New Haven, CT

New Haven Advocate Article - February 25, 2005

New Haven Register - March 3, 2005

Los Angeles, CA

L.A. Times - Jan. 14, 2005

Hollywood Reporter - Jan. 14,2005

Daily News - Jan. 14, 2005

Daily Variety - Jan. 13, 2005

Cleveland, OH

Article on Michael McElroy - Nov. 27, 2004

Akron Beacon Journal - Nov. 25, 2004

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia Inquirer- November 26, 2004

Philadelphia City Paper

Boston, MA

Metro West Daily - Dec. 19, 2004

Boston Herald - Nov. 19, 2004

Boston Globe- Nov. 18, 2004

Boston Herald - Nov. 11, 2004

 

Green Bay, WI

Green Bay Press-Gazette - March 17, 2005

Green Bay Press-Gazette - November 11, 2004

Eagle Herald - November 3, 2004 (interview article)

Tokyo, Japan

Daily Yomiuri - October 7, 2004 (article)

Daily Yomiuri - October 7, 2004 (review)

Japan Times - October 6, 2004

 

Houston

Houston Chronicle- July 14, 2004

Houston Chronicle- July 9, 2004

Dallas

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - July 22, 2004

Dallas Morning Star - July 21, 2004

San Francisco

Morgan Hill Times - July 2, 2004

The Mercury News - June 15, 2004

San Francisco Chronicle - June 16, 2004

Contra Costa Times - June 16, 2004

 

 

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New Haven Advocate

The tour of the Huck Finn musical is spoken, signed and much more; you cant mistake A Comedy of Errors at the Yale Rep; Animal Farm takes the breath away, literally, in Branford.

by Christopher Arnott
February 24, 2005

At Ramones concerts in the late 1970s, the band would play nonstop at top decibels for 45 minutes. Dee Dee Ramone's screeches of "1-2-3-4!" would kick off a new rapid-fire punk tune as the feedback from the last one was still ringing.

Then, near the end of the set, the Ramones would unleash a long pause during their cover of the Trashmen's "Surfing Bird." The wall of silence would hit you like a ton of bricks. Your head imploded. You noticed your ears like never before.

Big River has a moment like that.

In a sense, it has several. This transmuted musical, now at the Shubert on College Street in New Haven, comes at you so creatively and confidently that you feel exhiliratingly enlightened, thoroughly entertained. Yes, it's undeniably noble and touching and "good for you," but it's also staggeringly impressive and a hell of a lot of fun.

This Big River is that much-talked-about, much-signed-about Tony-winning show which mingles deaf and hearing actors in a revival of a straightforward musical based on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . But the see-me/hear-me dichotomy is just one of the many soul-stirring challenges this show faces and overcomes. Big River marries small-theater wiles and Broadway resources. It revives a widely praised musical from 1985, replacing its original splashy stage design with a simple set of screens and platforms. It subdues the score, making it homespun and human, not bombastic.

As if it didn't haven't enough to bother with, this mesmerizing musical takes chances when it doesn't even have to. It sets out to solve a theater problem--how to translate a full-length musical into a different sort of performance language. Then, having demonstrated in its first few scenes how splendidly that "problem" can be solved, this big-deal Big River proceeds to show you many other ways it can be tackled. You get speaking actors providing voice-overs for deaf actors' physicalizings. You get a pair of actors, identically dressed, playing the same role at the same time. You get deaf jokes drawn straight from the plot. You get lot of sight gags, but also some inspired sound gags.

Big River 's original script and score do not just hold up well--they're improved by this eclectic staging. William Hauptman's script is true to Twain's sharp-tongued satire, pubescent adventurousness and social consciousness. Country legend Roger ("Dang Me") Miller's songs prove infinitely adaptable for this wide-ranging cast, who bend the tunes into folk-meek, gospel-grand or pop-smart.

Connecticut is better prepared than most regions for a show like this. Our state has been home to the National Theatre of the Deaf for nearly 40 years, so the concept of adapting plays for a combination of American Sign Language and spoken dialogue is nothing new. And Connecticut is where Twain's alter ego, Samuel Clemens, lived from 1870-91 and wrote Huckleberry Finn ; Clemens' Hartford home is now a museum.

But even Connecticut, which has hosted many a Twain musical ( Tom Sawyer 's pre-Broadway try-out at the Shubert, a megaflop Russian-rooted Twain pageant in Hartford, one-third of The Apple Tree at the Goodspeed), can't be fully prepared for the jaw-dropping wonders of Big River .

I caught the Big River tour in November, when it stopped at Boston's Wang Center. As it happened, I saw the understudy, Adam Monley, go on in the central role of Mark Twain; the same actor also does the spoken voice for Huck (who's physically embodied by the appropriately dazed and wild-haired Tyrone Giordano). Monley has now permanently taken over the Twain/Huck parts and performs them at the Shubert this week.

Monley's a youthful, energetic Twain. He's wry and twinkle-eyed in the classic mold set by Hal Holbrook and other Twain impersonators. But he's also spry and wiry--jumping around, even playing along with the band on guitar, banjo, harmonica, ukulele--"and I'm still working on the mandolin," he said in a phone interview last week. Another skill Monley picked up expressly for this show? Sign language.

"I was one of only three or four actors who started with this tour," he said. "Everyone else had been in the show on Broadway or in California," where the production began at Deaf West Theatre in Northern Hollywood. "It was daunting at first, but the deaf actors really helped us. The reception has been wonderful--from the deaf communities, from everyone. I've never been so proud to be part of a show."

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'Big River's a high-water mark for Shubert

By E. Kyle Minor
March 3, 2005

Mark Twain's classic novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is perhaps most appreciated for its simple, unpretentious truth. Deaf West's touring production of "Big River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun, is equally unaffected in its storytelling and just as refreshing.

"Big River," which opened Tuesday and continues through Sunday at the Shubert Theater, is special in many ways - all happily so. It's most distinctive aspect is that the entire musical is communicated in both spoken (and sung) words and American Sign Language, creating a unique eloquence rarely witnessed by musical theater audiences.

Ray Klausen's fanciful scenic design, far from realistic, is another delight. Finally, Calhoun's seamless weaving of words, sign language, music and movement make Twain's social satire and compassion a genuine example of prose in motion.

The show, which initially ran on Broadway in 1985 for a 1,005-performance run as a strictly spoken-sung performance, is the handiwork of composer-lyricist Roger Miller and bookwriter William Hauptman.

Miller's score is authentic in voice, period and style to the characters, time and setting of Twain's novel. The music is composed mostly in the traditional - some call it "roots" - acoustic style of rural, 19th-century America (there are three strong gospel songs as well), all performed exquisitely by musical director-pianist Steven Landau and his six-person band.

Unless you are a fan of the relatively obscure Eudora Welty-inspired musical, "The Robber Bridegroom," you've not heard such music from the Broadway stage. The music perfectly frames the story of runaways Huck and his slave companion Jim in the novel's context, as does Klausen's set, comprised entirely of larger-than-life pages and illustrations from an early edition of the book, hanging over and popping out of a multi-level stage.

Hauptman's book includes all the memorable scenes of the source material as Huck and Jim flow in and out of trouble as they roll down the Mississippi. Such colorful and menacing characters as Huck's Pap, Miss Watson, Duke and King keep Huck and Jim on the run, each seeking his own, different freedom.

The performers, who all sign their performances regardless of whether they are deaf, hard-of-hearing or hearing, all capture the vernacular of the book and look their parts in David R. Zyla's period-perfect costumes.

Garrett Matthew Zuercher is an engaging, puckish Huck Finn, whose mute performance transcends mere articulacy. He is superbly complemented by Adam Monley, who doubles the voice of Huck Finn and narrator Mark Twain. As if this dual responsibility isn't enough to keep Monley's hands busy, he also plays guitar, banjo, harmonica and mandolin.

Jerold E. Solomon is an equally expressive Jim, especially when his rich baritone cuts loose on "Muddy Water" with Huck and in his rousing eleven o'clock solo, "Free at Last." Together, Solomon and Zuercher create a genuine spark of friendship.

Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine are as deliciously villainous a pair as you could hope to find in a musical comedy. Together they play Pap (Devine is the "voice" part) and, through Calhoun's spiffy staging, the actors mirror each other so impeccably that Chico and Groucho Marx would applaud from their graves. As King (Devine) and Duke (Kotsur - with James Judy lending his rich voice), they portray the sort of nefarious charlatans that audiences love to hiss.

The rest of the ensemble is outstanding, including Benjamin Schrader's Tom Sawyer, Cathy Newman's Widow Douglas, Phyllis Frelich's Miss Watson, Ryan Schlecht's Young Fool, Gwen Stewart's Alice, Christina Dunams' Alice's Daughter and Melissa Van Der Schyff's Mary Jane Wilkes. A personal favorite bit is their spirited depiction of a pack of ravenous dogs, all of them ferociously barking and slathering in both voice and gesture.

Everything about Deaf West's production of "Big River" is inspired, accessible, expertly performed and visually arresting. Since anything quite like it may be years away, fans of Mark Twain, musical theater and multi-faceted storytelling won't want to miss it.

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'Big River' combines music, sign language

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Think about how much you rely on your hearing every day: talking to friends, listening to music, watching TV or going to the theater. Now, imagine what life would be like if you couldn't hear.

Around the world, millions of people are deaf or hearingimpaired.

Luckily, Deaf West Theatre company produces plays that all audience members can enjoy. Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the second Broadway musical the company has adapted. In addition to speaking and singing their parts, all of the actors use American Sign Language to tell the story.

Some of the actors are deaf, including Tyrone Giordano, who plays the title character, Huck Finn. While he is onstage signing, another actor is offstage speaking and singing his parts. Other actors, such as Michael McElroy (he plays Jim), do both speaking/singing and sign language.

Big River first appeared on Broadway in 1985, but it wasn's the Deaf West production. At the time, it was a musical adaptation of the classic American book by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It won seven Tony awards and ran for more than 1,000 performances in New York.

Much of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is based on experiences that Twain had when he was a boy growing up by the Mississippi River. The Twain character narrates the Big River story. The production follows runaway Huck Finn as he escapes down the Mississippi with Jim, a fugitive slave. Huck Finn was first introduced in another Twain story, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Both books can be found at the public library or a bookstore, and the stories are a lot of fun. There aren't many shows that use both speech and sign to tell a story. It's a great way to share a great tale! Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will be performed Feb. 11-13 at the Palace Theatre, 34 W. Broad St., Downtown. Tickets, $27 to $47, are available at the Ohio Theatre ticket office, 614-469-0939, or Ticketmaster outlets, 614-431-3600.

Sources: Information for Culture Creature was provided by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, in cooperation with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association.

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Waterbury Republican American

Mark Twain "Signed," Sealed, and Beautifully Delivered

Joanne Greco Rochman

Finally! A great big beautiful musical has arrived, and it's one that you're not likely to ever forget. "Big River" currently at the Shubert in New Haven is one show where stamping your feet and clapping your hands is "deaf-initely" not enough. You have to do something else to show your appreciation for this superb performance.

Based on Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" this musical is actually co-developed by Deaf West Theatre. It features deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing actors in a synchronized performance, which is rather incredulous for such a huge musical and large cast. Yet, no one on stage misses a beat, and no one in the audience misses a beat either.

At one of the most powerful moments in this extraordinary musical, the orchestra stops playing, the vocalists stop singing, and though silence fills the theater, the fluid signing continues on stage and the audience feels the music. It's simply a stunning moment that anyone within driving distance should hurry to experience.

The hearing actors sing and sign while the non-hearing actors perform brilliantly through sign and movement. Two actors take on the role of each character - with one actor speaking and singing, and one actor performing and signing. It's like watching mirror images. The title role is brilliantly and boyishly portrayed by Garrett Matthew Zuercher with Adam Monley as the Voice of Huck Finn. Monley also plays Mark Twain with just the right amount of wit and wisdom.

There are so many outstanding performances in this show that it's not possible to acknowledge them all individually. However, Jerold E. Solomon as Jim must have his due. His solos are so outstanding that he nearly brought the house down every time he sang. When Jim and Huck sing and sign a duet together, they do bring down the house.

So clever and complex is the staging that experienced theatergoers will immediately recognize how daunting the director's task must be. Yet, Jeff Calhoun, who co-developed the show directs and choreographs with an eye for precision and an ear for sheer pleasure.

Expect dancing, singing, gorgeous costumes, thunder and lighting and wickedly expansive special effects. Expect, too, a set that features bigger than life pages from Twain's book. The characters literally step out of the pages. See this show and you will be begging your friends and family to see it, too. You'll want to share the experience with anyone who will listen, or sign.

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A raft of possibilities - Deaf West Theatre floats 'Big River' production

By Dixie Reid -- Bee Staff Writer
January 23, 2005

Mark Twain's 19th century saga of a mischievous orphan named Huck and a runaway slave named Jim, floating together down the Mississippi River on a raft, is about an unlikely friendship.

So the musical "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" seemed perfect for the unlikely stage pairing of deaf and hearing actors. The Deaf West Theatre Company's production of "Big River" opens Wednesday at the Community Center Theater as part of the Broadway Series.

"The central theme of the story is two people, worlds apart, being black and white in pre-Civil War America," said Bill O'Brien, managing director and producer of Deaf West, the first professional resident sign-language theater company in the country. "And so reaching across cultural boundaries, which is really what the play is about, is enhanced by the fact that there are now two languages reaching across to each other."

The Deaf West production includes American Sign Language, the spoken word, song and dance.

"Basically, if you close you eyes, you wouldn't know you weren't at a standard revival of 'Big River,' " O'Brien said from the company's offices in North Hollywood. "And then when you open your eyes, you realize that some characters are deaf, and their dialogue is being voiced by someone else in the ensemble."

For instance, Adam Monley, who plays writer Mark Twain, also provides the audible voice of Huck Finn, played by deaf actor Tyrone Giordano (who originated the role for Deaf West in 2001). Tony-nominated actor Michael McElroy plays Jim.

The cast comprises eight deaf actors, who communicate with sign language, and 14 hearing actors, who provide their speaking and singing voices.

Four years ago, Deaf West received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, and a condition of the grant requires the company to take a production on the road to communities without this type of theater.

O'Brien and others at Deaf West believed the best way to create a market for their show, whatever it might be, was to land a residency in New York. They had Broadway in their sights even before settling on "Big River."

Soon, O'Brien called on director-choreographer Jeff Calhoun, whom he'd met four years earlier in Sacramento while starring in the Music Circus production of "The Will Rogers Follies." He asked if Calhoun would be interested in directing a deaf musical.

"It wasn't on his list of things to do in 2001, but when he became friendly to the idea, he started to get his creative juices going to apply a new kind of storytelling technique," O'Brien said. "The next challenge was convincing the best singers and actors in Los Angeles that they should be a part of something like this. It's hard to get your mind around what it is.

