Sarah Pye
Associate Editor
There is a moment during the second act of the Deaf West production of “Big River” in which the cascading, gospel-infused music and lyrics to the full-company number “Waitin’ for the Light to Shine” drop out into complete silence. This moment seems to continue for an eternity, because nothing can be more deafening than silence where, just a moment ago, there was loud and joyous song.
But this striking act-two plunge into silence isn’t the result of a flaw in the sound system or an actor’s microphone going dead. It is, instead, a stirring reminder of the reality that almost half the actors in “Big River” live with every day: They are deaf, and their reality is a world without sound.
But though this moment of silence has created more buzz than perhaps any other single aspect of the show, it came about almost by accident.
“That idea came up during techs by a very creative director waiting for a lighting cue to be written,” said Bill O’Brien, producing director for Deaf West Theatre. “He tends to just keep going.”
It seems the idea to help hearing audiences share in the experience of the deaf actors by adding the moment of silence resulted from an unexpected flash of creativity during a moment of boredom by director Jeff Calhoun. But however it came about, this moment, and the entire production, certainly have not lacked substantial buzz and critical acclaim in the four years since their creation.
This production of “Big River,” now on a 48-stop tour of the United States and Japan, originated in 2001 at the Deaf West Theatre in North Hollywood. Making it all the way to Broadway in 2003, and honored with a Tony Award nomination in 2004, “Big River” is now making a brief two-week stop here in the city of its birth, playing at the Ahmanson Theatre through Sunday.
“Big River” originally debuted as a musical on Broadway in 1985 with a traditional hearing cast lead by Daniel H. Jenkins as Huckleberry Finn. The musical, adapted from Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” tells the familiar pre-Civil War tale of young Huck and his adventures rafting down the Mississippi, trying to “steal” his friend Jim out of slavery.
The 1985 production came away with eight Tony Awards, and has since been revived countless times in theaters across the country. For the Deaf West production, Jenkins has returned to the cast, this time in the role of author Mark Twain. Yet because of the special staging of this production, Jenkins’ new role is not entirely unfamiliar to him.
“The role of Mark Twain in this production is fairly unique because you are actually at the center of most of the play, and are speaking a good portion of the words of the play for Huck Finn,” said O’Brien, who played Twain in the original run of the show at Deaf West. “But you’re also positioned out of the spotlight.”
Because Tyrone Giordano, who plays Huck, is deaf, Jenkins as Mark Twain does all of Giordano’s speaking and singing for him. Jenkins remains on stage but is usually situated out of the spotlight, to one side or the other. O’Brien said he knows from experience the challenges that come from providing the voice for a role that another actor physically fills, and said a role such as Twain calls for a truly “unselfish” actor.
“You don’t stand there getting all the attention,” O’Brien said. “You’re giving voice to what another actor is trying to do.”
And partnerships like the one between Jenkins and Giordano are what make this production so unique. With a cast that is half hearing and half deaf, director Jeff Calhoun has still ensured that every word of the show is both signed and spoken/sung, allowing for both hearing and deaf audience members to enjoy all aspects of the show.
This is accomplished in a variety of ways. Some hearing actors, such as Michael McElroy who plays runaway slave Jim, take on all aspects of the character, speaking, singing and signing the role themselves. The role of Huck’s father, Pap, is filled by two actors, one hearing and one deaf, dressed identically; one signs, the other speaks.
“As time goes on, the audience is meant to forget who is hearing and who is deaf, and just focus in on the experience that the characters are going through,” O’Brien explained.
According to O’Brien, when Deaf West first received funding from the Department of Education to do a show on a national level, the creative team took special care to choose a musical with themes that reflected the bridges they were trying to build between the hearing and deaf communities. From a list of their 10 top choices, O’Brien said “Big River” really stood out because the two central characters, Huck and Jim, form a devoted friendship despite the very different worlds from which they originate.
“Through their shared experiences, Huck and Jim break through the barriers and come to regard each other as equal human beings, seeing each other for the humanity they both share,” O’Brien said.
Bringing to the show the added element that Huck is deaf and Jim is hearing gives the theme that they are “Worlds Apart” (a song sung by the two characters) even deeper meaning.
For those audience members who are unsure about what to expect when attending such a uniquely conceived musical, O’Brien said simply to come with an open mind.
“This is a groundbreaking kind of theatre, but it speaks your language, you don’t have to speak its language,” O’Brien said. “Just get ready to go on a journey with Huck, because he’s going to do all the work for you.”
“Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” plays at the Ahmanson Theatre through Sunday. Tickets are priced from $35 to $85, and are available through the theater’s Web site at www.taperahmanson.com/tickets. For more information about Deaf West Theatre, visit www.deafwest.org.
01-20-2005
