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  • 1.  Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-26-2022 13:43
    Good morning! I'm in the strange position of having two strong male singers in my high school program and am debating between these two shows next year. Wondering if anyone is willing to share pros and cons for each?  Thanks in advance.

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    Karen Nylund-Lieb
    West Hills High School
    CA
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  • 2.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-27-2022 07:21

    Hi!

     

    We have done Addams Family at our school. It was a HUGE hit! Probably the highest community regard for it. Saying that, the males in it have GREAT roles, but don't necessarily need to be the best singers. Gomez has a good song, as does the love interest and his dad (I'm terrible with remembering character names...sorry!). But, it doesn't feature them amazingly. The main focus of this show is kind of the gimmick of the Addams Family – wacky and kooky. If you play that up, it's just a really fun and exciting show for everyone involved.

     

    I'm not as familiar with Big Fish, but from the songs I've heard, the males need to have good vocals to get through it.

     

    Hope this helps!



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  • 3.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-27-2022 11:14
    Both are great shows. Just depends on their style and acting ability as well as singing. 

    I've done both shows.

    If they are tenors and real singers with more natural style of acting, hands down, BIG FISH. 

    Addams Family is character driven with big broad characters.  
    There is Gomez with the most demanding songs. Next would be Uncle Fester and he has a couple of good numbers. Then the boyfriend sings in one song.  And finally, you need an unchanged voice for Pugsley.  Lurch is a bass with a song at the end.

    Break a leg and may all your theatre seats  be filled.

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    Kelly Thomas
    Poteet High School
    TX
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  • 4.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-31-2022 11:15
    We've done the School Editions of both and both are great. If you don't have an amazing high baritone with good top notes and lots of charisma for Edward and a really good tenor for Will plus a great singer-dancer with a warm soprano and a belt for Sandra,  don't do Big Fish. It is a heartwarming and fun adventure with a mix of music styles. Super fun for the ensemble- can accommodate a huge one. Many very quick changes for Sandra including wig changes to show the different time periods. Can be very confusing for the audience if you don't make it really clear what decade you are in since it jumps back and forth. Doesn't require much vocally of the other girls.

    Addams is great fun. Plenty of innuendo, but we submitted requested edits to TRW, which were approved. Less vocally demanding of the male lead, though he does sing a lot and has to be a great comic actor. Fester is really high and requires a character actor. Also need a singer-dancer for Morticia, but an alto; heavier on the dancing and great comic timing needed. Need amazing singers for Wednesday(belter) and Alice(soprano with a belt). The costumes are really fun to come up with beyond the small group of ancestors called for in the script. Bonus that they only need one costume. The hair and makeup are a huge pain. Not as much for the full ensemble to do,  though you can give them as much background stage time as you want.

    No one in our community was familiar with either show before we did them.  Addams is probably the easier sell now with the multiple movies that have come out in the last few years. 






  • 5.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-31-2022 11:15
    Big Fish is such a great show. If you have the people to do it, I would say go for it. The music is lovely! I do not have strong singers yet so this show is on the back burner for me. I am considering Addams Family for my show and I agree that while there is something for a lot of people, it may not necessarily highlight your two gentlemen the way you would like.

    Good luck!!

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    Wendy Hughes
    Drama Teacher
    Bogota High School
    NJ
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  • 6.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-31-2022 11:15

    So funny enough I did addams family, well the quarantined concert version they put out in 2021 and did Big fish this year.. the same actor actually played Gomez and Edward bloom. From an audience stand point, more people knew what addams family was just based on the name than big fish other than it's a wonderful movie. My students enjoyed being in big fish more than addams family though! So it depends on what you're going for. Do you want to do a silly comedy, or do you want to do a show with a little more depth? Do you have a strong actress to play Sandra ? Or a tenor or at a least a baritenor with really good acting chops to play will? 



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    Cori Bott
    Drama Advisor/ Theatre Director
    Jackson Memorial High School
    NJ
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  • 7.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 05-31-2022 11:16
    Agree with other commenters.
    We just closed Addams (which is why I'm here-- thinking about next year's show too). Pros of Addams-- students LOVED creating ancestor characters, show moves quickly- plenty of humor keeps audience involved and laughing-- appropriate themes that high school students can easily grasp and run with--- Leads are great character roles with some gender flexibility with Pugsley and Fester (we had girls play both as males which works perfectly with this family's story)--- and more! It was just a slam dunk. But to your question-- Big Fish does need those two STRONG male leads which is hard to come across in high school so you may want to run with it while you have it and save Addams for when you don't. You will probably always have a Morticia and Wednesday. I would suggest seizing on the two male lead opportunities and find a show that suits them because that opportunity, at least in my case, is rare. Newsies? Guys and Dolls? 
    Also, I do love the music in Big Fish, but the story is unwieldy-- needs cohesion. And I personally don't think it needs that long procession at the end-- it's overwrought and the audience gets it. But the pros are the big cast, approachable themes, and those two stellar male performance opportunities. If you have two  male leads, I think it would be  shame to waste them on Addams. Good luck!

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    sarah fitzkee
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  • 8.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 06-06-2022 08:05
    Good morning,

    Like many on this thread, I have done both. I believe that Big Fish is a better show for two strong males.

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    Crit Fisher
    Lighting/Sound Designer
    New Albany High School
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  • 9.  RE: Big Fish vs Addams Family

    Posted 06-15-2022 12:47
    Addams Family has some good, hummable songs ("Pulled" comes to mind), it's newer so audiences aren't burned out on it, and it has name recognition that pulls in audiences. There are only a few risky jokes so it's well suited for a high school. And it's got a decent number of named characters so you can spread the love when casting, as opposed to shows with only 3 or 4 main characters. Easy costumes and almost the entire show takes place in the Addams house so while you need a big set, you only need one and it doesn't move.

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    Paula Gor
    teacher planners
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