"Obviously, we needed to figure out some way for the deaf characters to have someone else applying a voice for them," O'Brien said, "so Jeff created the concept where the entire production seems to explode out of the original manuscript."

Monley, as Twain, opens the show by introducing himself and the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to the audience. Then he introduces Huck, who steps out of one of the pages. And when Huck addresses the audience, Twain speaks for him.

The original production of "Big River" opened on Broadway in 1985, winning seven Tony Awards, including best musical, book (by William Hauptman) and score (by Roger Miller).

In October 2001, Deaf West debuted its version of Twain's tale to sell-out crowds in its 99-seat North Hollywood theater. A year later, "Big River" relocated to the larger Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles. By 2003, the cast had moved into New York City's Roundabout Theatre and became the first sign-language musical on Broadway.

Along with McElroy's Tony nomination for best performance by a featured actor in a musical, the Deaf West production was nominated for best revival of a musical.

The national tour that brings "Big River" to Sacramento this week was launched last summer in San Francisco. In March, Deaf West will have two companies of "Big River" - one performing at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and the other continuing the tour.

Scott Eckern, artistic director of California Musical Theatre (which includes the Music Circus and the Broadway Series), is thrilled to bring "Big River" to Sacramento.

He has seen it twice, at the Taper and on Broadway.

"I walked away feeling so exhilarated," Eckern said. "They have taken a production and reinvented it, not just revived it. I don't understand sign language, but I understand the passion and emotion. You are so fully engaged that you aren't even aware they're doing sign language, and it doesn't matter, because you start to believe you can understand it."

"Big River," he said, "transcends words and gets to the heart and soul of what people are feeling."

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'River's' appeal keeps flowing along

Deaf West Theatre's 'Big River' is not only bigger but also better as it returns to L.A. at the Ahmanson

By Rob Kendt , Special to The Times
Friday, January 14, 2005

Miracles don't come along often in the theater, and when they do, they seldom keep their supernatural glow for long. Deaf West Theatre's production of "Big River," which has wended its way back to Los Angeles from an acclaimed Broadway run, is an exception. For this ebullient adaptation of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," lightning has struck more than twice.

The miracles began with its creation, when Broadway producer Rocco Landesman tracked down one of his idols, country tunesmith Roger Miller, and essentially forced him to write his first and only musical. Though it won 1985 Tonys for best musical and for Miller's score and William Hauptman's book, it seemed unlikely to join the pantheon of essential American musicals.

Then in the fall of 2001, in a 65-seat black-box theater in North Hollywood, director Jeff Calhoun and the artists of Deaf West Theatre dusted off "Big River" and pulled a hat trick that had to be seen — and heard — to be believed: a "deaf" musical (Deaf West had done it only once before, with "Oliver!" the previous year). This unlikely hybrid of American Sign Language, spoken dialogue and song turned out to be a natural fit for the tall-tale fabulism of Twain's story, and the intimate space was a natural for Miller's homespun score.

Mark Taper Forum artistic director Gordon Davidson snapped it up and put it on his stage a year later, with few changes. While this L.A. "River" was still special, it looked like it might have gotten too big too soon.

Somehow the touring version now at the 1,600 -seat Ahmanson Theatre, though inarguably bigger than its previous incarnations, is also better. Calhoun has shaped and sharpened the material without losing the modular simplicity of Ray Klausen's storybook-page set, across which the shaggy-dog story sprawls under the watchful eyes of narrator Mark Twain (Daniel Jenkins, who starred as Huck in the original 1985 Broadway production). Jenkins also voices Huck and accompanies Steven Landau's small, expert band with nearly every stringed instrument available.

The cast features a number of deaf actors from the original Deaf West production — Tyrone Giordano as Huck Finn, Troy Kotsur as his dissipated Pap, and Phyllis Frelich and Ryan Schlecht in a number of smaller roles (also the irresistible Rod Keller, a hearing performer who executes a variety of quick-change turns).

But what's most striking about this Broadway ensemble is how thoroughly it has intermingled sign-language with the lexicon of musical theater, to the point that we're soon convinced that this singular lingua franca — physical, expressively theatrical, somehow clarifying, even to a hearing audience — is the only way this story of friendship without borders can be told.

That's a good thing, because not everything about the material is so persuasive: A pair of con men who hitch a ride on Huck and Jim's raft and stick around the story for a long while are never as funny or as threatening as they should be.

And while Miller's authentically country-fried score has the un-Broadway-like virtues of bubbling tunefulness and lyrical economy, those relentlessly sunny major keys can get pretty syrupy. Luckily singers such as Jenkins, Melissa Van Der Schyff (from the Broadway cast), and Gwen Stewart have just the right country and gospel sounds to put it across.

It is curl-topped Tyrone Giordano, who has played a deaf Huck since the first Deaf West production, and Tony nominee Michael McElroy as the escaped slave Jim, who carry this delicate craft across its waves of "considerable trouble and considerable joy" and see it safely home. The lovely duet "Worlds Apart," in which they strengthen their bond while acknowledging the gaping gulf between them, has been the show's telltale heart since the original Deaf West production, as well as its most moving picture of how the deaf/hearing divide overlays the racial one.

The crowning miracle here is that the almost unbearable intimacy of this simple exchange has somehow seeped into and colored every moment of this big, but not too big "River."

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Big River: Huck Finn

By Ed Kaufman

With music and lyrics by Roger Miller and book by William Hauptman (based on Mark Twain's quintessential American novel), "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is ambitious, daring, captivating and outright terrific.

Ray Klausen has designed a set that takes its cues from Twain's landmark novel on which the show is based. The stage is graced with oversized pages from the book -- some bound, others free -- and a world of other surprises hidden in the floor, the steps and even the walls that bring the book to life. When Twain (the fine Daniel Jenkins) appears to narrate the show and "speak" for Huck, it's as if he's revealing all the secrets of the work for us to consider.

What makes "Big River" so special is its ability, intricacies and messages to everyone -- regardless of their ability to hear Miller's music and lyrics or Hauptman's dialogue. As first devised by Deaf West Theatre in North Hollywood in 2001, "Big River" wonderfully brings together the worlds of those who hear and those who do not and sign in American Sign Language.

With an 18-person cast (a number of whom have some hearing loss), savvy director and choreographer Jeff Calhoun has devised a series of onstage solutions to bridge both worlds. The most obvious is the double casting of Huck's father, Pap, with Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine -- dressing them identically (in the colorful costumes of David R. Zyla) and creatively layering the interaction between them. Kotsur and Devine also are effective as Mississippi River con men the Duke and the King.

Other "doubling" is more adventurous: Jenkins -- in his Twain guise -- speaks and sings for the signing Huck (an ingratiating performance by Tyrone Giordano), and the first-rate Phyllis Frelich plays Miss Watson, while Melissa Van Der Schyff provides the character's "voice." Benjamin Schrader is an effective Tom Sawyer, and Michael McElroy's runaway slave Jim is acted, sung and signed with great poetic conviction. Stanley Bahorek stands out in an assortment of voice actors.

Miller's score, a blend of country and gospel, captures the mood and tone of things. "River in the Rain," "Worlds Apart," "Free at Last," "Muddy Water" and "Waitin' for the Light to Shine" are memorable in this remarkable onstage production.

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'Big River' continues to be a high-water mark

By Evan Henerson, Theater Critic
Friday, January 14, 2005

Now that Deaf West Theatre's powerhouse production of "Big River' has played three Los Angeles engagements, at increasingly bigger venues each time, a couple of things have become clear.

First, if the sign-language musical is going to develop and proliferate in the way Deaf West hopes it will, the company needs to get to work on something new. Soon. Second, and this is vital: Jeff Calhoun needs to direct it.

The "Big River' ensemble -- many of whose members have been with the show since it started in 2001 in the company's tiny North Hollywood space -- remains splendid, vibrant and full of zest. Some actors sing and speak in character; others serve as "voices' for performers who cannot hear. Everybody uses sign language. A narrating, guitar-playing Mark Twain (played by Daniel Jenkins) "voices' the lead character, Huck Finn (Tyrone Giordano). After about five minutes to acclimate, audiences shouldn't have a problem with split focus. You'll likely forget which actors are deaf and which are not.

Calhoun deserves the lion's share of credit for this seamless blend of voice, sign and song. The director's staging of musical numbers and the inventiveness with which he uses pieces of Ray Clausen's stage is as spectacular as the accomplishment of any individual cast member. Not that the ensemble is in any way lacking. Original cast member Giordano, ever boyish with a face that tells 100 stories, remains a very winning Huck. Of the three actors we've seen playing runaway slave Jim, Michael McElroy (a Tony Award nominee) is by far the strongest, both vocally and as an actor.

But heaven knows how they'd fare outside this production. With Klausen's huge, multicompartmented book pages placed strategically around the stage, the musical story of Twain's resourceful scamp literally pours out of the storybook. Pages can be doors, trees, walls or secret forts. Resourceful and economical, yes. Also a kick to watch.

There are so many unanticipated "wow' moments in "Big River' that singling out just a few seems unfair. Among the highlights is the opening of a back panel to reveal a huge blue wall, the Mississippi River, as Huck and Jim launch their raft to the strains of "Old Muddy Water.' And, of course, the second-act reprise of "Waitin' for the Light to Shine,' during which music director Steven Landau's seven-piece orchestra stops playing and the ensemble continues signing the words in stunning pin-drop silence.

Quietly or otherwise, "Big River' is a thing of beauty. The L.A. stop of this tour is brief; it has other cities to edify and delight. Meanwhile, Deaf West owes Los Angeles a new production. It's been too long.

-Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651, evan.henerson@dailynews.com

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Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

By Joel Hirschhorn
Thursday, January 13, 2005

Broadway in 2003 and is still relevant, thrilling theater at the Ahmanson. Lighthearted as the production's general tone is, its dramatic moments are unflinching. Composer Roger Miller and librettist William Hauptman powerfully convey the horror of slavery, and memorably illustrate that ingrained prejudice can be transformed into mutually fulfilling friendship.

Director-choreographer Jeff Calhoun stages opening song "Do You Wanna Go to Heaven?" with zest. Tyrone Giordano, as Huck Finn, retains the leaping physical flair and mischievously rebellious attitude that originally won over crowds and critics. Daniel Jenkins (who played Huck in the 1985 Broadway original and now is narrator Mark Twain) embodies the writer with idiosyncratic authority, and he superbly handles the singing and speaking for Giordano. In their scenes together, the two merge seamlessly as one character.

Necessary exposition about Huck's resentment of the Widow Douglas (Cathy Newman) and her attempts to civilize him is presented with appropriate speed, and there's a lively episode centering on impulsive, adventure-seeking Tom Sawyer (Benjamin Schrader) that culminates in the joyous "We Are the Boys." These setup sequences are entertaining, if occasionally too broad and exaggerated. But they fade into the background when Michael McElroy enters the scene as Jim, the runaway slave who tests Huck's conscience and values.

McElroy's imposing portrayal works on multiple levels. His singing has a magnificence that evokes comparisons with such legendary figures as Paul Robeson and William Warfield, and his emotional impact is doubled by a calm, subtle intensity that illuminates bottomless pain. He's particularly poignant when talking about a desire to move north and get work so he can buy his enslaved wife and two children.

The Giordano-McElroy duets -- "Muddy River," the mournfully truthful "Worlds Apart" and the irresistibly melodic "River in the Rain" -- provide reminders that musicals at their best can lift us to a special, euphoric plateau unmatched by any other medium.

Roger Miller's banjo- and fiddle-flavored score remains notable for its variety. "I, Huckleberry Me," rollickingly rendered by Giordano, is an ode to happiness and freedom, while "You Oughta Be Here With Me" is pure Dolly Parton-style country. "How Blest We Are" demonstrates Miller's keen comprehension of gospel, and it's brilliantly sung by Gwen Stewart. The irrelevant "Hand for the Hog" has been deleted, a wise idea that Miller himself considered when first developing the show.

Comedy is capably put over by Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine as con men, who also manage brutally believable transitions to villainy when their scams lead them to sell slaves: The agonized howl from one victim (Stewart) when torn from her daughter, is haunting in its raw reality.

Director Calhoun also stages a tentative, tender interlude of attraction between Huck and Mary Jane Wilkes (Melissa Van Der Schyff), the young woman he protects when her inheritance is temporarily stolen.

Calhoun's combination of deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing actors is impressively coordinated, a tribute to instinct and professionalism. Michael Gilliam's faultlessly placed lighting and Peter Fitzgerald's sound contribute mightily toward the constant clarity between speaker-singers and cast members utilizing sign language.

Holding everything tightly together is musical director-conductor-pianist-arranger Steven Landau, who does full justice to Miller's lively tunes and tempos.

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Hearing and deaf actors perform musical

By Kathleen Allen, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Growing up as the only deaf person in his family, Ed Waterstreet didn't get the big deal about music.

"When we went to the church and plays, I saw my family enjoyed being involved in the singing," Waterstreet, speaking through interpreter Bill O'Brien, said in a phone interview.

"They would try to interpret for me, but I just didn't feel I was experiencing it."

Curiosity about music settled into his mind. He'd often ask hearing friends to interpret songs for him in sign language. When they did, something clicked for him.

"I saw that you can get visually into the music."

This little seed stayed with Waterstreet, the founder of Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles.

Finally, he decided to nourish the seed: His company put on the musical "Oliver!" with speaking and signing actors.

It was a hit on the West Coast.

So he nurtured the seed more. His company produced "Big River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The updated version of the 1985 musical by Roger Miller uses hearing and deaf actors to tell the story and sing the music. It, too, was a hit on the West Coast and moved to Broadway, where it won over audiences and critics and snagged a Tony. UApresents brings the show to Centennial Hall next week, with most of the Broadway cast intact.

Don't make the mistake of thinking the musical has signers off to the side interpreting.

The production integrates the hearing and the deaf actors, with all of them using American Sign Language.

When a deaf actor is signing, a hearing actor is speaking. The result is a synchronized show that adds new layers of depth and beauty to the musical based on Mark Twain's book.

It sounds like a crazy idea: a musical performed by deaf people.

Waterstreet knows that. But he became convinced it was a good idea, too.

"Maybe after 10 years of creating plays, I started to feel it was time to add sign music to a musical. . . . The idea was to create a new theatrical language."

It worked for Deaf West's production of "Oliver!" What's more, it reached beyond the deaf community.

"I noticed the hearing people got an extra lift from the play as well. . . . I didn't expect it to have quite the impact on the hearing that it did."

He started looking for another vehicle to expand the concept and settled on "Big River."

He turned to Jeff Calhoun, who had directed "Oliver!" and offered him "Big River."

"I told them 'no,' " recalled Calhoun, speaking by phone from a train somewhere between New York City and Philadelphia the week before Christmas.

"We got away with it in 'Oliver!' and I didn't think we could pull it off again."

But once the genie has been let loose, said Calhoun, "you can't put it back in the bottle."

Deaf West's "Oliver!" showed what was possible when deaf and hearing actors take the stage. It could be done again.

