The house lights dim and the stage comes alive in color, gradually, murmurs among the audience are replaced with the sound of the live orchestra. Curtain up, it’s show-time! On Jan. 19, Bowie’s Starlight Theater opened with their first performance of this year’s program-wide musical, Big Fish.

“It was definitely at the top of our shortlist of musicals that we were considering. It just has a lot of heart, it’s just a great story,” head director and Bowie theater teacher Marco Bazan said. “People love it and we love it and we love working on it.”

Big Fish is a fantasy-esc dramedy that explores the relationship between a big shot from a small town, Edward, and his city-settled son, Will. As Edward nears the end of his life and Will anticipates the beginning of his own son’s life, Will is determined to find the truth to the crazy, wacky stories about his father’s life that he has told Will since he was a child.

“The show just gives me butterflies,” sophomore Big Fish lead Graciela Grahmann said. “Seeing this relationship with the father and son and all these different characters, it’s just so cool to see.”

This year’s show held a special place in many people’s hearts, whether on stage, behind the scenes, or in the audience. 

“I always tried to pick plays that are going to mean something to people,” Bazan said. “My director in high school would always say ‘you always do the show for the person in the back who’s sitting there who needs to hear this story.’” 

This year’s musical had significant on-stage student contributions, with a cast consisting of two sets of leads and several various ensembles, including a dance ensemble that performed several  numbers choreographed by student leaders Madigan Pound, Gibson Gelfer, Alice Jeffries, and Genivieve Downing. 

 “It was really fun, but it also came with a lot of challenges,”  junior Gelfer said. “It’s as hard as any other leadership role; getting people to focus, taking action, being assertive, but also the creative aspect of it.”

Bowie STC students also had several back stage contributions in costumes, hair and make-up, and set design, as well as the highly anticipated return of a full student orchestra and choral backing vocals.

“It’s the fact that people from outside our department join us, whether it’s a dancer, a cheerleader, or a musician,” Bazan said. “Especially now having the live orchestra back on our team, it’s really lovely to bond with all these people that you maybe don’t always see.”

The musical is the STC’s biggest production in terms of participation, bringing people from all aspects of the theater department into one project. 

“It’s the only time during the school year that we’re all working on one project,” Bazan said. “So, I think that my favorite part is that we’re all unified.” 

Working collaboratively in rehearsals for the several weeks leading up to the first performance is what makes it worth it for many students, including senior Finnigan Alexander, who played Edward bloom alongside Griffan Yancy. 

“My favorite part about musical season is the performing live,” Alexander said. “Performing itself has got to be my favorite bit just because you get to get up there on that stage and show everything you’ve been working toward for so long. It’s so rewarding.”