Big Fish: A New Broadway Musical - Script & Vocal Book

A comprehensive vocabulary review of the key characters, narrative motifs, tall tales, and settings from John August and Andrew Lippa's musical Big Fish.

Alabama Stomp

A lively stomping dance step introduced by Edward Bloom that rhythmically stirs the water to make fish jump directly out of the river.

Karl the Giant

An agoraphobic giant living in a cave near Ashton who possesses an intellectual mind for large numbers and joins Edward Bloom to seek fame in the Calloway Circus.

The Witch

A swamp-dwelling Alabama fortune-teller who charges one dollar to reveal a person's future and shows Edward Bloom a vision of how his life ends.

Amos Calloway

The ringmaster and owner of the Calloway Circus who secretly harbors lycanthropy as a werewolf and trades monthly clues about Sandra Templeton in exchange for Edward's unpaid labor.

Sandra Templeton

Edward Bloom's lifelong love and wife, who attended Auburn University, performed with the Alabama Lambs, and was courted by Edward with a field of daffodils.

Ashton

The small Alabama hometown of Edward Bloom that faces destruction when a new reservoir dam threatens to submerge the valley thirty feet underwater.

Jenny Hill

Ashton's high school prom queen and Edward's former girlfriend, who refuses to leave the doomed town until Edward helps relocate her and co-signs the deed to her new home.

Red Fang

The masked poison assassin in Edward Bloom's World War story who attempts to assassinate General Patterson with a blow-dart at a USO show.

Choocalabra

A venomous snake native to Tanzania whose bite previously immunized Edward Bloom against Red Fang's lethal blow-dart poison.

Key to the City

An oversized ceremonial brass key presented to Edward Bloom by the Mayor of Ashton upon his departure, which Edward later pulls from his hospital bed to symbolize unlocking an escape.

The Alabama Lambs

A musical trio composed of teenage Sandra Templeton and two best friends who perform an energetic dance audition for Amos Calloway's traveling circus.

Auburn University

The college attended by Sandra Templeton, situated 763 miles from the circus grounds, to which Edward Bloom travels by circus cannon to propose.

Don Price

Edward Bloom's high school rival from Ashton who studies political science, is briefly engaged to Sandra Templeton, and later serves as Ashton's mayor during the flood crisis.

Will Bloom

Edward Bloom's pragmatic, journalist son who struggles to separate fact from fabrication in his father's larger-than-life stories before ultimately completing Edward's final tale.

Josephine Bloom

Will's wife and fellow journalist whose pregnancy triggers Will's introspection and who actively encourages Will to understand the emotional truth behind Edward's legends.

The Mermaid

A mythical river creature who gives Edward Bloom his first kiss, transforming to walk on land, and returns at the river bank in Edward's final vision.

Daffodils

Sandra Templeton's favorite yellow flowers, which Edward Bloom plants across an entire campus lawn at Auburn University to demonstrate his unwavering devotion.

"What's Next"

A recurring phrase and musical motif representing Edward Bloom's forward-looking philosophy, which Will adopts while improvising Edward's final journey to the river.