Professor of Music, Choirs, and Orchestra James Holleman will conduct his last musical at Hillsdale College, “Big Fish,” this week, alongside the production’s director Tory Matsos, lecturer in theater.

“I specifically wanted to be the music director and conduct this show because I knew I was leaving,” Holleman said. 

“Big Fish” will be performed in Markel Auditorium March 4-7 from 7:30-10 p.m. and March 8 from 2-4:30 p.m. 

The musical “Big Fish” highlights the importance of family and the power of storytelling through the life of traveling salesman Edward Bloom and his skeptical son Will. 

Holleman described their performance of  “Big Fish” as “going out on a high,” because of how much he likes the show and working with the cast, crew, and orchestra.

“The positive, enthusiastic spirit of everybody on stage, all the directors, all the backstage people, all the tech people, everything that went into this show is about the most positive experience I’ve been a part of in this theater,” Holleman said. “And I think you can see that. And you can hear it on the stage.”

“When we do a choir concert or an orchestra concert, we know every beat of every measure,” Holleman said. “Here, there could be a costume change problem, somebody could miss a line, somebody could add a line. But that’s kind of the excitement of it, too.”

He also expressed a love for the challenge and optimism for this performance.

“It can be a little scary because of all the variables,” Holleman said. “But it’s just so magical when it all comes together.”

Matsos, the show’s director, said the music and theatre departments began considering “Big Fish” for this musical performance as early as last year.

“We’re very glad that we went with this one,” Matsos said. “And I’m so excited for parents to see it this weekend.”

Matsos praised the cast and crew involved in the musical for their enthusiastic attitude.

“I have loved working with them, and they have been so positive and had such great energy,” she said. “I think that speaks to how attached they are to this story.”

Matsos said the spirit of the cast and crew reflects the spirit of the musical’s story.

“It’s been so much like a family,” Matsos said. “And given how much the story is about family, that’s been a really special piece of this.”

Matsos spoke about the challenges of putting on a musical performance of such a large scale.

“It’s a huge show. There’s a lot of spectacle with the circus, the endless fields of daffodils, and these huge scenes that demand a lot of attention to detail, and scale,” Matsos said. “And we’ve gotten really inventive about how we’re doing that.”

Sophomore Noah Woo is a costume supervisor for “Big Fish.” He said organizing costumes for the cast was difficult.

“It’s been a trial by fire, honestly,” Woo said. “This is my first foray into the world of theater, and it’s definitely a lot more cardio intensive than I thought.”

Woo said because “Big Fish” is full of flashback scenes and constant transitions, each actor needs several costumes.

“Because of the time skips and transitions into different stories, we definitely have more costumes than usual,” Woo said.

Senior Kevin Pynes, who plays Amos Calloway, a ringleader and owner of a circus, in “Big Fish,” said it’s a privilege to have musicals with a live orchestra.

“That’s not something that can happen very much anymore,” Pynes said. “It’s really just a select few colleges and really well-funded community theaters, and even in community theater it’s very rare.”

Pynes praised the whole cast and crew, noting especially the work of choreographer Megan Wiggers.

“Megan is really a lovely person to work with,” Pynes said. “And she knows how to tell a story with dance.”

“Big Fish” will be Pynes’ last mainstage theatre performance before his graduation this spring.

“It’s weird to think I’m never going to work with Tori or Chris in this capacity again,” Pynes said. “And that’s very sad, but it’s also a good jumping off point.”