Big River (musical)
Encyclopedia
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a musical with a book by William Hauptman
William Hauptman
William Hauptman, born November 26, 1942, in Wichita Falls, Texas, is a writer, best known for the plays, musicals, and short stories he has written.- Work :*Big River*Comanche Cafe*Domino Courts*The Durango Flash*Gillette*Heat...

 and music and lyrics by Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...

.

Based on Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

's classic 1884 novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...

, it features music in the bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 styles in keeping with the setting of the novel. The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production ran for over 1,000 performances and it remained a truly American voice in an emerging chorus of British musicals of the late 1980s.

Productions

The first productions were staged by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

 in February 1984 and at the La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...

 in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, from June through July 1984.

The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production, directed by Des McAnuff
Des McAnuff
Desmond McAnuff is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of musical theatre of such Broadway productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys.-Biography:...

 and choreographed by Janet Watson, opened on April 25, 1985 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest...

, and closed on September 20, 1987, running for 1,005 performances. The cast featured René Auberjonois as The Duke, John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...

 as Pap Finn, Daniel H. Jenkins
Daniel H. Jenkins
Daniel H. Jenkins is an American actor, the son of Ken Jenkins and Joan Patchen. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1985 for his role as Huckleberry Finn in Big River, his Broadway debut after he spent two years working with Actors Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. He also played one of the lead...

 as Huckleberry Finn, Ron Richardson
Ron Richardson
Ronald E. Richardson was an American actor and operatic baritone. Richardson began his career in the mid 1970s appearing in regional theater and opera productions...

 as Jim, with Susan Browning
Susan Browning
Susan Browning was an American actress.Born in Baldwin, New York, she was nominated for two Tony Awards: for Best Actress in Company in 1971 and for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in Goodtime Charley in 1975...

, Gordon Connell
Gordon Connell (actor)
Gordon Connell is an American musical theatre and television actor.Born as William Gordon Connell in Berkeley, California, Gordon married Jane Sperry Bennett , also a native of Berkeley...

, Bob Gunton
Bob Gunton
Robert Patrick "Bob" Gunton, Jr. is an American actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters, with his best known roles as Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison film The Shawshank Redemption, Chief George Earle in 1993's Demolition Man, and President Juan Peron in the original...

 as The King, Patti Cohenour
Patti Cohenour
Patti Cohenour is an American actress and singer. She was most recently seen in the Broadway production of The Light in the Piazza as Signora Naccarelli...

, and John Short.

After twenty-eight previews, a critically acclaimed revival
Revival (play)
A revival is a restaging of a stage production after its original run has closed. New material may be added. A filmed version is said to be an adaptation and requires writing of a screenplay....

, directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun
Jeff Calhoun (choreographer)
Jeff Calhoun is an American director, choreographer, producer and dancer.As a student at Richland High School, now Pine-Richland High School , Calhoun was interested in both athletics and performance, playing football and studying tap dance. He danced in the ensemble at The Kenley Players in Ohio...

, opened on Broadway on July 24, 2003 at the American Airlines Theatre
American Airlines Theatre
The American Airlines Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 227 West 42nd Street, New York City.-Design:Originally named the Selwyn Theatre, it was constructed by the Selwyn brothers, Edgar and Archie, in 1918. It was one of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with...

, where it ran for 67 performances. This production, staged by the Roundabout Theatre Company
Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...

 and Deaf West Theatre
Deaf West Theatre
Deaf West Theatre Company is a North Hollywood, California-based cultural institution serving as a model for deaf theatre worldwide. Founded in 1991, by Ed Waterstreet, it is noted for being the first professional resident Sign Language Theatre in the western half of the United States...

, was notable in that it featured both deaf and hearing actors performing together. About half the characters, including the leading role of Huck, were played by deaf or hard-of-hearing performers. All dialogue and lyrics in the production were both spoken or sung and signed
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...

, making the production equally accessible to hearing and deaf audiences. The character of Mark Twain (portrayed by Daniel H. Jenkins, who portrayed the role of Huck in the original Broadway cast) was expanded, so that that actor also provided the voice of Huck, portrayed by Tyrone Giordano
Tyrone Giordano
Tyrone Giordano is a deaf American actor.An alumnus of Montgomery Blair High School and Gallaudet University, he began acting in Washington, DC in 1999...

, who is deaf.

It was remounted for a U.S. tour, which ran from June 11, 2004 to May 31, 2005 and included most of the Broadway cast, and was nominated for several regional awards. A production ran at Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a historic theater in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865...

 in Washington D.C. from March 18 to June 4, 2005.

Goodspeed Musicals
Goodspeed Musicals
Goodspeed Musicals, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, was formed in 1959 to restore the Goodspeed Opera House, located in East Haddam, Connecticut, to its original Victorian appearance. Each year, Goodspeed...

 staged a major production of the musical at the historic Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 theater. The production was directed by Rob Ruggiero and ran from September 26 to November 29, 2008.