"Big River" wasn't an easy play to direct, admitted Calhoun.

"I was like a babe in the woods; I went into this innocently, not realizing it would be so difficult," he said.

"I soon realized that every basic move you learned about directing has to be thrown out the window."

Props can't be used by the signing actors; they need their hands to speak. Deaf actors can't hear music cues, so a system had to be worked out. In one scene, there's a knock on the door; how to develop a signal to the deaf actor that wouldn't be obvious to the audience.

"You have to do visual cues. . . . It's one big magic act."

This is a production in which the deaf and the hearing actors are on equal footing.

"I was trying not to treat one culture any differently from the other," said Calhoun. "Every moment of the show is even-handed for the deaf and hearing. I didn't want hearing people putting on a show for the deaf; I didn't want to patronize the deaf. The deafness is never commented on."

The experience for the choreographer and director renewed his faith in theater.

"Going to Deaf West reinvigorated my whole spirit for the theater," he said. "I was having a career on Broadway, but it didn't feel inspired or important or that it was touching people. 'Big River' saved my creative soul. It was a godsend."

This new form of theater broadens the experience and the audience, said O'Brien, who produced "Big River."

"The sign language translation makes the experience equal for the deaf," he said. "We also tried to make it something that would be very clear to the hearing as well. The audience starts out ignorant about the culture. They see and hear what Huck is saying, and as time goes on they completely forget (that one character speaks while another signs). It's sort of like a magical little world; another experience."

Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@aszstarnet.com or 573-4128.

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Words, signing flow together in `Big River'

Kerry Clawson, Beacon Journal

November 25, 2004

Being a part of Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a life-changing experience for Shaker Heights native Michael McElroy.

His mind has been opened to a whole new language -- American Sign Language -- in this Broadway revival, which includes deaf and hard-of-hearing actors.

The musical, based on the American classic by Mark Twain, has been described as a synchronized ballet of speaking, signing, gesturing, singing and dancing. Big River had a limited run on Broadway from July through September 2003 and is now on tour, stopping at Cleveland's Playhouse Square on Tuesday.

McElroy, who originated the role of escaped slave Jim on Broadway, has returned to the tour, along with Broadway principals Tyrone Giordano (Huck) and Daniel Jenkins (Mark Twain and voice of Huck). The Broadway cast received a 2004 Tony Honor ensemble award for what was the first deaf musical on Broadway.

``This show has been such an incredible life-changing experience for all of us who have been involved in it,'' McElroy said.

The actor, a 1985 Shaker Heights High School graduate, signs all of his dialogue and lyrics throughout the show. He appears with nine deaf actors as well as hearing cast members. Each deaf actor signs and a different cast member provides his character's voice. That way deaf and hearing audiences can follow along.

Huck's evil father, Pap, is played by deaf and hearing actors working side by side. This method symbolizes the duality of Pap's nature.

By acting in Big River, McElroy, who is black, has learned what it's like to be part of the deaf minority.

``I understand the feeling of feeling on the outside,'' he said. ``But you forget that sometimes, and you forgot how that can be manifested in different ways.''

After becoming immersed in the deaf culture and fluent in deaf communication, the actor believes all Americans should be required to take American Sign Language as a foreign language. ``It's such a beautiful language and such a powerful language.''

McElroy had just six days of ``sign language boot camp'' before starting rehearsal with the other actors on Broadway. At first, he simply learned the signing as choreography: ``I really didn't know what my hands were saying,'' he said. ``I'm trying to speak two languages at the same time, and the syntax isn't the same.''

Eventually, he learned that the language was more about the meaning than the act of signing. Audiences also get to the point where they may not know every word signed, but they understand its overall meaning.

In this production, when hearing actors speak for deaf actors, their voices can come from above, in front or in back of the action, or from within a group of actors.

``For hearing audiences, I think it takes about five minutes to adjust to the fact that the person who's talking isn't the one you're supposed to pay attention to,'' McElroy said.

McElroy praised director Jeff Calhoun for his clever and creative staging, which weaves deaf and hearing storytelling into a third language.

After being nominated for a Tony for the role of Jim, McElroy said he has achieved greater recognition with casting directors and producers. That has come after years of playing principal roles on Broadway.

``The amount of accolades that I have received from within the theater community for this production has changed my life,'' he said.

McElroy almost didn't take the role because he was worried about perpetuating stereotypes. His previous roles, including Professor Tom Collins in Rent, had helped break stereotypes about black men.

``The last thing I wanted to do was play a slave, because I felt it trapped me in a place and I would be forced to live in that,'' he said.

But a wise college friend encouraged him to give voice to the slave experience and to instill his own dignity in the role.

Nevertheless, ``I was terrified being in chains and being called the `N-word' '' onstage, McElroy said.

The show, which chronicles Huck's moral awakening, does not shy away from Twain's purposefully ironic use of the ``N-word.'' That can be difficult for some audience members to stomach, the actor said.

The musical features a score of Cajun, gospel, folk, country and blues music, written by Roger Miller.

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Broadway star is excited to perform in hometown

By Tony Brown, Plain Dealer Theatre Critic

November 27, 2004

Michael McElroy made it all the way from Shaker Heights to a Tony Award nomination on Broadway.

Now he's finally getting a chance to come back to where it all started and sing in a Broadway musical for his hometown.

"Growing up in Cleveland, my initial love of theater came from going with my family to see Broadway tours at the Hanna Theatre and the Palace Theatre," McElroy said.

"Those places are now special places in my heart. And those people I saw up on the stage then are now my friends, people I work with. I just want to come back and share all the joy I feel."

Now the Hanna, Palace and three other grand, historic theaters are part of downtown Cleveland's Playhouse Square, the nation's second-largest performing arts center after New York's Lincoln Center.

McElroy, a veteran of six Broadway shows, will perform there for family and friends when "Big River" opens Tuesday for two weeks at the Palace. McElroy stars as runaway slave Jim in the 2003 revival of Roger Miller's adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

The Deaf West Theatre production, in which hearing and hearing-impaired actors perform in spoken English and American Sign Language, earned rave reviews when it moved from Los Angeles to New York, but it played Broadway for only three months.

All the same, "Big River" generated two Tony nominations -- including a best-featured actor in a musical nod for McElroy -- and became a bona-fide hit on the road.

The tour keeps getting extended as more cities sign up to see it. McElroy was ready to get off the road when he discovered the next leg of the tour included his hometown.

"We've been to Tokyo and back, and I was signed up through Philadelphia," McElroy said in a phone interview from Green Bay, Wis., a tour stop. "But then I found out we were going to Cleveland, and I had to re-up."

The idea of singing in Playhouse Square touched off a series of happy memories.

"I remember the most incredible things about those theaters," McElroy said. "I remember seeing West Side Story' with Leslie Uggams -- and she's my friend now, we performed together. The night I saw The Wiz' in Cleveland, Stephanie Mills was out, and [Tony Award winner] Lilias White stepped in for her, and she was incredible. She's a good friend now.

"It goes on and on, the people I saw then and work with now, even our director for Big River,' Jeff Calhoun. It has that connection that I can never forget. It makes this special show even more special for me to bring it back to Cleveland."

McElroy, now 37, started out as a singer at the Original Harvest Baptist Church, founded by his grandfather, the Rev. M.C. Chatman. He had dabbled in theater, appearing in "The Wiz" at Karamu Performing Arts Theatre, for instance.

But his theater training didn't begin until he got to Shaker High and discovered the theater program run by James Thornton.

"I had already signed up for the music program but wanted to do theater, too," McElroy said. "Mr. Thornton said I would have to audition for the theater program, and I was fortunate enough to get in.

"We did everything in the Shaker Acting Ensemble, everything -- pieces by [poets Rainer Maria] Rilke and e.e. cummings. I was exposed to Pilobolus dance company and all these other incredible things."

As his graduation in 1985 neared, McElroy once more found himself faced with a decision between going on in music or theater. After a representative from Carnegie-Mellon University's musical-theater program visited Shaker, McElroy discovered he could choose both.

Again he auditioned; again he got in.

After graduating from Carnegie-Mellon in 1990, McElroy immediately got work, appearing in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of "Richard III" starring Denzel Washington.

McElroy has built a career, appearing in Broadway and off-Broadway shows as well as many of the country's major regional theaters. His Broadway credits include:

1992's "High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club" with Deborah Burrell-Cleveland, whom McElroy saw when he was a kid in "One Mo' Time" in Cleveland.

"The Who's Tommy" in 1993, with fellow former Clevelander Tracy Nicole Chapman.

"Rent," in a replacement cast.

1997's "Street Corner Symphony," not as a performer but as the vocal arranger.

"The Wild Party," with Eartha Kitt, Mandy Patinkin and Toni Collette.

When he isn't working (and he has worked almost nonstop since moving to New York 14 years ago), McElroy leads a 50-member choir he founded in 1994, Broadway Inspirational Voices.

The group has sung backup on records by Clay Aiken and Vanessa Williams and will appear with Williams in her Christmas show this year at Broadway's Palace Theatre. It performs largely in New York but also tours the country. The choir played Severance Hall last November as a benefit for Original Harvest Baptist Church.

McElroy's family and friends will see "Big River" en masse, thanks to advance planning by his mother.

"Mom has already planned a Saturday matinee for 100 people," McElroy said. "A hundred people!"

And she plans to have the entire cast, including her son, over for dinner.

"When friends of mine are in town on a tour at Playhouse Square or doing a play at the [Cleveland] Play House, she has them all for dinner at our house, even when I'm not there," McElroy said.

"So I am definitely looking forward to getting to eat at home myself."

© 2004 The Plain Dealer.

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Deaf West's production of 'Big River' adds another dimension to musical

By NEAL ZOREN, Special to the Daily Times

November 19, 2004

Reviving "Big River" was not such an unusual idea. This musical version of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" received a Tony as Best Musical in 1985 and features a catchy, if sometimes silly, score by "King of the Road" composer Roger Miller.

Its quality and entertainment value speak for itself. The production coming to the Academy of Music on Tuesday has another wonderful dimension.

It didn't originate in the office of a producer who figured a 20th anniversary tour of "Big River" would find an audience. It started at Deaf West, a Los Angeles theater company that creates opportunities for deaf artists, but doesn't confine itself to plays created for deaf performers. A musical the size of "Big River," with its many characters and plot lines, posed many challenges, but Deaf West's staging met them so well, its production moved from L.A. to Broadway, where it had another brush with Tony as a 2004 nominee in the Best Revival of a Musical category, and is now on the road.

Its Academy run, part of the Kimmel Center's Broadway at the Academy series, lasts a week. "Big River" returns to the area in January for a 12-performance run at Wilmington's DuPont Theatre.

To mount its vision of "Big River," Deaf West combines hearing and non-hearing actors, all using American Sign Language while playing their roles (as opposed to having a signer to one side of the stage.)

While a deaf actor is doing his part, a hearing actor is voicing it. Staging this production took a lot of care and coordination. Among the people responsible for "Big River's" success is one of the most remarkable people in contemporary American theater, Linda Bove.

For 32 years, Bove, born deaf to deaf parents, has worked continually as an actress. In 1970, she came to Philadelphia as a fledgling actress and charter member of the National Theater of the Deaf. In 1981, she returned to give a riveting performance in "Children of a Lesser God," a role she also played on Broadway.

The public knows her best for her 28 years on television's "Sesame Street" as Linda the Librarian, who communicated in ASL and brought understanding about life without hearing to millions of children worldwide.

Bove is "Big River's" ASL master, a new position created by Deaf West, to insure that ASL is performed with the same depth and texture as spoken language. Bove says being ASL master is a major challenge.

"Certainly it is unusual for someone like me who is deaf to have the opportunities I've had in the theater," Bove says in a phone interview during which Deaf West's Bill O'Brien translated. "I am fortunate to have worked continuously for 32 years, to have opened doors for others, and for the long run on 'Sesame Street.'

As ASL master, it's Bove's job to make sure "Big River" translates to the audience in many different ways, the same way a stage director would while working with speaking actors in any language.

"The signing has to be as expressive, dramatic, and rich as spoken communication," she said. "If there are jokes, they have to be funny and played comically, not just related with no expression or emphasis in ASL. Since 'Big River' is a musical, it's important that the rhythm of the signing match the rhythm of the music."

"I want the same spirit of communication in ASL as is found in any language," Bove says. ASL is a different language from spoken English, so the first decisions were about translation. It doesn't have to be literal. It has to be in synch and say the same thing in ASL."

"Big River" is performed in two languages simultaneously, and they both have to give the audience the total experience of the piece, Bove said.

Growing up, Bove says she did not think of a theater as a career.

"I came from a deaf family, and I had no interest in theater. I didn't even relate to it. It never occurred to me the theater would be a place I would find work and make a living."

Bove came to theater by accident.

"I attended Gallaudet University in Washington, and it offered a theater program. I took part out of curiosity and became more and more active. I loved it. It was a rich experience that added to my life as a college student and gave me the chance to be expressive. By my junior year, my interest in theater grew way beyond curiosity.

"Then my first stroke of good fortune came. The National Theater of the Deaf was being formed, and it needed deaf actors. Look at that. I could leave college, work in the theater, earn a salary as an actress, and tour the country playing before audiences who were open and appreciative. We did classics and new plays. It was a great, expanding experience."

Today, Bove is active with Deaf West and works with the theater as it charts its next paths. "We are looking at doing an original musical," Bove says.

Meanwhile, she and another deaf actress will be bringing a new play, "Open Window" by Stephen Sachs to the Pasadena Playhouse this winter.

"It's a play about two women, both deaf, who have a conflicted relationship," Bove says.

"It's a wonderful piece because while both characters are deaf, their deafness does not figure into the plot. The audience sees two strong women trying to resolve an intense situation. They just happen to be deaf. By the time the play had been on for a few minutes, the deafness will be inconsequential. It's great that a theater like Pasadena Playhouse chose 'Open Window' and that the production is underway.

"Deaf West has other plays in development and other adaptations of known plays that do not have deaf characters. It's an exciting time." If You Go

* "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" runs from Tuesday to next Sunday, Nov. 28, at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust streets, Philadelphia. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, and 2 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday. There is no performance on Thursday, Thanksgiving. Tickets range from $85 to $37.50 and can be ordered by calling (215) 893-1999.

©The Daily Times 2004

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A broader, deeper 'Big River'

Deaf West Theatre production is more, not less.
By Desmond Ryan
Inquirer Theater Critic
November 26, 2004

Ask lovers of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to name an episode that hinges on hearing and they will most likely pick the anguished recollection of the fugitive slave Jim.

When he thought his 4-year-old daughter was ignoring him, Jim beat the child, only to later discover that she had lost her hearing and voice to scarlet fever. The re-creation of his tormented guilt makes a poignant and emblematic moment in Big River, an extraordinary revival staged by the Deaf West Theatre of Los Angeles that deploys the communicative skills of those who cannot hear to let us see Twain's immortal fable in a different light.

