Live a BIG life

April 2025

By Kami Danner & Mady Richardson, CR-B publications students

This year, the Coon Rapids-Bayard musical, Big Fish, was held from April 4-6. According to several cast members, this musical could best be described as “enormous” due to its many costume changes, many different characters, and many life lessons it taught. 

From wings, ribbons, and fire fans to tap shoes, fish, and a western showdown, Big Fish had it all. 

“This musical gave everyone a chance to be their own character and shine on stage,” said Ella Heithoff, a junior who played Alabama Lamb and served as the choreographer. “A life lesson from the musical is to dream big, discover new things, and take chances. This is so important because there is a great big world out there with such amazing opportunities just waiting for you to explore it.”

“I thought this musical had a much more sentimental message than the past couple years, which was really fitting for my last musical,” said Lucas Obert, a senior who played Edward Bloom. “This musical goes into depth about themes like grief, family, and how you should live your life to get the most out of it. I think that our production related these values really well to the audience so that they could get the most out of the story that we were telling.”

Coleman Heiderscheit embraced his leadership role in this year’s musical.

“As a senior, some of the younger actors would look to me for guidance or inspiration, and I helped as much as I could to give them an enjoyable experience,” he said. 

Senior Macy Thompson played Sandra Bloom and agrees with Heithoff on the biggest lesson Big Fish teaches. 

“Live a big life,” Thompson concluded. “We only have one chance at life, so we have to make it count.”

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Musical photos by Alisa Venteicher