From the moment that the lights went down and the orchestra began to play, there was magic in the theater. All seats were full but the first row; the only students who dared sit there were the same ones who leaped to their feet with the end of every song. There is something about high school productions that cannot be matched by any professional theater company. It is more self-aware of its incapacities, sure, but it’s also more hard won and raw for the feelings raging within every performer.

Big Fish begins when Edward Bloom, played by senior Travis Turner, is standing at the river the day of his son Will’s wedding. Junior Austin Hand exhorts his father to not tell any stories, nor any jokes, at the wedding. Though the sound was a bit too quiet in those first moments, it only lended a sense of intimacy that immediately let the audience into Edward’s pain of being pushed away by his only son. The first musical number, “Be the Hero”, examines the love and happiness that a young child feels via their parents. Aiden Lee, freshman, exceeded all expectations as Will’s younger counterpart, hearing his father’s stories for the first time.

The first story that Edward tells is of a witch he and his friends sought out as teenagers in small-town Alabama. Though his friends were merely told they would live “unextraordinary lives”, Edward is shown a future in which his ambition takes him everywhere. Junior Maria Cuddemi’s performance of “I Know What You Want” channeled a Janis Joplin-like rasp and passion, which left the audience stunned in their seats.

The pain and strain between father and son are evident. In fascinatingly crafted parallel scenes, Will and his new wife, Josephine, played by senior Abby Meyer, are told they are having a son. Opposite them, Edward is diagnosed with cancer and his own wife Sandra, senior Jordan Hughes, pleads with him to tell Will how sick he really is. This scene transitions to Will’s first solo, “Stranger”, in which he both accepts his incoming fatherhood and meanwhile rejects the father that never gave him any truth. Hand’s voice strengthened as he sang, contributing to the realism of the realization that he was angry beyond belief with his father.

When Will and Josephine return to the home Will grew up in in Montgomery, Alabama, Hughes gets her own first solo. Having played motherly roles in both Radium Girls and Big Fish, her compassion and concern for the family she holds together shine through in “Two Men in My Life”. Costumers and makeup designers perfectly portrayed Sandra as the Alabama girl-next-door, as we later find her to be.

In Edward’s next story, though, the magnificence came from the truth. He explains how he grew up in Ashton, a tiny town in which he was one of a few with ambition. He excels at baseball and football, chemistry and dancing, and of course, getting “the blondest girl in Ashton”. Junior Megan Bean’s performance as Jenny Hill explored the yearning that comes with young love, her accent just twangy enough and her identity revolving around her boyfriend in a way that feels identically small-town. We return to simpler times in Ashton, and that paradoxically forces us to wish that Edward would get the heck out.

The next stories convey all the messages that kids should see, of acceptance and kindness for those around you. Junior Jackson Holland’s performance as Karl the giant and junior Parker Bennett’s as the (ahem) ringmaster Amos Calloway are truly fun, and “Out There on the Road” is inspiring in all the right ways. The show progresses in a, “anything you can do, I can do better” kind of sequence, and so the moment that a young Edward sees Sandra for the first time makes the room fall away.

“Little Lamb from Alabama”, “Time Stops”, and “Closer to Her” serve to create a whirlwind of magic that mimics falling in love. When taken together, they are just a tiny bit far-fetched, infinitely more spellbinding, and wholly encompassing of what it feels like to see the girl. The actors on stage set a perfect backdrop, swirling in slow motion. Actors even hung from the ceiling in a technically-flawless feat, and the whole circus was simultaneously alluring and pure. Fossil Ridge High School’s talent in the realm of theater really culminated in that scene, with outlandish costumes, gaudy makeup, a convincing set, and as always, dancers and actors who were clearly thrilled at every moment on stage.

Just before the curtain closed to intermission, Turner and Hughes took the stage for one more display of their love. “Daffodils” convinced us, through and through. Sandra’s face shines with a look of seeing nothing but Edward, and the audience truly gasped when daffodils bloomed on every inch of the stage. When the song ended, every audience member had to sit for a moment before they could return to reality.

The second time the orchestra commenced and the lights went down, the magic was already in the air. It was begging to be told, and all around me were literally leaning forward in their seats so they didn’t miss a second. Filled with mysticism and beauty, sickness and anguish, the second act of Big Fish told the audience on a rollercoaster of love and family and truth.

Senior Gabby Actor’s dance solo, Edward’s nightmare of a western film, and the use of filmed blue jello to create the illusion of a flood all stood above anything I’ve seen in a high school production. When the play reaches its twilight hour, the audience can’t really bear to watch. Though we’ve been bracing ourselves to what must happen all along, we suddenly can’t stand the idea of the stories’ ends. Like any of the best tales, there was bittersweetness to the applause, because no one could forget Edward and how he had started it all.

If you want to take a literary approach to the play, examine how the beds change as the characters age. If you want to hear some of the up and coming voices in next generation’s Broadway, this is the place to do it. And if you want to be privy to a world where magic flourishes, where young love is true and beautiful, where Fossil has put together their most incredible musical to date, come see Big Fish, showing March 31, April 6, and April 7 at 7 p.m.