The production, now touring after justly acclaimed runs in Los Angeles and later on Broadway, is presented at the Academy of Music. In both conception and execution it is far superior to run-of-the-mill road-company fare.

Big River, with music and lyrics by Roger Miller, took several Tonys on Broadway two decades ago. The current edition, which uses deaf, hearing-impaired and hearing actors is, first of all, a remarkable feat of coordination orchestrated by director Jeff Calhoun.

To watch the performers - with the hearing actors singing and delivering the dialogue and the others using gesture, dance and American Sign Language - is to be astonished at the logistics of such seamless synchronization.

Despite what you might assume, the difference between this Big River and a conventional production turns out to be a matter of addition rather than subtraction. Those of us not fluent in sign language can hear the dialogue and, in broad outline, appreciate the eloquence and precision of the signed translation. When Huck (the gifted deaf actor Tyrone Giordano) is torn by the moral dilemmas posed by his wish to free Jim, the projection of his turmoil is vividly expressive.

The show is narrated by Daniel Jenkins (who played Huck in the original Broadway production) as Twain. Besides unfolding the story, Jenkins handles Huck's dialogue and songs and plays several instruments - a graceful piece of multitasking.

Big River follows the main events of Huck's journey as he escapes his violent father and sets off down the Mississippi with Jim (Michael McElroy), who hopes to make it to the North and freedom. Their adventures along the way, mostly involving the river con-men Duke (Troy Kotsur) and King (Erick Devine), form the bulk of the narrative.

Big River, whether in a conventional staging or the Deaf West Theatre edition, is a musical that can't hope to do more than skim the surface of what is widely held to be the greatest American novel. The waters of Twain's river are deep, and in William Hauptman's book only Huck and Jim begin to suggest that profundity.

The other characters in the large cast, who are such a rich and unforgettable presence in the book, are here flat and functional. This is a weakness that especially counts with King and Duke, who need to be more than silent-movie scoundrels.

The exception in the supporting roles is the idea of having two actors, one deaf and one hearing, simultaneously play Huck's unsavory and intemperate father. It's a bold and effective move that captures the confusion and division of Huck's relationship with his father.

Calhoun's direction of the elaborate narrative is greatly helped by Ray Klausen's ingenious set. It presents us with the pages of Twain's book, complete with illustrations, through which the actors and the action move fluidly.

Miller's score is best in its gospel and spiritual numbers, and the show is lucky to have two prime voices in McElroy and Gwen Stewart as Alice.

But, in the end, it's the voices of those actors we do not hear that make this voyage down the Mississippi so rewarding and affecting.

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Take Me to the River

by David Anthony Fox

Theater critics have a shortlist of moments that make us realize how lucky we are to have this job. One for me comes in the final part of Deaf West Theatre's magnificent production of the musical Big River, which is performed simultaneously in American Sign Language. At a funeral scene where the chorus sings a rafter-raising hymn, "Waitin' for the Light to Shine," suddenly all sound vanishes: For a brief moment, the hearing audience has some glimmer of what the deaf audience has been experiencing for the last two hours. I've seen the show twice, and both times the moment was heart-stopping; I can feel a catch in my throat even as I write this.

When Deaf West Theatre, a small company in suburban Los Angeles, first announced this revival of Big River, I was skeptical. The folksy musical, an adaptation of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, with music and lyrics by Roger ("King of the Road") Miller, was a Broadway hit in the mid-1980s but seemed to have exhausted its whimsical charms. And the notion of a production that sings-and signs the show-where many roles are played by two performers, one providing body and the other voice-promised well-intentioned confusion.

The happy reality is completely different. Director Jeff Calhoun manages with sovereign ease to tell the story clearly. With minimal means-scenery that suggest pages from the book and a few platforms-Twain's world jumps to life.

Deaf West's Big River was a triumph, moving to Broadway last season. Now it is making a national tour.

Wonderful as Big River is, there are some flaws-not in the production but in the show itself. Huck Finn is, of course, both a boy-book and an enduring masterpiece. Roger Miller's score is terrific at capturing Twain's impishness but less successful with his mightiness. Songs like "Muddy Water" and "River in the Rain" are catchy and charming, but they don't begin to evoke the awe and transformative power of Twain's mighty Mississippi. (To the credit of all involved, though, the difficult racial issues are not softened.)

In the end, though, Big River delivers both humor and poignancy. The touring production retains most of the Broadway cast and benefits immeasurably in particular from three superb performances. Tyrone Giordano (Huck) is a deaf actor with the grace of a ballet dancer and an adorable, mobile face. Michael McElroy is a sonorous and magisterial Jim. Finally, Daniel Jenkins, playing the dual role of narrator Mark Twain and the voice of Huck, is unbeatable. (Touching footnote: Jenkins actually created the role of Huck on Broadway in 1985.)

Though the Big River tour has now left Philadelphia, there are stops in Wilmington (February) and Hershey (April). Do seek it out-you owe it to yourselves to see it!

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Interpreting Huck Finn - Adventures on the Mississippi brought to life for students at Learning Center for Deaf Children

December 19, 2004

By Chris Bergeron, NEWS STAFF WRITER

Attending her first play, Ashley Thompson watched Huckleberry Finn and the cast share the adventure and music of life on the Mississippi through American Sign Language.

Along with classmates from the Learning Center for Deaf Children, she enjoyed a special production of 'Big River" that "made me feel like I was part of the play-"

"I liked this play because the actors used my language, not spoken English," explained the 17-year-old senior from Somerville inane- mail. " remember most how dramatic the actors were, and at the same lime, very fascinating."

Thompson was among 24 students from the Framingham school who received complementary tickets to "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin" last month at the Wang Theatre in Boston.
Mark Twain's classic novel of a carefree outcast who helps a slave escape to freedom was staged by the Deaf West Theatre with a cast f hard-of-hearing, deaf and hear actors.

While Twain broke literary ground by telling his story through the eyes and idiom of a backwoods boy, the production weaves ASL and spoken English into a theatrical tapestry of storytelling, song and dance.
Throughout the performance, hearing and deaf actors speak and sign their lines.
Award-winning singer-song writer Roger Miller wrote the musical score which mixes Cajun, gospel, folk and blues tunes.

A chorus signs the songs' words, like "Worlds Apart" and "Muddy Water in unison with the sung lyrics.
Near the end of "Wailing for the Light to Shine," the singers and music stops but the signing chorus continues in total silence, ending with worth from poet John Keats, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter."

The touring, award-wining production earned critical praise. The Wall Street Journal hailed it as "a miraculous theatrical spectacle."

On stage, Hck Finn was played y Tyrone Giordano, a deaf actor who originated the role.
After the play, Thompson said the Deaf West adaptation of Twain's novel provided an uplifting message for all audience members, deaf or otherwise.

A member of the school's basketball and volleyball teams, she wrote, "I think Twain) might have intended to imply a message that we should all cope with our lives in spite of how difficult it gets."

Just days before the play, English teacher Karen Turley taught Twain's 1884 novel to a class of 11th- and 12th-graders who'd read the book as an assignment.

Located at 848 Central St. Framingham, the Learning Center for Deaf Children has been a school and a home for hundreds of deaf students for more than 30 years.

Classes are conducted in ASL which combines hand movements, facial expressions and body language to communicate meaning and emotions.

Turley passed out a synopsis that explained how Buck Finn was torn between beatings from his drunken father and well-intentioned hut stifling attempts by the Widow Douglas "to civilize him." A chart on the classroom wall introduced literary terms like "conflict," "protagonist," "metaphor" and "irony."
Making her points through SL, Turley said Twain used rural dialects to satirize racism and bigotry in the years before the Civil War.

Since her students cannot hear or hear only a limited range of sounds, Turley explained Twain's use of regional accents 'through the familiar joke about the Bostonian who "Paaar-ked my caaar in Haarvard yaaard."

ASL users express unusual words like "Huckleberry" or regional dialects by "spelling them out" with gestures representing letters of the alphabet.

Turley summarized the plot, reminding students how Huck and an escaped slave named Jim built a wooden raft to "float down the Mississippi River look ing for freedom."

She told students that actor Michael McElroy, who portrays Jim and sings several of the production's biggest musical numbers, is not deaf. In the Deaf West production, Jim's ability to speak ASL is attributed to the fact he has deaf family members.

Turley said Huck and Jim develop a 'bond" of shared under standing based on the different kinds of social and racial prejudice they've encountered. She said Twain's novel was staged as a musical in 1985 and later adapted by Deaf West Theatre for mixed audiences.

James Parker, a 17-year-old junior from Williamstown, Vt., said a performance that included ASL speakers "empowered" deaf audiences.

Thompson signed, "It will, be cool to see it. I'm looking for ward to the play."
After seeing "Big River," Tova Pitler described the play as "amazing to listen to and watch."

The 17-year-old senior from Blackstone was moved by the supportive relationship between Huck and Jim. And she recalled how two actors - one who spoke and one who used ASL - portrayed the abusive father, "Pap."

"But I really love the music and how they used sign language for the songs," said Filler. "It was so amazing. I feel like I want to sing."

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Sign up to ride this wild 'River'

By Robert Nesti

November 19, 2004

There's a spine-tingling moment toward the end of "Big River The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" at the Wang Theatre. It occurs during a. reprise of one of Huck's big numbers, but what makes it so inspiring aren't the words, but the gestures - American Sign Language - through which the lyrics are ex pressed. When the sound drops away and the cast continues to sing with their hands, the genius of this production is vividly realized.

Of course presenting this musical with a cast of hearing, hearing-fin- paired and deaf actors who sign the dialogue and lyrics sounds gimmicky; but the beauty of the Los Angeles-based Deaf West production is that the gestures become a part of the musical's choreography, and, can be as breathtaking as anything by Bob Fosse.

Wisely, director Jeff Calhoun never draws attention to the hand movements - they're just part of the easy flow of this country- styled musical based on Mark Twain's picaresque novel. But they add a surprising dimension to the themes of struggle arid social' unrest that underscore William Hauptman's concise adaptation. These characters may sing of being worlds apart, but the signing brings them together.

Roger Miller's score sounds like he dropped a roll of quarters in a Nashville jukebox and out came this pleasant mix of blues, gospel and folk songs.

Daniel Jenkins, who played thick in the original production, takes on the role of the show's genial narrator, Mark Twain. He also supplies the voice for Huck Finn, played by Tyrone Giordano, who captures the mischievous charm of his boyish character to perfection. Michael McElroy is splendid as Jim, the runaway slave, using his superb baritone most powerfully with the anthem "Free at Last." But what makes this "Big River" such an event is not just its fine ensemble, but the way it makes a seemingly impossible concept a joy to watch from start to finish.

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'Big River' dazzles with sight, sound
By Louise Kennedy, Globe Staff

November 18, 2004

With a spirit as expansive and free-flowing as the great Mississippi itself, the Deaf West Theatre production of ''Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" fills the Wang Theatre with a joyous, buoyant journey toward freedom. As Huck and Jim sign and sing their way down the river and up from ignorance and oppression, they lift our hearts along with theirs toward the beckoning big sky.

''Big River" seemed an unlikely proposition at first; how could Mark Twain's ''Huckleberry Finn," in all its sprawling genius, become a musical? But William Hauptman's book and Roger Miller's piercingly lovely and varied songs did the trick, and made it look natural -- as natural as this deaf-theater adaptation of the musical, unlikely as it also seemed, proves to be.

What makes it work is the seamless integration of sound and sight. The strong ensemble includes both deaf and hearing performers; expertly directed by Jeff Calhoun, the hearing performers voice and sign their lines, and the deaf ones sign while their lines are voiced by other actors, unobtrusively placed in various ways onstage. Far from distracting us, this blend of languages deepens the great themes not only of ''Big River" but of Twain's original masterpiece: the barriers that divide us, whether race or class or ability, and the ways we break down those barriers to embrace our common humanity.

Michael McElroy's Jim is magnificent, with a glorious voice and a commanding presence. Deaf actor Tyrone Giordano pairs well with him as the wild but educable Huck. Their duets, especially the plangent ''Worlds Apart," both illuminate their relationship and fit Calhoun's repeated use of twinning, mirroring, and doubling characters to reflect on Twain's divided world.

Among the solid cast, Gwen Stewart's powerful but nuanced gospel singing stands out. Daniel Jenkins does yeoman duty: Besides voicing Giordano's Huck, he's onstage the whole night as Twain, observing, narrating, and commenting on the action. And he plays a mean banjo, not to mention harmonica and guitar.

One glaring defect last night was in the sound, with several songs muffled by the Wang's weird and awful acoustics. The problem seemed particularly acute at center stage, but it cropped up all over. Fortunately, it didn't affect McElroy's finest moment, Jim's yearning dream of liberation, hauntingly sung and elegantly signed, in ''Free At Last."

Other technical aspects were fine, from David R. Zyla's almost-too-opulent costumes to Michael Gilliam's inventive lights. Ray Klausen's set is a marvel. Giant sepia pages of the novel open up to become doorways, peel back to reveal a cave, or flip down to form a bed or, of course, a raft. And when that raft first carries Huck and Jim down the river, the pages glide back to become its banks. A great, glowing stripe of blue rises up behind the raft, and the way it is at once river and sky and freedom and the whole world opening up before them just takes your breath away. If you've ever wondered just what makes live theater so special, go take a look at that.

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company

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THE EDGE - By Robert Nesti

There's a most memorable moment in the upcoming production of "Big River that plays at the Wang Theatre beginning Tuesday through Nov. 21.

Midway through a reprise of 'Wutin' for the light to Shine." the music suddenly stops. The cast. though. still sings in silence, conveying the lyrics with American Sign Language as it had throughout the show; and the audience doesn't miss a syllable.

No one is more pleased by the dramatic effect than Ed Waterstreet the deaf artistic director of the Deaf West Theatre, who conceived of the idea of performing musicals using a mix of hearing, hearing-impaired and deaf actors; and having the entire production signed in-sync with the spoken and musical performance.

"You can't blame people for being doubtful," explained a boisterous Waterstreet through an interpreter at a recent press conference. "How can deaf people do a musical?"

Waterstreet and his wife, Linda Bove, have been integral to the development of theater for the hearing impaired for the past 30 years, first as actors with the National Theatre of the Deaf and, more recently, as founders of Deaf West, the Los Angeles-based theater they formç4 13 years ago.
He turned to musicals a few years ago with a production of "Oliver!" and enlisted Broadway director! choreographer Jeff Calhoun as a collaborator.

"Jeff said to me, 'You've got to be kidding' when I first told him of the idea; but I convinced him to meet with me, and we agreed to make this vision a success."

"Oliver!" was, and "Big River," their next project, was even more so. It toured the United States and Japan (where it recently played to enthusiastic audiences) this year; and picked up a special Tony Award in New York this season. A second company will set up residence at Ford's Theatre in Washington next spring for an extended run.

The show, a pop-rock adaptation of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" with a score by Roger Miller, had won a Tony for Best Musical in 1987.

