Musicals Blog

Big River (1985)

by Claire J Rottenberg


"Big River," the musical play based on Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," played in regional theaters before making its way to Broadway. In February, 1984, "Big River" was performed at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The next performances were in June and July of 1984 at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California.

"Big River" was introduced to Broadway audiences on April 25, 1985, and it ran for 1,005 performances, closing on September 20, 1987. The original production was directed by Des McAnuff and choreographed by Janet Watson. The book was written by William Hauptman and country singer-songwriter Roger Miller wrote both the music and lyrics for "Big River."

The original Broadway production of "Big River" starred René Auberjonois as The Duke, Ron Richardson as Jim and Daniel Jenkins as Huck. All three were nominated for the Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Richardson won the prized award. "Big River" won 6 additional Tony awards, including the awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Direction of a Musical.

The score of "Big River" is unusually long with 18 songs plus reprises of four of the songs. It includes some beautiful numbers, such as "Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go," "Worlds Apart" and "You Oughta Be Here with Me."

"Big River" had a very special Broadway revival in the summer of 2003. The revival, produced by the Roundabout Theater Company and Deaf West Theater, featured both Deaf and hearing performers. All of the dialogue and songs were signed and spoken or sung so that both Deaf and hearing audience members could fully enjoy the play. This unique version of "Big River" ran on Broadway for 67 performances from July to September 2003. A year later, it toured the US from June 2004 to May 2005. The American Theater Wing has a video seminar on this wonderful production of "Big River" and you can download it from the ATW website.

ATW Seminar on "Big River" Revival