The McLean Theatre company’s production of “Big Fish” is nominated for a total of 21 Cappies this year. The cast and crew
has worked tirelessly on the production of “Big Fish”, beginning at the end of last year.
“As a company, we’ve put in every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this show,” said senior Matt Lucero, who plays Karl the Giant and is nominated for Featured Actor. “Every single member of our cast has put everything they have into this show.”
Last year, the McLean Theatre Company earned a 17 Cappie nominations for the production of “Catch Me If You Can”, including Best Song, Best Musical, and Lead Actor in a Musical. Therefore, the great number of nominations did not necessarily come as a surprise to the McLean Theatre Company.
“It’s always interesting when Cappies time comes around, seeing how much we got,” Lucero said. “We got around 21 this year. I know we were all really happy about it. I think it validates all the work we’ve done and all of the countless hours and efforts that we’ve put into it.”
This year, McLean did especially well with technical nominations. Last year the company did not win any technical Cappies, but the cast worked hard and earned itself eight technical nominations.
“This year every single one of our tech awards were nominated except make-up and marketing,” junior Zoe Le Menestrel, who was part of the ensemble, said. “I think we have a really nice showing of those, so we are looking forward to seeing what is going to happen at Cappies itself.”
One of these technical Cappies nomination the Company earned includes a nomination in sets.
“I was confident about [sets]. We actually created a motorized rolling platform for our set. That was really impressive,” Lucero said. “[Senior] Ben French, our lead set designer and builder, worked with a lot of people to get it done.”
A lot of this year’s nominations are thanks to the director of Big Fish and theater teacher, Ms. Poe.
[Our success this year] is a testament to how far we have come,” Le Menestrel said. “Ms. Poe started working on the theater department about five years ago. She started from scratch and built up the department and here we are going to Nationals in June.”
The production has not only received praise from the Cappies critics, but also the students, teachers, and families of the McLean community.
“I think it appealed to a lot of people because everyone loves fantasy,” Lucero said. “Everyone has that family member that’s always telling cool stories. And for a show like this, it’s full of crazy cool moments. I’m walking on stilts, there’s tap moments, there’s really funny moments, and the ending which personally always makes me cry. I think the combination of all these cool things really speaks to an audience member.”
The members of the McLean Theatre Company are greatly looking forward to the Cappies, while will be held on Sunday, June 7th at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
“We’re performing one of our title songs, “Be the Hero”, on the Kennedy Center Stage,” Lucero said. “It’s going to be crazy cool to see that happen. I’m very excited.”
Click here for a full list of all Cappie nominations