Waterstreet was attracted by the show's cultural mix, "The reason is very simple: You've got Hunk Finn, who is deaf in our show; and the slave Jim, who can hear. Here are the two characters traveling down the Mississippi on a raft. Huck's an orphan, Jim's a run away slave; two cultures meeting together on a raft in the Mississippi. The story itself is great, the music is wonderful; and it is a natural fit between sign language and voice. It's quite visual, quite poetic."

But theater wasn't Waterstreet's first love. He attended Gallaudet University where he received a degree in physical education.

As a child, he resented going to musicals with his family, all of whom could hear. "It wasn't a pleasant experience," he said. "I could see mouths and bodies moving, and barely under stood what was going on. But I was forced to go and would often try to back out. I would rather play sports instead - that was more fun for me. I'm a jock at heart.

"There are still a lot of misconceptions and barriers, but the ignorance I grew up with just isn't there anymore. People are very excited to learn American Sign Language. It is offered as a credit course in colleges. Linda and I see how people are communicating across cultures. Deaf actors are more a part of pop culture, you see them more and more in television and movies. And an entire generation grew up with a deaf character on 'Sesame Street.' That's progress?' Through donor grants, the Wang Center is offering all tickets to "Big River" for half-price.

"Big River "Tuesday - Nov. 21 at the Wang Theatre, 270 Trernont St., Boston. Tickets, $12.50 -$32 50, are available at the box office, by calling Te 800-447-7400, or online at www.wangcenter.org

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Deaf students get their cue in school play
Two star in Southwest's 'Arsenic and Old Lace'

By Kelley Bruss

March 17, 2005

Freshman Stephanie Gibbons's expressive face and vivid body language made a big impression when she auditioned for "Arsenic and Old Lace."

"Amazing," said Kady Beekman, a senior at Green Bay Southwest High School and director of the school drama club's spring production. "She was so good. I was like, We have to get her in here somewhere."

That decision made, Beekman's next move was to find a way to provide a spoken voice for Gibbons, who is deaf and communicates with American Sign Language.

When the show opens Friday, Gibbons will take the stage alongside sophomore Meghan Delie - the two are double-cast in a single role, Officer Brophy. Gibbons signs the character's dialogue while Delie speaks it aloud.

"They're like a well-oiled team," said interpreter Kit Harris-Mader, who helps backstage. "I was impressed."

It's nothing new for a deaf or hard-of-hearing student to participate in a production at Southwest. But this is the first time anyone remembers that a role has been double-cast with one student who speaks and one who signs.

This also is Gibbons's stage debut.

"I was so scared before" auditions, she signed, as interpreter Carol Schleis spoke. But she decided it was worth a try. "Everyone thinks my expression is so wonderful, so I thought, 'Why not?' " Gibbons said.

Senior Kate Skarda, another "Arsenic" cast member who is deaf, said it's no surprise Gibbons gets tagged as a natural for the stage.

"I think that deaf people especially have really innate acting talent," Skarda said.

Once Gibbons got the part, she felt a little overwhelmed. At first, Delie "kept nudging me when I was supposed to sign."

"It was challenging at first, trying to figure out how to tell her to sign," Delie said.

After hours of rehearsals, the two now mesh nicely. Still, Gibbons admits to some butterflies about coordinating their work during the performances this weekend.

"It's hard to get the timing down - I'm trying to match her," she said.

Beekman lifted the idea of double-casting from the show "Big River," which played the Weidner Center in November.

"Big River" is a musical based on Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

Some of the actors in the touring show are deaf, including the actor who plays Huck Finn.

Others speak and sing for the deaf performers.

Beekman figured if they could do it, why couldn't Southwest students? The experiment worked even better than she'd hoped.

"It really wasn't that hard to put an extra cop in," Beekman said. "I didn't have any problems, actually."

Mary Delie, the drama club adviser, said the rest of the 17-member cast - including two "dead" bodies - embraced Gibbons and Skarda.

"It's so commonplace to have the deaf students here, that it's very expected," she said.

The Green Bay School District's services for high school students who are deaf or hard of hearing are concentrated at Southwest.

In past productions, some deaf students have been cast in nonspeaking roles. Others, like Skarda, have won speaking parts.

Skarda, 18, has been active in drama since she landed a leading role as a freshman.

On stage, hearing aids help, as does her knowledge of the play.

"I have the script memorized," she said. "So I know what they're saying, but I have to know when they're saying it."

She depends on an interpreter backstage to find out when her cues are coming.

"I can't hear them when they're speaking because they're projecting out to the audience," she said.

Tuesday morning, the cast did several scenes for some language arts classes. The performances were part of the school's fine arts week celebration.

Afterward, Mary Delie and Beekman still were tweaking plans for Friday's opening.

They decided Gibbons and Meghan Delie need to make their first entrance in a different way so that Gibbons can be seen signing right away.

It's safe to assume Gibbons will adapt to the last-minute change.

"We try to prove to the outside world that we can succeed in whatever we try," she said.

"Anything's possible," Skarda added.

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‘Big River’ packs power, dazzle, delight

By Warren Gerds

November 11, 2004

4 stars (out of four)

“Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is one of the best productions to play at the Weidner Center.

The cast is in its first performances since receiving 2004 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre, a special distinction outside the normal competition categories of the Tony Awards.

The show takes the genius of Mark Twain and presents his tale of daring at the time of slavery with added layers of meaning.

Many of the performers are deaf. They communicate through the voices of others and/or American Sign Language.

The singing voices often are rich and beautiful. The sign language adds motion and color — like lively visual poetry.

Outstanding performances abound. The cast is from the Broadway production.

Tyrone Giordano, who is deaf, is the outcast Huck Finn. Boyish energy leaps from him.

Daniel Jenkins is Mark Twain and the voice of Huck, a role he played in the original 1985 Broadway production. Jenkins infuses the South in Huck, plus he plays a variety of musical instruments.

Michael McElroy is runaway slave Jim. Along with a powerful voice and body, McElroy sweeps into pathos as well.

Troy Kotsur, who is deaf, scores a “hat trick” — three roles of importance. First, he’s the scraggly Pap, Huck’s drunken father. Then he’s the con man, the Duke. Finally, he’s the sheriff who captures Jim.

All around these key performers are other excellent, committed performances.

One of the cleverest inventions is giving Pap a mirror image, so Kostur can communicate more fully. Erick Devine shadows, mimes and voices Kotsur/Pap, and it’s fantastic theater.

“Big River” has an army of producing credits (with the Weidner in the pile, too, as one of the funding entities), and it’s amazing that so much input was able to create this remarkable piece.

The set initially is the super-sized cover of Twain’s book, surrounded by pages of text and illustrations — in the air and on the floor. Some pages open on new chapters of adventure as Huck escapes his father and flees down the Mississippi River with Jim as they encounter “considerable trouble” and “considerable joy.”

A band accompanies on stage.

Among great moments is a burial scene. How a coffin is put under ground on stage is stunning theatricality.

“Big River” is made up of jaunty, touching and inspirational music. It’s funny at points. It packs big-time punch at others.

It steadfastly sticks to some of Twain’s original words, one of which is offensive today.

A whole lot of courage surrounds this production, and it’s one of the great shows in American theater today.

“Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”: 7:30 p.m. today-Sunday, plus 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at Weidner Center, UWGB. $27-$59; (920) 465-2217 or (800) 328-8587.

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Eagle Herald
Big River: The Adventures of Garrett Zuercher

By ERIC LaROSE
November 3, 2004
On Nov. 9, one of the most critically honored events of the last Broadway season will be making its way across America to Green Bay, bringing a Wisconsin native with it.

"Big River -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," features deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing actors performing in spoken English and American Sign Language, combining music, dance and storytelling techniques from both hearing and deaf cultures into a "third language."

The result is a unique theatrical event.

Set in 1840s rural America, the musical follows the exploits of the irrepressible Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, as they explore life along the mighty Mississippi River.

The play, which was the winner of six Los Angeles Ovation Awards and five Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Awards, including Best Musical from both, features a performance from 24-year-old Wisconsin native Garrett Zuercher in the role of Huck's understudy.

Zuercher, who currently considers himself to be homeless because he is living out of a suitcase on tour, talked about his love of acting, life on the road and the play he authored in an interview with the EagleHerald via e-mail.

We've been told you were born and raised in Wisconsin. Where?
Born and raised in Colgate, Wis., about 30 minutes outside of Milwaukee. Went to college in Milwaukee at Marquette University.

How did you first become interested in the theater?
I was born already bitten with the theater bug. I've been writing and acting ever since I can remember, even writing plays for my sister and I to perform for our parents when I was a young child of 7. I've always known that the theater was the place for me, and could never imagine my life without it.

Did you study theater in college?
Yes, I graduated with a double BA, one in creative writing and one in Theater. Also a minor in history. I feel that it is important to be well-educated if you work in the arts.

How did you make the transition to a professional theater career?
I have been very fortunate to know and have been seen by the right people. As part of my Acting Five class my last year of college, we had a showcase performance where we each (the 10 of us in the class) performed monologues and scenes and invited theater professionals from the Milwaukee community to come and watch.

One professional who came, Michael Wright, had just that day been offered the chance to direct "The Fantasticks" at the Skylight Opera Theater in Milwaukee, and thought I would be perfect for the role of the Mute. So, he had the theater call me and offer me the part. Of course I took it; we performed in summer of 2002, and things just snowballed from there.

Then, a man who saw me in "The Fantasticks" and had a friend at Deaf West heard that they were looking for a Huck understudy for "Big River," and thought of me. Even though I had never met this man, he went out of his way to contact me and tell me that I should send in my resume and headshot to Deaf West. I did so, and a few weeks later, Deaf West called me and asked me to audition for them. I later found out that Tyrone Giordano, who plays Huck Finn, pulled my headshot and resume out of a pile of candidates at Deaf West, was impressed, and recommended they look at me.

Anyway, within a few days, they flew me out to NYC where I performed two of Huck's monologues and one of his songs, and was given the part on the spot. Thus, it's through this show, "Big River," my third professional production, that I got my Equity card.

What is your part like with Big River?
I'm a member of the ensemble where I play several different parts including Simon (one of the boys in Tom Sawyer's gang), a Slave Trader (who searches for the runaway slave), one of the Bricktown residents in "Nonesuch," and a mourner in the Wilkes funeral. I change my clothes a total of six times per show, not to mention wig and makeup changes.

However, I am also the understudy for the lead role of Huck Finn so that if Tyrone, who normally plays him, becomes sick or is unable to perform, I take his place and someone else takes mine. I am fortunate to also have the opportunity to perform as Huck in Green Bay, which I specifically requested as part of my contract due to it being my home state.

As an understudy do you get to see much stage time?
Oh, yes, because I have a separate track of my own in the ensemble other than Huck, I am in every show. But, of course, its a smaller track consisting of many different roles. I have played Huck four times so far, once in Dallas and three times in Tokyo.

What other productions have you acted in?
I did many shows, both mainstage and studio, through my theater program at Marquette. But post-college, I have played the lead in a reading of "The Taste of Sunrise" with First Stage, which I hope will soon become part of their season lineup due to it being a fantastic show. In addition, I've done the afforementioned "The Fantasticks" with Skylight Opera and "The Tempest" with the Milwaukee Shakespeare Company.

Do you have any interesting stories from the road?
I love this cast, and how close we are. When we're not performing, we're all looking for some trouble to get into. Also, one of the members, Troy Kotsur, who plays Pap and the Duke, is filming a movie on the road in which we are all in. I shot my part in Tokyo, and he plans to use each member of the cast in a different city, which has been a lot of fun so far.

We've also been told that you've written a play. What is it called and what is it about?
I've written several so far, but I believe you are referring to "Quid Pro Quo," which is about a deaf man and a hearing woman who meet in college and how they each help the other see that the grass isn't always necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. It's performed entirely in American Sign Language.

Your play has won two awards and will be produced in 2005. What awards did you win and what will your role be in the production?
Yes, it was one of the final winners of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) where it was chosen one of six out of over 1,300 productions nationwide to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., last April. It also won two national playwriting awards: the Jean Kennedy Smith and John Cauble awards, through KCACTF. It will now be produced in Kansas City in June of 2005.

Other than being the credited writer, I have no involvement with that project. They saw my play at the Kennedy Center, were interested in producing it, and bought the rights from me. I do plan to go see it, however, and am intrigued to see what they do with it and how they see it differently from me.

You are an actor who happens to be deaf. Have you always been deaf?
Yes, I was born profoundly deaf. I have about a 97 percent hearing loss in each ear, but can hear minimal sounds with the help of hearing aids. My brain cannot understand or interpret the sounds, since it never learned how, but if I know what is making the sounds and why, I can match them and deduce what the sounds are. This is how I follow most of the songs in "Big River," since I know the words and can match the sounds I hear to the words I know.

Does that make what you do harder? Does it create difficulties with your fellow actors?
It does make things more challenging, but it's also a barrier to overcome. If it was easy, everyone would do it. The challenge is what makes the rewards so sweet, and I love a good obstacle. I love to fight and work hard and prove I can do anything if I just set my mind to it. That's what I've done my whole life, and I'm not stopping now. If my fellow actors respect me as an actor and respect my needs, and the respect is mutual, there are rarely any difficulties. I give them what they need and they give me what I need.

What do you think being deaf brings to your performances?
That's an interesting question. I believe that deaf actors listen better than most hearing actors because they really have to watch to listen and to understand. Thus there's more of a connection between two actors if one or both is deaf.

What plans do you have for the future?
I would like to continue with this tour as long as it goes on, and afterward keep working as an actor and playwright. I plan to go back and revise "Quid Pro Quo" soon and hopefully get a workshop reading of it and see where it goes after that.

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Adapting a musical for an audience who can't hear

By Zal Sethna

Credit should be given where credit is due, and Deaf West Theater founder and artistic director Ed Waterstreet should be praised for his brave vision of musicals--one of the most sound-dependent theatrical forms--performed by a cast consisting of many deaf actors. But Bill O'Brien, who has produced
both of the company's musical productions, Oliver! and now Big River, deserves credit for making the inspired choice that has helped make the latter a runaway success and a double Tony-nominee.

"The wisest thing that I can claim ownership of," he says, was getting Jeff Calhoun to direct both shows.

O'Brien had met Calhoun a year before being hired to produce Oliver!, during a production of The Will Rogers Follies that the two worked in. Although Calhoun had no prior experience working in deaf theater, O'Brien had, and he knew what was needed to successfully adapt a musical for a deaf audience.

"While I was working with (Calhoun), I really got to recognize that he has a tremendous visual sensibility," he says. "He can create pictures, he has a really good eye, and we knew that the chief demand that was going to be present for us was keeping everything clear for the deaf audience. In a musical, very often, there's lots of stuff going on, and when you miss the thing, you're lost."

