"Big River"

I just got back from seeing a matinee performance of "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" today.

What an amazing show. (and, believe me, that's not something I say about a lot of shows) It was so unique: It's a musical, but the cast is a mixture of hearing/non-hearing/hard of hearing actors. All of the actors sign all of the words and lyrics. Some actors only sign, while another character is on stage speaking and singing the role. It's hard to convey how beautiful the effect was. It was very poetic - like watching a dance being sung.

There were some non-hearing/hard of hearing people seated around us in the audience. I just kept thinking of what a great experience this must be for both the performers, and the audience.

There were also several clever details that I thought made the show great: the staging was possibly one of my favorites ever. It was so simple: the props were large (perhaps 10-12 foot) pages out of the book, most with pictures that corresponded some of the poses or actions that the characters did. They would open up some of the pages to present a different scene.

Another detail that I really liked was that the actor who played Huckleberry Finn was non-hearing/hard of hearing, and signing, but that the actor who played Mark Twain spoke and sang his role - which seems so appropriate.

Unfortunately, I think their engagement here in SF ends this weekend, then they move on to Texas. I was really wanting to tell some friends that they should try to see it.

Anyway, that's my not-so-eloquent editorial.

Here's another review that may be more interesting than mine.