An Australian production starring Cameron Daddo as Huckleberry Finn, John English as Pap Finn, John Bell as The Duke and featuring Marcia Hines and Michael Edward Stevens opened in 1989 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. It also played Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne.

Act One

In pre-Civil War Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, near St. Petersburg, the vagabond child Huckleberry Finn describes the events by which he and Tom Sawyer had discovered a fortune. Huck has been adopted by the Widow Douglas and her spinster sister Miss Watson, and his guardians, Judge Thatcher, Huck's best friend Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St...

, and practically the entire town inform Huck that he needs to learn to read and write and read the Bible if he ever hopes to go to Heaven ("Do Ya Wanna Go To Heaven?"). The only one who doesn't attempt to pass judgment on Huck is Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who predicts that he will lead a life of "considerable trouble and considerable joy". Exasperated with the constraints on his daily life, Huck escapes his bedtime and steals away to Tom Sawyer's "hideout", an old cave. In the cave, Tom, Huck and a group of their friends plan to form a band of robbers who will rampage around the countryside ("The Boys").

Huck, on his way home, thinks about the confines of his life and his wish that he will find meaning in his life. ("Waitin' For the Light To Shine") Huck returns home in the darkness to find his Pap, a violent drunk, waiting for him, who drags him off to his cabin in the woods. In his drunkenness, Pap swings from tomfoolery to extreme violence as he rails against a government that would take his son (and his son's money) away from him ("Guv'ment"). Pap attempts to kill Huck, hallucinating that he is the Angel of Death, but passes out in an inebriated mess. The next day Pap goes off to trade and Huck takes the opportunity to escape. He kills a pig and scatters the blood and gore around the cabin in an effort to make it appear as if he's been murdered. Huck reflects that this is just the sort of thing Tom Sawyer would do, and Tom appears to sing a vaudeville-style turn about the usefulness of Hogs. ("Hand For the Hog").

Huck flees to the nearby Jackson's Island, where he, alone, asserts his self-assurance ("I, Huckleberry, Me"). But Huck isn't alone; Miss Watson's slave, Jim, is there as well. He has run away to avoid being sold down the River to New Orleans. Despite his unease with the concept of abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...

 Huck offers to help Jim reach freedom in the North. A posse is after Jim: with only moments to spare, they find a raft and get it afloat in the of the mighty Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 ("Muddy Water").

Jim and Huck travel only at night and don't get far from Jackson's Island before they are reminded of the seriousness of their actions: a boat carrying runaway slaves back to their masters passes them in the night ("The Crossing"). The days are long as the two forge their way down the river. They pass a flooded house, and a dead man floating in the water that Jim will not let Huck look at. As they sing of the beauty of the River ("River In the Rain") in a fog, they sail past the mouth of the Ohio — their path to freedom. Soon after, they pick up two carpetbaggers who commandeer the small raft as they escape the latest mob on their tail. The con men claim to be a Duke and a King, the long lost heirs to the Duchy of Bridgewater and the French Throne. Huck is intrigued by the delinquent "royals". The King and the Duke commandeer the raft and plot to sell Jim back into slavery for their own profit, unbeknownst to Huck ("When the Sun Goes Down In the South").

Act Two

Huck, Jim, the Duke, and the King wash ashore in Bricktown, Arkansas, and attempt to fleece the rubes they find. The Duke and King come up with a scheme to make money ("The Royal Nonesuch"), tricking the townspeople. By the end of the evening, Huck can appreciate a new way of life — the three are now several hundred dollars richer. When he returns to the raft, Huck plays a horrible trick on Jim by assuming the guise of a slave hunter. Unamused, Jim rebukes Huck for the first time. After some thought, Huck realizes that Jim, though a slave, is still a human being and deserves an apology ("Worlds Apart").

The King and Duke reappear to dragoon Huck into their next escapade. While Jim is, again, left alone with the raft, the three encounter a young fool on a dock, singing of his love of his home state ("Arkansas"). Through no fault of his own, he tells the con men everything they need to know about a fortune to be inherited in the Wilkes family, and they crash the funeral as impostors to go about securing their riches ("How Blest We Are"). Huck — through it all a pure soul — sees that the beautiful and innocent Mary Jane Wilkes is being robbed of her rightful inheritance by these "rapscallions", and steals back her money from the King and the Duke as she mourns her father's coffin ("You Oughta Be Here With Me"). He quickly stuffs the gold into her father's coffin and hides behind it to avoid notice.

When Mary Jane realizes what Huck has done, she asks that he remain with her and become her friend. For the first time in his life, he is moved by the actions of another ("Leavin's Not the Only Way To Go"), yet he realizes that he has made a promise to Jim: one that transcends mere friendship. Huck returns again to the raft and finds the Duke tarred and feathered: he has sold Jim back into slavery for a mere forty dollars. Feeling guilty about what he has done, Huck pens a letter to Miss Watson, telling her where she can find the runaway Jim. After a momentary reprieve, Huck ends up feeling worse than ever. He tears up the letter and resolves to free Jim again, even if it means he will go to Hell ("Waiting For the Light To Shine" (Reprise)).

