The Huck Finn Musical

New York City Center kick off their latest series of Encores! with Huckleberry Finn musical Big River. Adapted from Mark Twain's novel by Roger Hauptman, the show was one of the great American musicals of the 1980s, breaking the monolopy of Brit Andrew Lloyd Webber with an impressive seven Tony Award wins in 1985. Featuring an irrepressible bluegrass and country score from Roger 'King of the Road' Miller, Big River is deeply felt portrait of an America riddled with prejudice, yet still unmistakably a land of adventure and majestic beauty.

Heading the cast of this production are Nicholas Barasch (She Loves Me) as Huck Finn and Kyle Scatliffe (The Color Purple) as Jim. Among the other Broadway regulars in the cast are Wayne Duvall (Bright Star), Charlie Franklin (The Book of Mormon) and Christopher Sieber (Matilda).

What is Big River About?

Adopted by the respectable Widow Douglas, young vagabond Huckleberry Finn is growing restless with his new existence in polite society. Wanting to escape back to a life of adventure, and avoid the clutches of his estranged drunkard of a father, Huck makes his way to a deserted island, which turns out isn't quite so deserted. There he meets runaway slave Jim, and with a angry posse on their tail, the pair cobble together a raft and head on down the mighty Mississippi in search of a new life.