The producer was introduced to the world of deaf theater soon after graduating from college, when he spent a year traveling with a small company from the U.S. National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Three years later, he came back to help direct the music for some of their shows.

"I did get to know at that time, and became very fond of, the artists that came out of that culture," he says. "They have a very unique way of communicating, and it lends itself to theater, I think."

It shows in the critical and box-office success Big River has experienced in the United States, which has helped take the show by a little-known company from small venues all the way to Broadway. Due to the success, O'Brien is thinking of once again producing Oliver!, which was initially meant to be Deaf West's first mainstream project until it got sidelined by scheduling conflicts with a national tour of a different production of the same musical.

However, he contends that the appeal of the language's theatricality to both deaf and hearing audiences was simply a happy coincidence (deaf theater programs were started mainly to produce theatrical productions that deaf people could enjoy).

"While it was exciting to start to explore it as a mainstream art form, we couldn't leave the first step behind, we couldn't leave the deaf audiences out in the cold," he says. "So it was imperative to find ways to make it
work for both audiences."

This focus is very apparent in the production, especially in the imaginative ways in which the songs have been converted into sign language.

"One of the things that excited us about the idea of approaching a musical is in the translation, and how that affects the language and how it becomes a heightened way of communicating," O'Brien says.

The singing in a musical is, obviously, not a reflection of real life--people just don't discuss their feelings through song.

"So they break into song, and time stops, and the audience is allowed into a more personal, and in some ways surreal perspective of what, emotionally, is happening to that character at that moment," O'Brien says. "When that happens in sign language, we had to figure out how to replicate that. The
singing happens in sign language as much as in the voice. So, visually, it becomes musical and the signing is no longer just conversation. It's bigger and higher, it's lifted and it's more poetic."

Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun

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Big River bridges gap between deaf and world of sound

By Zal Sethna

A musical performed both orally and with sign language? Sound like a gimmick? It could well have been. But in Deaf West Theater's Tony-nominated revival of Big River, the theatrical potential for sign language is so fully realized that you leave the theater with the feeling you've just discovered a completely new method of stage expression.

Sign language, naturally, would play a necessary part in any production by this U.S. company, some of whose members, as its name implies, are completely or mostly deaf. But when performing in an unconventional medium, there's always a tricky balancing act to play: The medium needs to be
presented without alienating audiences who are unfamiliar with it, or without making it feel exotic and therefore shifting focus away from the production and actors.

Jeff Calhoun, the production's director and choreographer, crosses that tightrope with flair. Everything about the production indicates a mind that understands the dynamic theatricality of sign language--in this case, American Sign Language (ASL)--while, more importantly, knowing just how familiar the language really is to those who don't use it.

That's really key to a musical, based on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, whose theme is acceptance of "otherness"--most prominently people of a different race. Like the story, where Huck develops respect and affection for the black slave Jim as they travel down the Mississippi and
deeper into antiabolitionist territory, the production gives us a newfound understanding for the hearing impaired, not by implying it's a handicap we should be considerate of, but by suggesting it's simply a different way of life.

This is conveyed by Calhoun with some very nice touches. For example, it's Huck, and not Jim, who needs to communicate with sign language--and he's the better off of the two. In a funny joke later on, two rogues attempt to swindle a family of its inheritance by acting as the deceased's two brothers, one of whom is deaf but is played by the actor who actually isn't deaf. Because Calhoun avoids associating deafness with the underprivileged--or even the deaf for that matter--we don't equate it with any stereotypes either.

He also manages, to a certain extent, to implement the potentially problematic use of other actors to recite the dialogue of characters played by deaf actors (not least in using technology that allows those voices to
seemingly come from the deaf actors themselves). For example, Huck's dialogue is performed by an actor playing Mark Twain--who didn't appear in the original musical--but the decision makes sense considering the book is written in the first person. Sometimes, the actor and speaker move closely in pairs, as in the case of sisters Mary Jane and Joanna Wilkes, and so the dialogue feels less jarring than what's typical of the show, where an actor or actress suddenly appears in an inconspicuous (but still visible) part of
the stage just to speak his or her partner's dialogue.

But this is a musical, and there's little use for a musical whose song-and-dance numbers don't work. Can actors who can't hear the music keep time with the orchestra and singers? You bet. And, as it turns out, ASL's a beautiful medium for choreography.

"Do You Wanna Go To Heaven?" has an entire town admonishing Huck for not following the path of God, but the nagging doubles in intensity with the use of the thrusting ASL signs used to convey it. Huck cringes, and you really feel for him. And in a beautiful moment in "Muddy Water," Huck's signs
literally come together with Jim's--a simple, but very effective gesture that defines their close friendship.

The songs are sung by others for the actors who are hearing impaired, but because the mouth is so obviously a big part of ASL, you really get the impression that the deaf actors themselves are singing. This complements the production's thematic core, that disabilities don't have to be handicaps.

Nothing reflects this in the production better than the central relationship between Huck and Jim. Tyrone Giordano, who plays Huck, is such a lively presence full of boyish charm, and so expressive you get the feeling he would have gotten by just fine even without Daniel Jenkins' affable voice providing his dialogue. It's no wonder the more sensible Jim goes along with his crazy schemes, even if they indirectly end up hurting him. Michael McElroy's sensitive portrayal of Jim makes it apparent to Huck as well as
the audience just how much he is hurt through Huck's lack of understanding--and it makes Huck's growing maturity touchingly believable.

You realize through their journey that the production isn't really about race; it's about communication, and the role it plays in allowing people of different backgrounds to understand each other. The tight bond between Huck and Jim is forged because they open up to each other. Likewise, the production--and therefore the world of the hearing impaired--creates a bond with the audience by opening up their world to us, and we respond with our undivided attention and genuine applause after each superbly crafted number.

Through this dialogue, those of us who live in the world of sound realize the world without sound is just as capable of creating magic and conveying
human emotions as our own.

Until Oct. 24 at Aoyama Theatre in National Children's Castle near JR Shibuya Station and Omotesando subway station. (03) 3490-4949

Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun

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Heart music in 'Big River'

By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer

It is a tale that many of us know, that of a young boy's adventures on the Mississippi River while helping a slave, named Jim, to escape. One of the greatest novels of American literature, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is set in the 1840s, long before the Civil War, and is a touching story of love and friendship that transcends race. Now, it is being brought to life in an entirely new production of the Broadway musical "Big River," this time directed by Jeff Calhoun.


Michael McElroy (Jim) and Tyrone Giordano (Huck) in two scenes from "Big River" produced by Deaf West Theater Company.

But hold on, this is no ordinary song-and-dance routine. "Big River," originally staged on Broadway in 1985, has been re-created by Deaf West Theater, the first-ever professional sign-language theater, established in 1991 in Hollywood. And here, the cast -- which includes eight deaf and hard-of-hearing performers within a cast of 24, comes together to dramatize this American epic using American Sign Language.

Throughout the show, every word spoken or sung is simultaneously signed by the actor or actress. Voices for the deaf performers are supplied using a kind of a ventriloquial technique, so that both hearing and deaf audience members can enjoy the dialogue and songs. But the truth is, if you look at the performers' faces and the hand movements, you almost don't need to hear the words -- because that is how expressive the acting is.

"We'd rather promote the notion of the deaf community as being a language-based culture rather than a medically limited community," said Bill O'Brian, the show's producer. And limited, they are not.

Take Tyrone Giordano, the hard-of-hearing actor who plays the lead role of Huck. Giordano lights up the stage with a mischievous smile and a boyish glint in his eyes, giving off an air of innocence, just as you'd imagine in the face of the book's 13-year-old Huck. His movements are mesmerizing because even if he is not speaking, you can feel that his expressions come straight from the heart.

The core of the musical is the development of the friendship between Huck, who is white, and Jim, a black runaway slave almost twice his age. Each has been brought up to believe that the other is from a completely different world with a completely different set of values. Hence, inevitably, emotional conflict ensues.

"The story of Huck is a struggle between what you are taught is true, and what you feel and know is true within," said Giordano. "I am hoping that people will see the emotional journey of Huck, his growth as a person."

"This story has a very tangible connection to deaf and hearing people being worlds apart," added producer O'Brian. "It helps expose how two completely separate worlds are really not as different from each other as it seems, in terms of basic humanity."

The man who connects Giordano's performance of Huck to the world of hearing is Daniel Jenkins, who actually played Huck in the original Broadway version. In this production, there is an extra dimension to the role as he also plays the author Mark Twain.

As Jenkins speaks the lines in his strong Southern accent, Giordano's expression correspondingly runs through a gamut of human emotions -- hurt, bored, wide-eyed with wonder, and the like. The way the two are completely in sync makes it easy to forget that they are in fact two different actors.

"I am not just saying the words at the same time he [Giordano] is signing the line," explained Jenkins. "As we practiced, we felt we needed to find out the meaning of the spirit behind a word, the things in between the words, what's happening emotionally in the moment and what obstacles the character is encountering."

Michael McElroy also delivers a powerful performance as Jim, portraying him in a notably mature, many-faceted characterization. He feels wonder and joy at his new friendship with Huck, but torment because his wife and children are still enslaved. He also powerfully conveys anger and hurt when, in a key scene, Huck plays a cruel trick on him.

Along with Jenkins, McElroy joined DWT's "Big River" when it went to Broadway last year. This also meant that they had to learn sign language from scratch -- according to the pair they had only a week to master it.

"For me, signing was very freeing on a certain level," said McElroy. "Because as an actor, suddenly, I had another tool with which to express my character."

In this way, ASL became more than just a simple communicative medium in this performance -- it has transformed into choreography. And each song, each act, is the result of it.

The trio -- Giordano, Jenkins and McElroy -- deliver a series of breathtaking songs, including "Muddy Water" and "River in the Rain."

One highlight is the heartbreakingly beautiful duet "Worlds Apart." In this scene, Jim and Huck sing about the two different worlds they are living in, and how they see the same things -- but differently because of the racial divide.

"I think that in this act, Jim teaches Huck a lesson," said associate director and choreographer Coy Middlebrook.

"It's the first time that Huck has seen the possibility of looking at any given situation from a different point of view."

Another act to watch out for is "Guv'ment," a hilarious scene that centers on Pap, Huck's drunken father. Pap is also played by two people, deaf actor Troy Kotsur and hearing actor Erick Devine. Unlike other acts, this scene uses a new trick -- both Kotsur and Devine appear on stage dressed exactly the same way and move around as if you are seeing double. Side-by-side, the two create the disgraceful figure of the alcoholic Pap, roaming about the stage and bullying poor Huck in a drunken stupor.

The climax of the show is "Waitin' for the Light to Shine," which is when Huck realizes that he must go against what he has been taught and just do what his heart tells him. The whole cast appear onstage with the orchestra playing full out, until at the song's highest point, the voices and instruments cut out, leaving the ASL signers to convey the melody noiselessly, straight from the heart.

"People usually think that music is what they are hearing out there, forgetting about what's inside," said Giordano. "This show is a stretch of the idea that music is not just for hearing people, it's also for the deaf. I think in a way that this show calls attention to the fact that music is really from the inside."

"Big River" runs till Oct. 24 at Aoyama Theatre. Tickets are 12,000 yen and 8,000 yen. For further information, call Horipro Ticket Center at (03) 3490-4949 or visit www.big-river.jp

The Japan Times: Oct. 6, 2004
(C) All rights reserved

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August 4, 2004

By Wendell Brock

Like the mighty metaphor of its title, Deaf West Theatre's " Big River : The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" seeps into the soul and transports you to a place that is complicated and mysterious, profoundly moving and soul-cleansing.

After enjoying a celebrated Broadway run last year, the national tour of " Big River " flowed into the Fox Theatre on Tuesday night -- a joyous event that will cause even the most hardened skeptics to believe again in the magic of theater.

More than just an alloy of words and music, Jeff Calhoun's landmark reimagining of Roger Miller and William Hauptman's 1985 Broadway spectacle is a glorious study in contrasts. Superb performers who speak only through American Sign Language stand side-by-side with full-voiced actors and singers, and the themes of Mark Twain's classic tale of initiation -- freedom and bondage, lightness and dark, brown eyes and blue, joy and trouble -- are transformed into a powerful and revelatory evening of theater.

Musicals exist because some feelings can only be expressed in song.

Yet here we have evidence that the language of the heart can be transmitted in a startling new nonverbal vocabulary. As directed and choreographed by Calhoun, speaking actors supply the mechanics of voice for their hearing-impaired counterparts, but every other iota of coloration is left up to the hard-working and highly communicative non-speakers.

Daniel Jenkins provides the voice for Huck (played by deaf actor Tyrone Giordano) -- as well as narrator Twain. Though Giordano is surrounded by a whole posse of superb speaking and non-speaking actors, it is impossible to take your eyes off of him. Giordano is a fluent technician, a fluid mover and a mesmerizing stage presence who summons his character with the electric energy of a ballet dancer.

Jim (the chiseled Michael McElroy) has a mellifluous baritone that flows with the velvety texture of sorghum syrup, and his confessions of striking his own deaf-mute child are poignant and affecting. Also in superior voice are Melissa Van Der Schyff (whose "You Ought to Be Here With Me" recalls Dolly Parton in songbird mode) and Gwen Stewart (as the gospelizing slave Alice).

Though most of the show seamlessly interweaves singing and signing (a good many of the performers do both), there's a moment deep into the second act when the chorus hushes, the band stops playing and Giordano signs his account of "Waitin' for the Light to Shine." Time stops, and the heart soars.

Ray Klausen's set design -- oversize pages and illustrations from Twain's novel -- suggests that the book is literally unspooling as live action. In his sparkling arrangements of Miller's twangy score, musical director Steven Landau leads a six-piece band that sits on a platform on the stage -- a clever idea that helps integrate the music into the storytelling.

When Hucks tells Jim, "You see the same skies through brown eyes that I see through blue," we get a fleeting glimpse of what Twain was trying to convey in his complex morality tale. In this eloquent production, we are invited to look at the world in a different way.

Deaf West's " Big River " may be the first musical in which hearing is not something you do with your ears, but with your heart.

"Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

8 p.m. today and Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $20-$58. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E. , Midtown. 404-817-8700, www.theaterofthestars.com .

The verdict: Listen with your heart; you'll be profoundly affected.

 

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By Mark Lowry

Daniel Jenkins might be the hardest working actor on tour. In Deaf West Theatre's innovative Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jenkins, as Mark Twain, speaks to the audience as the author, for one. He also provides the speaking and singing voice of Huck (physically portrayed by deaf actor Tyrone Giordano ). He frequently changes Ray Klausen's splendid scenic design of novel pages that open and close to function as doors and windows. And he occasionally plays the guitar, banjo and mandolin on stage.

But all the performers in this national tour work hard.