Huck visits Mr. Phelps, the farmer to whom Jim has been sold, and is shocked to discover that he has been mistaken for Tom Sawyer, the Phelps' nephew who is expected for a visit. Tom arrives later and is intercepted by Huck before he reaches the farm. Huck explains everything and Tom, delighted by the prospect for a grand adventure, decides to help Huck free Jim from his captors while pretending to be his own brother Sid. They find Jim imprisoned in a tiny cell and work to free him as he laments his desire to be free ("Free At Last"). Progress is slowed by Tom's insistence of making sure that the circumstances of the escape match the adventure novels he has read, which includes notifying Phelps of the escape by an anonymous letter. As they free Jim, Tom is shot in the leg. Jim sacrifices his freedom to ensure Tom gets a doctor, and is about to be locked up again when Tom admits that Miss Watson has died, freeing Jim in her will.

Jim decides to continue his trek to the North so that he may buy his family out of slavery, and Huck decides to continue westwards to escape any attempts to "civilize" him. They sit for a moment at the banks of the river, recalling their adventures together ("River In the Rain" (Reprise)). Jim reveals to Huck that the body they saw in the water was the dead body of Huck's Pap. Jim leaves Huck alone for the last time, and Huck decides, "It was like the fortune Jim predicted long ago: considerable trouble and considerable joy." He begins his next journey ("Muddy Water" (Reprise)).

Songs

Act I
  • Overture — Big River Orchestra
  • Do You Wanna Go to Heaven — Company
  • The Boys — Tom Sawyer and The Gang
  • Waitin' for the Light to Shine — Huck
  • Guv'ment — Pap
  • Hand For the Hog — Tom Sawyer (this number was cut for the revival)
  • I, Huckleberry, Me — Huck
  • Muddy Water — Jim and Huck
  • The Crossing — Slaves and Overseer
  • River in the Rain — Huck and Jim
  • When the Sun Goes Down in the South — Duke, King and Huck


Act II
  • Ent'racte — Big River Orchestra
  • The Royal Nonesuch — Duke and Company
  • Worlds Apart — Jim and Huck
  • Arkansas — A Young Fool
  • How Blest We Are — Alice's Daughter and Company
  • You Oughta Be Here With Me — Mary Jane Wilkes, Susan Wilkes and Joanna Wilkes
  • How Blest We Are (Reprise) — Company
  • Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go — Mary Jane Wilkes, Jim and Huck
  • Waitin' for the Light to Shine (Reprise) — Huck
  • Free At Last — Jim
  • River in the Rain (Reprise) — Huck and Jim
  • Muddy Water (Reprise) — Company


Awards and nominations

Original production
  • Tony Award for Best Musical
    Tony Award for Best Musical
    This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...

     (winner)
  • Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
    Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
    The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible...

     (winner)
  • Tony Award for Best Original Score
    Tony Award for Best Original Score
    The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...

     (winner)
  • Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
    Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
    This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Prior to 1960, category for direction included plays and musicals.-1950s:Note: this category was for both dramatic and musical productions...

     (winner)
  • Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Richardson, winner; Jenkins and Auberjonois, nominees)
  • Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (winner)
  • Tony Award for Best Costume Design
    Tony Award for Best Costume Design
    These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals...

     (nominee)
  • Tony Award for Best Lighting Design
    Tony Award for Best Lighting Design
    This is a list of the winners of the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a play or musical, first presented in 1970. In 2005 the category was divided with each genre represented separately.-1970s:* 1970: Jo Mielziner – Child's Play...

     (winner)
  • Theatre World Award
    Theatre World Award
    The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...

     (Cohenour, winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...

     (Richardson, winner; Jenkins, nominee)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...

     (Auberjonois, winner; Short, Gunton, and Goodman, nominees)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical was first awarded in the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has subsequently been awarded every year. In the 1993-1994 Drama Desk Awards the award was given under the name of Outstanding Supporting Actress - Musical...

     (Cohenour, nominee)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

     (winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

     (winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

     (winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

     (winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

     (winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee composed of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

     (winner)

2003 revival
  • Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical
    Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical
    The Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical has been awarded since 1994. Before that time, both plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival....

     (nominee)
  • Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael McElroy
    Michael McElroy (actor)
    Michael McElroy is an American musical theatre actor, singer and music director.Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, McElroy moved to New York City in May 1990 after earning his BFA in Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University. He made his Broadway debut in The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club...

    , nominee)
  • Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre (winner)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical was first awarded at the 1994 Drama Desk Awards.-1990s:* 1994: She Loves Me** Carousel** Damn Yankees** My Fair Lady* 1996: The King and I** I Do! I Do!...

     (nominee)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Giordano and McElroy, nominees)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical
    Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical
    The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical was first awarded at the 1974–1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...

    (nominee)

External links

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