometimes on Saturdays.
The cast
Forty-two students will perform in the musical. Some of the characters are played by two different students, sometimes to represent different ages in the character’s life, but also to give more students the opportunity to perform and as a hedge in case one of them gets sick.
Edward Bloom is played by junior Aiden Lewis. He played Orpheus in the NSHS production of “Hadestown” last year. His role in “Big Fish” is especially difficult because he is on stage for nearly the entire two-hour show and must go through numerous costume changes to portray Bloom at different stages in his life. The movie and other stage productions have cast multiple actors in the role.
“It is a gigantic part for a high school student,” Barlow said. “Aiden is very talented. He is a very, very hard worker and very reliable.”
The adult Will Bloom is played by Benjamin Feltenberger and Kameron Reynosa. Young Will is played Melo Chambers and Nixon Ferguson. Bloom’s wife, Sandra Bloom, is played by Alahna Smith for her younger years and Aspen Tui when she is older.
One of the difficulties of staging “Big Fish” in a small town in Utah is replicating its setting in the Deep South. To help with that, students have been learning how to speak like southerners from various websites. But equally important, Barlow said, is to make sure the characters embody the culture of the region and its people, very different from Utah.
“We’ve tried to give it an Alabama feel,” Barlow said. “That’s been really challenging.”
Past North Sanpete musicals have been honored by the Utah High School Musical Theatre Awards. The school’s production of “Amélie” won best musical and best direction in 2024. NSHS won best direction and ensemble for “Hadestown” in 2026. It won best costume and scenic design for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in 2022.
Tickets
Tickets for “Big Fish” are $9 at the door, $8 if purchased online. They can be purchased at nshsdrama.ludus.com. Online purchasers can get a $1 discount by entering the discount code “MESSENGER” at checkout.