Deaf West, in Hollywood , produced the 1985 Tony-winning Roger Miller musical several years ago, directed by Jeff Calhoun. It played on Broadway in 2003. Many of the characters, like Huck, are played by deaf actors signing their parts, while another similarly costumed performer voices the spoken English from elsewhere on the stage. Other characters, including escaped slave Jim (Michael McElroy) and Tom Sawyer (Christopher Hanke), are played by hearing actors who speak, sing and sign simultaneously. And in a particularly inspired choice, Huck's double-vision drunken father Pap is played by two actors (Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine) moving together in synchronicity, one speaking and the other signing.

It might sound confusing, but the marvel of Calhoun's staging is that focus is clear throughout.

Hanke, a former North Texas resident, captures Tom's mischievous side well. McElroy has a majestically booming singing voice, but also gets inside the interior conflicts of Jim.

Giordano is fascinating to watch. He can be both nuanced and outgoing in signing and portraying Huck. He's a perfect match for the hard-working Jenkins, who watches Huck so precisely that his nasal, uncloudy voice is perfectly matched with Giordano's every move.

This Big River is a stunning feat.

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The Dallas Morning News

By TOM SIME

Who'd have thought a musical could bridge the gap between the hearing and the deaf? Unlikely as it seems, Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has done that very thing.

This adaptation of Mark Twain's novel was conceived by Deaf West Theatre in California and incorporates American Sign Language into its music, dialogue and choreography, finding new ways to turn movement into communication. It may be the first time the hearing or the deaf get to see a song.

If You Go

Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at Fair Park Music Hall through Aug. 1. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Additional performances Sunday at 8 p.m. and July 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets $11 to $75. Runs 150 min. Call 214-691-7200 or 214-631- 2787, or go to www.ticketmaster.com .

The reconceived revival ñ originally on Broadway in 1985 ñ moved from tiny Deaf West to become a Broadway hit again last year, and now it's on tour. The company stopped at Fair Park Music Hall on Tuesday and proved that the merger of singing and signing is a potent one, but not enough to overcome these touring shows' perennial sound glitches.

Roger Miller's music and lyrics are incredibly catchy and poignant; the glorious melodies just keep coming and are sculpted into gestures as they do. Charismatic deaf actor Tyrone Giordano plays Huck, signing his dialogue and lyrics. Hearing actor Daniel Jenkins, who plays Mark Twain and narrates, also speaks Huck's dialogue and sings for him while he signs. Michael McElroy ñ as Huck's friend, the escaped slave Jim ñ signs as he sings, and his hands are as beautiful as his voice.

Signing proves fertile for director- choreographer Jeff Calhoun, who makes it a visually exciting new theatrical element. When a funeral party solemnly signs in unison while singing "How Blest We Are," it's quietly thrilling. Even quieter is the surprising moment when all music and sound come to a halt during one late number, letting us watch the dance-signing as the deaf see it.

This seems the perfect show to embody this new hybrid form; Big River lets sound and silence meld, the races reconcile and the soul navigate the gulf between law and conscience.

E-mail tsime@dallasnews.com

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Deaf West's 'Big River' flows smoothly

By EVERETT EVANS
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle


The ingenious revival of Big River that opened Tuesday evening at Miller Outdoor Theatre works wonders with the show by adding another dimension to its storytelling. That dimension is American Sign Language, skillfully interwoven throughout the show by the dedicated cast, which mingles deaf, hearing and hard-of-hearing players.

This innovative treatment reinvents the pleasant but largely uninspired 1985 musical version of Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - giving it new resonance, expressiveness and artistic validity.

Originated by Los Angeles' Deaf West Theatre and produced on Broadway last season, the Tony-nominated revival has taken to the road, presented here by tour co-producer Theatre Under The Stars.

William Hauptman's script remains a capable, streamlined, albeit oversimplified and somewhat preachy retelling of Twain's saga about ne'er-do-well adolescent Huck, runaway slave Jim and their adventures along the Mississippi.

Roger Miller's agreeable but seldom memorable songs exude folksy flavor, ranging from bluegrass to gospel. Yet they fall prey to a certain sameness. Too often, they offer incidental embellishment when they should grab the story and propel it forward. Some are completely irrelevant, i.e., When the Sun Goes Down in the South, for those scalawag con men the King and the Duke.

Still, the score boasts some affecting moments when it grabs the opportunities in Huck and Jim's friendship (the rousing Muddy Water and the gently touching Worlds Apart), or Huck's emotional growth and realization of the evils of slavery (Waitin' for the Light to Shine, Leaving's Not the Only Way to Go).

Director Jeff Calhoun capitalizes on the storytelling aspect, demonstrating that there are many ways to tell a tale through the mix of speech, singing and signing.

The variety with which the effect is achieved lends freshness and surprise. For some characters, such as Jim and Tom Sawyer, one actor speaks, sings and signs the role. For others, like Huck's Pap, two actors dressed identically appear in tandem, one signing, one speaking and singing.

The inspiration is to treat ASL not merely as utilitarian translation, but as a crucial element of the show's artistry. The sheer beauty of the signing enhances key scenes, as in Huck and Jim's duet Worlds Apart, in which their gestures add a rich visual poetry that enhances the impact of the score's loveliest song.

Then there is the extraordinary moment when Huck and the ensemble are singing and signing Waiting for the Light to Shine and the stage suddenly goes silent - but the song continues through the company's heartfelt signing. This is a revelation, momentarily erasing the difference between hearing and nonhearing theatergoers.

Calhoun's fast-paced direction supplies lots of heart and scads of clever visual touches. With two actors playing Pap, when one drinks from his jug, it's the other who wipes his own mouth with his sleeve. Then there's the droll pantomime of multiple actors' hands representing a bothersome pack of yapping hounds.

Tyrone Giordano is inspired casting as Huck, exuding youthful spirit, earthy innocence and scapegrace charm. His portrayal demonstrates that theatrical signing is achieved with the entire person, for his face and body are as agile and expressive as his hands. He eloquently conveys Huck's crisis of conscience.

Daniel Jenkins (who played Huck in the 1985 original) here enacts an avuncular Twain; doubling as Huck's voice, he gives his lines and songs a piquant twang.

Re-creating his Tony-nominated Jim, Michael McElroy distinguishes his mythic role with a powerhouse voice and depths of wounded nobility and emotion.

Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine prove a scene-stealing duo as disreputable Pap; they return to comparably comic effect as the pretentious rogues the Duke and the King. Christopher J. Hanke makes an irrepressibly mischievous Tom Sawyer.

Melissa Van Der Schyff lends a Dolly Parton-ish zest to her ballad as Mary Jane, Huck's brief flirtation. Gwen Stewart imbues her gospel solos with rafter-rocking intensity as the slave mother whose daughter is being sold away; Christina Dunams is moving in her signed portrayal as the beleaguered daughter.

Theater is, after all, about communication. In Deaf West's unique revival, everyone onstage contributes to communicating the big heart of this Big River.

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Huck's tale retold

Free show sings, signs its way into audience's heart
By EVERETT EVANS
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Can a song soar in silence?

It can and does in the heart-stopping signature moment of Deaf West Theatre's groundbreaking Big River.

Late in the show, midway through a full company reprise of the inspirational Waitin' for the Light to Shine, the stage goes silent -- but the song continues, indeed swells in its power, as the entire cast renders the lyrics in American Sign Language.

It's the coup de theatre that most showgoers will remember as the epitome of this unique production's impact.

Yet the new Big River -- with its cast blending hearing, deaf and hard-of-hearing players -- finds new ways to make silence sing throughout.

The eternal challenge of musical theater is finding the ideal balance of song, dance and spoken word to tell a particular story. This revival of the Tony-winning 1985 musical version of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn adds ASL to the mix, making every moment accessible to nonhearing showgoers.

There is no interpreter at the side of the stage. The characters sign the story themselves, making this component as important as William Hauptman's script and Roger Miller's score. This approach transforms the show into a synchronized ballet of singing and signing, speech, gesture and dance.

Developed in fall 2001 at Deaf West, a 66-seat theater in North Hollywood, the production went on to acclaim at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum in 2002, then on Broadway last summer. A recent Tony nominee for best musical revival, the production is launching an international tour with its Broadway leads still on board: Tyrone Giordano as Huck, Tony-nominated Michael McElroy as Jim and Daniel Jenkins as Twain.

Houston's Theatre Under The Stars is co-producing the tour and presenting it as TUTS' free summer offering at Miller Outdoor Theatre, where it opens Tuesday.

Directing and choreographing the new Big River, Jeff Calhoun has faced his greatest challenge and drawn the best notices of his career.

"It's a new experience for everyone involved," Calhoun says. "The style in which it developed was 100 percent trial and error."

Calhoun says the barrier-bursting treatment is especially well-suited to Twain's classic tale of outcast adolescent Huck and runaway slave Jim, who join forces as they raft down the Mississippi through a series of picaresque adventures.

"It's a story about two cultures coming together," he says. "To have hearing culture and deaf culture come together to tell the story heightens that element, without having to comment on it."

The combinations of sign language, speech and song vary with each character. Huck's Pap is played by two actors, deaf and hearing, always in tandem: One signs, the other speaks and sings. As Jim, however, McElroy handles the entire role -- dialogue, vocals and signing. Giordano, who is deaf, acts Huck in sign language, while Jenkins, who plays narrator Twain, also supplies Huck's voice in dialogue and song.

The "doubling" of characters is not unlike Julie Taymor's vision of The Lion King, in which puppet figures operate alongside the actors who manipulate them. Rather than confusing the viewer, the technique adds visual richness.

"The great challenge was keeping every moment equally geared for both hearing and deaf actors and audience," Calhoun says. "We didn't want anyone in the audience to have to look away from the action to see a line or lyric signed -- in effect, missing the show. The signing had to be central."

It also was crucial, Calhoun says, to get a "really superb translation" into ASL. The choices among various signing options color the meaning and flavor of a line -- for instance, one sign for "traveler" also carries the religious connotation of "pilgrim," while another does not.

Calhoun quickly discovered that the continuous signing by his cast affected all aspects of the show.

"It affects the actors' use of props, for one thing. (And) you can't have someone turn his back or look out a window. You have to keep the focus as intent as a laser beam."

The original Big River swept the 1985 Tony Awards (in an admittedly sparse season), winning seven, including best musical. Despite its long run of 2 1/2 years (1,005 performances) and a successful tour that played Houston in 1988, it was viewed by critics as a pleasant, workmanlike effort, short of classic status.

Its chief assets were the folksy songs by Miller -- the lone stage score from the country singer/songwriter famed for such 1960s hits as King of the Road and Dang Me -- and the basic strength of Twain's story, even in the simplified retelling by Hauptman.

Most critics have felt the revival's innovative use of signing adds expressiveness and distinction to the show, surpassing the original.

Big River never was long on dancing, and still isn't.

"But the whole show seems to dance now," Calhoun says. "The signing is the choreography. Even dialogue scenes are more lyrical because of the beauty of the signing."

Stepping out of the shadows

Big River has brought new prestige to Calhoun, who gained attention as a protégé of Tommy Tune. Calhoun was associate choreographer for Tune's The Will Rogers Follies, then directed the monumentally tacky 1994 revival of Grease that Tune "supervised." (It's hard to forgive them for that one.) He directed the concert show Tommy Tune Tonite! and the pre-Broadway tour of the ill-fated Tune vehicle Busker Alley, whose Broadway plans died when the star broke his foot on the tour's final stop.

Though he choreographed the hit 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun, it was difficult for Calhoun to escape Tune's shadow until Big River.

He was surprised when Deaf West artistic director Ed Waterstreet contacted him about the prospect of a musical that mixed deaf and hearing players.

"Ed, who is deaf, remembered being taken to musicals as a child by his hearing parents," Calhoun says. "He told me he'd always wanted to find a way to let deaf theatergoers experience the same joy his parents felt at those shows."

Twain appeared as a character in the original Big River -- but only briefly, at the start and close. Calhoun expanded his role as narrator (and voice of Huck), a choice that helps sutain story continuity.

The production's concept of a tale being told is reflected in Ray Klausen's settings: The players spring from giant cutout pages of Twain's text to tell it.

For Jenkins, who played Huck in the 1985 original, the role of Twain provides an opportunity to revisit a favorite show with a fresh perspective.

"I've had this funny feeling of connection (to the show) from the beginning," Jenkins says. That may be partly due to his lifelong love of Twain's writing. "Or maybe it's because I'd once been in this theater-circus kind of troupe that got an NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant to do shows for underprivileged communities along the Mississippi."

Jenkins remembers Miller, who died in 1992, with fondness.

"He was a really sweet guy who worked really hard," Jenkins says. "He stretched himself to come up with the varied score for this show. I'll never forget the day he came in for the first time with the ballad Worlds Apart, my favorite song in the show. He knew exactly what was needed in the scene, and he kept it simple."

It was producer Rocco Landesman who decided Huckleberry Finn would be the perfect property for Miller's Broadway debut -- and kept after the songwriter until he agreed.

Landesman became one of the top Broadway producers of the 1990s, a key force behind such hits as The Secret Garden, Titanic, Tommy and the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Director Des McAnuff also scored his first hit with Big River; he went on to stage Tommy and How to Succeed.

"We were really the underdogs that season," Jenkins recalls. "A show with so many unknowns and no great expectations."

Jenkins has since scored lead roles in several high-profile Broadway productions, including Big and Wrong Mountain, and the role of Prior Walter in Angels in America.

Despite the new Big River's acclaim in Los Angeles and New York, commercial producers declined to mount a national tour. Like Nine and Assassins, the 2003 and 2004 Tony winners for best musical revival, it apparently wasn't considered sufficiently mass-market in its appeal.

So, as with the memorable new Flower Drum Song presented here earlier this year, TUTS and other nonprofit regional companies joined forces so that audiences outside New York could experience a worthwhile show. TUTS' partners here are Dallas Summer Musicals, Atlanta's Theater of the Stars and Boston's Wang Center.

"I saw the revival at the Roundabout Theatre in New York," says TUTS chief Frank Young, "and I thought it was one of the most artistically satisfying productions I've seen in recent years."

Highly anticipated show

Among deaf and hard-of-hearing Houstonians, interest in Big River is high, according to Jill Beebout, managing director of Illuminations Theatre With the Deaf. Illuminations supplies ASL interpretation for standard theater productions and occasionally produces its own events.

"Our phones started to ring as soon as TUTS announced a few months back that they'd be presenting the show," says Beebout, whose hearing is not impaired. "Given what we do, people thought we had something to do with the show."

Illuminations will supply ushers who are "savvy in sign language" for the performances at Miller.

"This will be one of the few times that the deaf and hard-of-hearing community -- especially the children -- can truly identify with characters," Beebout says. "They'll be seeing their language onstage."

Illuminations artistic director Susan Jackson, who is deaf, expressed her enthusiasm via e-mail:

"I am very excited and proud to have Houston feature a production that weaves its message through American Sign Language, spoken word, music and dance. I look forward to seeing the response of the audience, both hearing and deaf."

Houston is the second stop for the tour, which launched June 11 in San Francisco. It's booked for 16 cities, including Tokyo, through next June.

