BIG RIVER COMES TO CLEVELAND

Playhouse Square Center is proud to present BIG RIVER, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn November 30 through December 12 at the Palace Theatre as part of the McDonald Financial Group Broadway Series presented by Xerox. Directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun, the original director when the show played Broadway, BIG RIVER adds sign language to the existing music and lyrics by Roger Miller and book by William Hauptman. The show won rave reviews during its extended run on Broadway during the summer/fall of 2003, following its critically acclaimed engagement at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Tyrone Giordano, Cleveland native Michael McElroy and Daniel Jenkins return to play Huck, Jim and Mark Twain, roles that each originated in the recent Broadway production.

A Deaf West Theatre Production, BIG RIVER, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn includes deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing actors performing each role in a synchronized ballet of speaking, signing, gesture, song and dance. Spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) are interwoven with music, dance and storytelling techniques from both hearing and deaf cultures into a “third language” creating a unique and groundbreaking theatrical experience.

The show is based on one of the greatest creations in American fiction, Mark Twain’s classic “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” This tale of adventure and self-discovery begins on a raft on the Mississippi River in the 1840’s, where Huck, escaping from his drunken father, meets up with Jim, a runaway slave. The story of their journey downstream is an American classic that captures the rhythms, sounds and spirits of life on the big river.

The original production of BIG RIVER opened on Broadway on April 25, 1985 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and was the winner of seven Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. The musical numbers include, “Do You Want To Go To Heaven,” “Waiting for the Light to Shine,” “Muddy Water,” “When the Sun Goes Down in the South” and “Worlds Apart.” During its initial staging at Deaf West, the production won six Theatre L.A. Ovation Awards, five Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and five Back Stage West Garland Awards – including Best Musical nods from each.

SYNOPSIS
Based on Mark Twain’s classic novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, BIG RIVER is a musical that follows the exploits of the irrepressible Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, as they explore life along the mighty Mississippi River. Along the way they meet the uproarious King and Duke, Tom Sawyer and Huck’s father, the sinister Pap.