I, Huckleberry, Me

Note the handshapes for the ASL alphabet
spelling Big River behind Huck and Jim

Big River recounts The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in glorious song and word.  It won the Tony Award for Best musical in 1985 and was successfully revived on Broadway in 2003.

The revival was unique in that it was a Deaf West Theater production and featured both deaf and hearing actors portraying Mark Twain's iconic characters. All of the dialogue and lyrics were signed and spoken in a creative interplay between the two communication modalities.

I fell in love with Big River when it was originally produced.  I would walk past the theater everyday on my way to work and wish I were playing Huck.  I'd sing along to the record with my friend Denise, using my bed as a raft whilst belting out the song Muddy Water.  It was the first Broadway show my sister ever saw and I was thrilled to take her. It's a brilliant and important show.

I had even played Huckleberry Finn when I was 19 years old in a children's theater production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Playing Huck (bottom right) in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

So, when I heard that a local theater was holding auditions for the Deaf West version of Big River I couldn't resist the temptation to show up and give it a go.  In this production two actors share the role of Huck and I was pretty sure this would be the last opportunity I'd have to play the crafty 14-year-old.  I was auditioning to speak/sing the role for another actor who would be signing on stage. That other Huck would need to fit the character description, I did not.

It all worked out beautifully.  I was offered the role - something to cross off my bucket list!  I look forward to throwing myself into a creative endeavor that is outside the confines of formal education. And I couldn't ask for anything better than Big River and Huck!