"Ever since we began work, this production has been blessed," Calhoun says. "It's one of those times when the stars have aligned. The funny thing is, no one does a show at Deaf West to make money. You do it as a labor of love. Yet this is the most successful thing I've done, and it's opening doors for me. It's the show I'm proudest of."

Calhoun is producing and directing Brooklyn, a new musical he describes as "an urban fairy tale about a troupe of street performers," which is headed for Broadway next season. But don't be surprised if he turns up as director again at Deaf West.

"My dream is to create a brand-new musical for them," he says.

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By Camille Bounds

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.î Mark Twain

That is how Mark Twain began his classic ìHuckleberry Finnî. A tale of freedom and integrity, that took Twain seven years to complete. This is also how ì Big River î begins keeping the original story intact, to bring all the characters to life enriching them with words and music and sign language that if possible, makes what was considered the most important American novel of the nineteenth century even better. ìBig Riverî opened on Broadway in 1985 and walked off with seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book.

That is where the original production ends and a new glorious staging of this delightful story changes into a graceful presentation that includes sign language.

The Deaf West Theatre production of ì Big River î glides along the Mississippi in 1840, with every word signed that is said or sung. It is so moving to watch and hear the perfectly synchronized signed words and music float through the theater in a seamless outpouring of talent of the deaf and hearing actors.

What could go down one of those very special moments in theatre comes near the end of the second act when all sound stops in the spiritual, ìWaitin' for the Light to Shineî, and the players continue to sign the song. The hearing audience mentally sings along with a warm feeling of accomplishment and wonder at their own ability to understand something so beautifully presented and be welcomed into the world of the deaf for just a few seconds in time. A chill, a tear or an emotional gulp is evident in all the hearing watchers in the theatre and you realize you are a part a the magic that makes live theatre so unique.

Huck is played by Tyrone Giordano, who is deaf and signs while actor Daniel Jenkins who plays Mark Twain sings and voices his own and Huck's voice. Giordano has just the right mix of imp, innocence, and a simple sensitivity to beautifully underplay the part with loving authority. He is easy to watch as he signs, to carry the story to the audience with the advantage of being a really believable, amiable fellow. Jenkins is admirable and believable as Twain and Huck and is in just about every scene. They are two of the eighteen deaf and hearing actors that bring the story to life.

Jim the runaway slave is superbly portrayed by Michael McElroy. His voice is rich and meaningful and he is a fine, controlled actor. This part could turn into a caricature but he carries it off with dignity and grace.

Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine, play Pap Finn, (one signs and one speaks and sings), they play off each other with a balance and timing that is hilarious and menacing as they gleefully portray the most, despicable, sots possible. Their ìGuv'mentî number shows their talent and the genius of Roger Miller's words and humor.

Combine this with fine tuned direction and choreography, by Jeff Calhoun who smoothly joins signing, speaking and singing to a fine art. A superb, solid cast, a marvelous orchestra, precise sound, lighting and sets with a raft that takes the audience down the Mississippi for an memorable ride of joy and adventure with Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim.

Big River is more that a play, its an experience that takes a time just before the Civil War when the south was struggling with abolitionists. Ernest Hemingway said it best when he stated,

ìAll modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.î

By all means do yourself a favor and go and see ì Big River î. The trip down the Mississippi is an enjoyable, unforgettable ride and an experience you will not soon forget.

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By Karen D'Souza

The actor playing Huck Finn in the musical `` Big River '' never says a word. Yet Tyrone Giordano conveys every ounce of the character's notorious senses of mischief and wonder, through the expressions on his face and the balletic sign language of his hands.

His charismatic turn lights this Deaf West Theatre adaptation of Mark Twain's classic ``Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'' Giordano is one of 18 deaf and hearing actors singing and speaking and signing their way through director Jeff Calhoun's inventive Tony-nominated production, which launched its national tour at San Francisco 's Curran Theatre on Monday night.

Giordano, who is deaf, signs while actor Daniel Jenkins gives voice to Huck's thoughts. The exchange between the two languages, the two different ways of telling the story, cuts across all boundaries between deaf and hearing.

This lovely technique not only underscores Twain's message of how a young white boy like Huck learns to see the world through the eyes of a runaway slave like Jim (Michael McElroy) and how we all might learn to see the world anew. It also adds subtlety to a show that otherwise lacks sophistication.

William Hauptman's book lumbers along in an overly faithful retelling of Huck's rafting voyage down the Mississippi , and there is a certain sameness to Roger Miller's score. It's Calhoun's clever eye for stagecraft that makes a number like ``Guv'ment'' entertaining. Huck's mean-spirited Pap is played by two actors (Troy Kotsur and Erick Devine) who mirror each other as, again, one signs and the other speaks. And when one swigs from a jug of moonshine, the other wipes his mouth.

And a song like ``Free At Last'' might be a little forgettable if not for the powerhouse performance by McElroy, who was nominated for a Tony for this part. The actor conveys both Jim's singular sense of dignity and his unshakable faith in a better tomorrow, in one of the musical's high water marks.

But by far the most memorable moment in this `` Big River '' soars by in total silence. The cast tears into a reprise of ``Waitin' for the Light to Shine'' when the sound suddenly stops, the quiet seems to bloom, and the sign language steals the show.

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There are no breakout dance numbers in the musical that opened Monday at the Curran Theatre, but every word -- every lyric sung and every phrase spoken -- dances. The Deaf West Theatre production of " Big River : The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is beautifully sung and well spoken, but it's more remarkable for how it makes words look than sound, let alone what's being said.

Director and choreographer Jeff Calhoun's revival of the 1985 Roger Miller musical -- based, obviously, on Mark Twain's great American novel -- is a triumphant application of American Sign Language to the stage vocabulary of musical theater. A large cast of deaf and hearing actors speaks (or sings) and signs every word simultaneously, sometimes with speaking and signing actors playing the same role, in a manner that delights the senses, deepens the textures and adds new dimensions to the text and music.

Calhoun's "River" opened two years ago at Deaf West, a pioneer in such spoken-signed stagings, in North Hollywood . It was reshaped some when it moved up to the Mark Taper Forum and again when it went to New York 's Roundabout Theatre (both of which are still co-presenters) and Broadway last year. The Best of Broadway presentation at the Curran is the start of the national tour.

The thorough integration of aural and visual languages pays expected and unexpected dividends -- not least in Calhoun and associate director- choreographer Coy Middlebrook's stunning use of entire choruses of complex synchronized signing and singing. The effect achieves a resonant climax in a second act reprise of Miller's anthemic hymn "Waitin' for the Light to Shine," when all sound ceases from musical director Steven Landau's sharp onstage country band and the singers -- and the music continues in eloquent waves of silence.

Book adaptor William Hauptman's somewhat tired device of using Mark Twain as a narrator takes on new resonance as well. Daniel Jenkins is not only a smooth, casually comic Twain, but his versatile and lovely voice doubles to speaking and singing for Tyrone Giordano's Huck Finn -- just as Twain speaks through his narrator Huck in the novel. And just as in the book, Jenkins' expressive voice and Giordano's eloquent sign-acting blend so seamlessly you forget the bifurcation and seem to hear and understand every gesture.

Ray Klausen's set plays off the literary device, framing the action in large, sepia-toned, illustrated pages from the first edition -- pages that open up to become the homes, cave, island, raft and shacks of the story, beautifully lit by Michael Gilliam. The colorful hoop skirts, tattered buckskins and checkered rural finery and buffoonery of David Zyla's costumes complete the scene.

Calhoun and the actors make wonderful use of the double-language device at every turn, from the adventure-story climax way that Christopher Hanke's fantasy-besotted Tom Sawyer punches the air with the sign for "always" to Giordano's Huck and Michael McElroy's Jim's hands playing off each other to signify the celestial delights of a Mississippi River sky.

Best of all is the doubling of silent Troy Kotsur and speaking Erick Devine as Huck's mean, drunken, derelict Pap. Their mirror scene is hilarious enough, but when they barrel into Miller's brilliant drunken know-nothing rant, "(Dadgum dadgum dadgum) Guv'ment" each wiping his ratty beard with a tattered buckskin sleeve whenever the other swigs from a big jug, Devine and Kotsur bring down the house.

The constant interplay of signs and voice adds another dimension to Twain's still urgent tale of a boy responding to his heart's realization of human dignity across the racial divide -- a white Southerner helping a slave escape at the cost, he believes, of social ostracism and religious perdition. The broadening of the message to include other prejudices is brought home vividly in McElroy's heart-wrenching account of how Jim discovered that his little daughter had become deaf.

Still, there's only so much Deaf West can do to expand and elevate this less than classic musical. Hauptman's book is a pretty thin version of Twain's rich tale. He borrows some good lines from the master -- most of the best dialogue in the show -- and draws a sharp focus on Huck's moral dilemma in believing that he'll go to hell for helping Jim. But he does so at the expense of neglecting the book's broad canvas and making it sound preachy.

Few of Miller's songs match the infectious originality of "Guv'ment." His songs for the comic rapscallions, the King (Devine) and the Duke (Kotsur, with the voice of James Judy), are particularly disappointing -- music hall routines without wit that fall pretty flat no matter how much expert energy Kotsur and Devine pour into them. Most of the score is dominated by run-of-the- mill country ballads and hymns.

The cast transcends the material on many occasions. McElroy, who anchors the production with his solid presence and soul-stirring voice, sells the pleasant "Muddy Water," sentimental "Worlds Apart" and rousing "Free at Last" through sheer vocal prowess. Melissa Van Der Schyff warbles with classic country perfection. The astonishing Gwen Stewart fills a slave song, "The Crossing," with spiritual intensity and carries "How Blest We Are" to magnificent gospel heights.

The only things keeping this "River" from being an absolute triumph are the limitations of its book and score. And Calhoun and the company succeed pretty often in overflowing those banks.

E-mail Robert Hurwitt at rhurwitt@sfchronicle.com .

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By Pat Craig

Cheery as bunting rippling in a breeze and wistful as a lonely, late-night harmonica solo, Deaf West's reimagining of "Big River" gives a whole new context to this musical version of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn."

The show, featuring both deaf and hearing actors in principal roles, remains Americana , pure and simple. But instead of the parade-down-Main Street, apple-pie treatment the irresistible Roger Miller score seems to invite, this production is a more bittersweet variety of Americana . It is probably closer to what Twain intended with his 19th century warts-and-all portrait of pre-Civil War America (his book was published in the 1880s, but is set some years earlier).

And, while neither Twain's book nor the musical flinches at the realities of the day, particularly slavery, they are much more entertaining than polemic (no doubt realizing humor can venture more successfully into sensitive territory).

The story centers on Huck Finn (Tyrone Giordano), a young man who is terrified of living with his drunken, abusive father, and dead-set against growing up in the religious foster home bent on changing his fundamental nature. The third choice is to run away and seek his fortune elsewhere along the Mississippi River .

He manages to disappear one night by spreading blood around his father's shack, leading those looking for him to figure he'd been killed by Ol' Pap, and leaving him free for adventure.

Huck finds it almost immediately, pitching in with Jim (Michael McElroy), a runaway slave who wants to escape to the free states and reclaim his family. He is hesitant to bring Huck along, but the young fellow reasons that if they should drift into the wrong crowd, he could always tell them Jim belonged to him and avoid troubles.

In a very few words, the transaction is handled so casually that it slyly points out the absurdity of one human being owning another (later in the play, the tragedy of the situation strikes harder when a mother and daughter are threatened with sale to different locations).

Aside from the addition of delightfully authentic-sounding music by Miller (yep, the "Dang Me" guy), " Big River " pretty much follows Twain's tale.

What makes this production so different is the way the show incorporates both hearing and deaf actors, presenting the dialogue and lyrics in both voice and sign language. Principal roles are played by deaf actors in many cases. McElroy is a speaking actor; Giordano, on the other hand, isn't. His voice is supplied by Daniel Jenkins, who plays Mark Twain in the piece.

The irony of Huck Finn's voice being supplied by Twain is a subtle homage to the man who created all of these memorable characters. In fact, this production takes great pains to demonstrate that the voices of Twain's characters spoke silently into our minds from the pages of the book -- part of Twain's genius was creating written dialogue so vivid, it could be heard in our minds.

To make this clear, the set, beautifully created by Ray Klausen, consists primarily of enormous pages from Twain's book, and in many cases, the characters literally leap from the pages into full-blown humanity.

The result is an amazingly effective production, directed by Jeff Calhoun, that gives an incredible humanity to the musical, bringing the characters vividly to life, and presenting them, it would seem, as Twain intended.

Acting in "Big River" is emotionally riveting; with the blend of spoken and sign language, the show becomes something of a linguistic ballet, with characters facing the daunting task of matching spoken dialogue with sign language; a job made more difficult by the fact the languages aren't identical.

McElroy, Giordano and Jenkins not only act wonderfully, but create a delightful onstage chemistry that makes them fascinating to watch. And, in the roles of Pap and the King and the Duke, Troy Kotsur (with vocalization by James Judy in the Duke role) and Erick Devine (who plays the King and the vocal twin to Kotsur's Duke) are hilarious.

This presentation in voice and sign may sound a bit complicated and gimmicky, but it works beautifully and adds an exciting new dimension of theatricality.

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Audience Testimonials

I am positive that I wasn't the only one in the theatre who thought signing the dance numbers could illustrate more the emotion fluently than a regular choreography. I left the theatre with an exhilarating feeling knowing that there is still an unlimited possibility of entertainment left in the theatre world. - K. Mishima, Yokohama

When the performers were signing in full force, I could really see their desire to connect and communicate with the audience. I felt their enormous silent love pouring from the actors on the stage directly at me and suddenly tears of overwhelming joy streaming down on my cheeks. I felt the calmness in my soul that I never experienced before in a theatre. - S. Takano, Tokyo

I felt the mesmerizing power from each actor's hands. I could tell each actor truly loves this show so much and that makes a huge difference as any theatrical technique cannot replace such love. That's why this simple yet beautiful show moves so many people tremendously. - R. Kishi, Tokyo

*For other reviews in Japanese, go to www.geocities.jp/bigrivermusical/review.

Thank you for such a moving performance. I was impressed with how invested and talented you all were. I have not been so touched by a musical in a while and you all deserve a pat on the back for that. - W. Callan, Atlanta

I absolutely found this profoundly moving in ways other musicals are not. It's just amazing to see theatre like this. - M. Burkhalter, Atlanta

THANK YOU,   THANK YOU,   THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND EXCELLENT PERFORMANACE! - The Telges, Houston  

Big River was the best musical we have seen in years!!  The singing, the acting, the set design and the whole concept was wonderful!  - E. Lytle, Dallas

Big River was such a powerful majestic performance I had to return to see it a second time!  Thank you for an evening of musical and visual delights.  What a talented cast.  I enjoyed every moment. - S. Squyres, San Francisco

I have to say, its one of the best pieces of theatre I've seen in a long long time. Thanks! What a great show! - R. Crowley, San Francisco

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