Theater review: Big River

by Christopher Soden of John Garcia's The Column

It wasn't until college I discovered that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn raised all sorts of poignant issues about racism and social classes and truth versus indoctrination -- what's actually moral as opposed to what we're taught. Ironically, a chalkboard sign in Big River warns against looking for lofty or literary conceits, with jovial threats of banishment or ejection. Whether taken literally from the text or spirit of Mark Twain, it reveals a concern that the more sobering issues might overtake the more pleasurable aspects of the text. Like much of Mark Twain, there's an exuberant goofiness that permeates Huck Finn and Big River, that alleviates gravitas despite our attempts to cloak life's troubles and ordeals in the fine feathers of eccentricity and adventure.

Of course, much of Twain's comic (nearly grotesque) imagery carries layers of meaning: the tarred and feathered scoundrel who resembles a runaway slave, Huckleberry dressed in clumsy drag, the Nonesuch, with its Buffalo head and misplaced mammary. And this sort of loony behavior is all part of the patchwork in Big River, a musical version of Huck Finn, currently on stage at Theatre Arlington. Like the performance of the Nonesuch, there's lots of gusto and hokum, cheek to jowl with shadows of flawed humanity.

I'm not sure the balance is altogether successful. Key moments of emotional authenticity didn't always hit the mark. Singing ability was not always matched by acting capacity. Tomfoolery is without question a vital ingredient in Twain's masterful blend of rustic living and the American slant on God and the caste system. But Big River seemed to lose a lot of Twain's finesse and detail in the translation. Like Oprah Winfrey's musical take on Walker's The Color Purple, a lot of genuine emotion is lost in the gloss. Roger Miller's score sometimes climbs to near-poetry, with a fair amount of variety and introspection, though the lyrics often succumbed to redundancy. I had to wonder about the cameo function of Mark Twain as a character in the show, as if he appeared to bestow his blessing.

Parker Fitzgerald was an excellent choice for Huckleberry Finn; he's raffish and waiflike, personable and comfortable with Huck's quirky diction. Finn's yearning for the high road while fighting the mind-numbing constraints associated with the scholarly and appropriate is palpable in Fitzgerald's interpretation.

Major Attaway as the escaped slave Jim, Huck's traveling companion on the raft, has a fine booming baritone voice, though he could use more presence.

Dorothy Lynn Brooks has the right demeanor and bearing for Widow Douglas, firm and doting, but she could stand to project a little more.

Burl Proctor and Jeff McGee make a fine pair of reprobates as the King and Duke. They're very skilled at working the duplicity of these confident men, who at first seem harmless enough, but gradually reveal their utter lack of empathy.

Tiffany Mann as Alice's daughter, has an exquisite, soulful voice that will give you chills. The script doesn't provide her with a lot of lines, but her singing carries expansive spirit and warmth.

B. J. Cleveland's direction is serviceable, though at times his take on the text seemed closer to Al Capp than Faulkner and of course, Twain falls somewhere in the middle. It can't be easy to navigate material that emphasizes the humor of country folk without necessarily holding them up to ridicule. Tone is crucial here, and the show ranged widely from earnest to absurd. Though I ask you, who can't chuckle when hearing a song that admonishes you to consider that your best friend's a hog? Cleveland's expertise at knowing where the actors need to be for maximum effect is easy to appreciate here. All the action seems to flow seamlessly and without impediment.

Jack Hardaway has crafted an evocative, pragmatic set, versatile enough to meet the demands of the story and detailed enough to provide the illusion that we're no longer confined to a stage. The orchestra provided energy and harmony with zeal and authority, delivering hymns, gospel music, ballads, and dance music.

Big River, like a number of musicals based on literary source material, in some ways softens and broadens the issues raised in the original treatment. Many of Twain's themes come through, and it's entertaining with moments of ethical clarity and affecting emotion. If it soft pedals aspects that separate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from other popular novels, it still shines and simmers with effusive dedication.