Review: Grand Voices, Acting Keep 'Big River' From Drying Up
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
If there’s one show at the Wagon Wheel this summer that’s “for the guys,” it’s probably “Big River”, which premiered Wednesday night. Based on Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, it’s got adventure, action and silliness set to country, bluegrass, gospel and soul music. The Roger Miller musical starts out in pre-Civil War Missouri with Finn recounting the story of how he and his pal Tom Sawyer uncovered a fortunate in Injun Joe’s cave. Unhappy with the town trying to “set him straight,” Finn fakes his death and ends up heading north with runaway slave Jim. About a month ago I finished rereading “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, not knowing at that time what “Big River” was about. However, the book was a help in seeing “Big River”, though audiences obviously don’t need to read either Twain book to enjoy it. Cast as Finn in “Big River” is Nick Laughlin. Audiences may remember him as Harry in “State Fair” or as John “Jack” Worthing in last year’s “The Importance of Being Earnest”. If the wrong person is cast as Finn, the whole show could be a disaster. He’s not only one of the two central characters, but he also narrates the musical. Thankfully, with Laughlin in the role, he brings about just the right amount of youth rebelliousness, naiveté and raw emotional heart that as Finn grows, the audience can sense that maturity in him swell. Finn is on a journey of self discovery, one where he learns more and more how dirty and rotten the world and humanity can really be. Laughlin lets the audience go on that journey with Finn, but without knocking you over the head along the way. The other central figure is the slave Jim, played by 21-year-old Georgian Monté Howell. First, watching Howell perform, he comes across much older than 21. He doesn’t feel “too young” for the role at all. Interviewing Howell Monday afternoon, he came off immediately as intelligent and serious in my first impressions of him. Someone who can be a leader and strong in anything he chooses to do. Jim is someone who is uneducated and superstitious, completely opposite of Howell. Howell slipped into the character of Jim though very easily, and watching him perform was like watching someone else than the man I interviewed just two days prior. Now, put Laughlin and Howell together on stage, singing either “Muddy Water,” “Worlds Apart” or “River in the Rain” and it’s beautiful music. The two men harmonize well together. So not only were they cast well in their individual parts, but they were also cast well as a duo. There is also another two-male duo that makes “Big River” fun to watch. As The Duke and The King, David Schlumpf and Ben Maters, respectively, run circles around most comical duos out there past and present. Watching those two act off each other is a vaudeville treat. Maters has impressed me since he starred as Jesus in 2010’s production of “Godspell”. Schlumpf has appeared in numerous productions this year, from Clayton in “Tarzan” to Corny Collins in “Hairspray”, each time making me take notice. Now put these two together in this show where they can play off each other, like their roles in “Big River”, and it’s the golden ticket. Of course, this show isn’t all laughs and foolishness. There’s the issue of slavery and racism, and Finn’s eventual realization that both are wrong and ignorant. Every time one of the white characters in “Big River” utters the “N” word, it should make anyone who isn’t ignorant feel queasy. Of course, if you take that word out of the show, you strip away the punch that needs to be there. If there’s one particular moment in “Big River” that really leaves an impact though of how much of a taint slavery was on America, it’s with the number “The Crossing” toward the end of Act I. In the scene, Finn and Jim are on the raft when they hear singing. Finn asks Jim about it, and Jim tells him that runaway slaves have been caught and are bound to return to their owners. Led by the amazing Britney Coleman as one of the three slaves, the song pierces the heart. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Coleman is a phenomenal singer. I’d go listen to her sing alone on stage for hours if I could. Now, give her a song like “The Crossing” to sing, with some very talented “back-up singers”, and she can melt vinyl records. “The Crossing”, like the other songs in “Big River”, are double layered with meaning. So when you go see the show, really listen to what the lyrics are saying on both the surface and underneath. Coleman also gets to sing “How Blest We Are” in Act II as Alice’s daughter. To hear her get to sing again, is like frosting on top of the cake. Also with a God-given gift of a voice is Mary Little. She plays Mary Jane Wilkes in “Big River”, and when she sings “You Oughta Be Here With Me” with Alexandra Plath as Susan Wilkes and Alex Finke as Joanna Wilkes, you will be left impressed. Sometimes you got to ask, how does the Wagon Wheel find these voices and how does Warsaw get so lucky to hear them? Little also gets to share the song “Leavin’s Not The Only Way To Go” with Laughlin and Howell. Together, the trio bring the song alive. When the show is over, you may not remember all the lyrics to any particular song. You may not have them playing over and over in your head like whatever Lady Gaga song the radio stations won’t stop playing. But what you will remember is how well the company sang them during the show.Also done well are the costumes by Stephen R. Hollenbeck and his team. It’s rare to see a costume on the Wagon Wheel stage that isn’t sublime. The set design comes courtesy of the late Roy Hine, and director/choreographer Scott Michaels was wise to go with Hine’s design again. Why mess with a good thing? “Big River” does seem to drag on a bit, even though it’s well acted and extremely well sung. It’s kind of like the last “Transformer” movie - I enjoyed it well enough, but did it really have to be that long? Maybe it seemed to drag on because opening night’s show got off to a late start or whatever, but by the time the show ended at 10:50 p.m., I was wound down and ready for bed, though I found myself typing this sentence at 12:10 a.m. Overall, though, “Big River” is a fun show with important messages that hopefully will get audiences thinking about racism and the stain of slavery in America’s past. Good acting, great singing. My rating of the show (out of four): 3.25. To order tickets for “Big River” or for more information, call the box office at 574-267-8041 or visit the website at wagonwheeltheatre.com
