The composer and script writer of the 2013 Broadway musical « Big Fish, » on Thursday blasted the decision by a Pittsburgh theater to cancel the production.
Andrew Lippa and John August, the composer and script writer of the 2013 Broadway musical “Big Fish,” have blasted the decision by a Pittsburgh theater to cancel an upcoming production because of the director’s plan to include a same-sex couple and their child in one of the show’s production numbers.
“‘Family-friendly’ shouldn’t mean ignoring reality,” Lippa and August said in a joint statement to TheWrap on Thursday. “Let’s remember that in America there are all kinds of families, including ones with two dads, two moms, people of all gender identity, color and creed. Family-friendly is something bigger than it once was.”
August and Lippa made the statement after they learned that the Palisade Playhouse in Pittsburgh had halted the production following the resignation of director Nik Nemec and several cast members. Nemec quit when he clashed with playhouse producers over how to include a gay family in the background of a song.
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Lippa and August added, “Specifically, the director planned to include a same-sex couple as part of the background action during the song ‘Stranger.’”
The Playhouse producers had been working on “Big Fish” for a run starting June 15, but announced on Facebook a month before opening that it was halting the production .
“The decision to cancel ‘Big Fish’ comes on the heels of a dispute between the director and co-founding producers over how to proactively insert representation of an LGBT+ family despite the fact that the script did not include any reference to the LGBT+ community,” read the May 15 statement posted on Facebook.
“The script did not include any reference to the LGBT+ community,” said August and Lippa in their statement. “That’s correct; nowhere in the script does it say that any character is gay or lesbian or trans… but nor does it say they aren’t. A director’s decision to signal that two silent characters are same-sex parents isn’t changing the text. It’s providing context and framing. It’s directing.”
“Big Fish’ is a musical about parenthood, family and love. These are shared experiences of all human beings,” added August and Lippa.
“Big Fish” is based on the 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace and was also adapted in a 2003 movie starring Ewan McGregor and directed by Tim Burton. The story centers on a frustrated son who tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father’s life.
Initially, the producers had agreed to let Nemec include the gay family with two fathers walking across the stage in the background where Will Bloom sings about becoming a father for the first time. However, when Nemec changed the blocking of the scene so that Will focused more on the two fathers, the producers protested the blocking because it “created a question about whether the director’s addition would convey a message about gay marriage that would be seen as inclusive to some but exclusive to others.”
Read the Palisades Playhouse facebook statement, followed by the response by August and Lippa.
Read August and Lippa’s statement below:
