`Big River’ at Center for the Arts has a splendid cast, musical score

As sure as Roger Miller’s award winning song “King of the Road” put Bangor on the country music map, his lyrics and musical score to “Big River” put Miller in the hearts of many theatergoers from Bangor on March 22. Playing to a full house at the Maine Center for the Arts, the touring company Circa ’21 flooded the concert hall with Miller’s songs and a whole lot of laughter, good spirits and unusually high energy as it opened its two-day engagement at the concert hall. A repeat performance will take place on March 23, but the show is already sold out, and it’s easy to see why.

The cast takes us on the great American river journey, the “lighting out” of the heroic Huck Finn and his fleeing friend Jim, both of whom are looking for freedom. We follow them into fog and into trouble. We watch while they protect one another. We see them smoke together and endure together, and both become our friends, too, by the end of the first act.

Because the story is narrated by Huck Finn, the success of the show depends upon the actor who is cast in this role, and Ty Hreben, as Huck, doesn’t disappoint. He has unbelieveable energy and dedication as he bounces his lanky body about the set, flashes an aw-shucks kind of smile, and brings Huck Finn to life before our eyes. His understanding of Twain’s cynical and dry humor is most impressive, and he controls his lines in a way that would make Twain nod with approval and appreciation.

When Hreben teams up with Mark Lawrence, who plays Jim, the show is at its best. Lawrence brings a dignity and depth of character to Jim that few actors would have been able to accomplish as effectively. His duets with Hreben (“Muddy Water,” “River in the Rain,” and “Worlds Apart”) are the show stoppers, and the harmony we see between the two actors runs deeper than the blend of their singing voices.

The show is uplifting and fun. Most audience members know the story and will recognize the Roger Miller song style, especially when Tom Sawyer, played by Bruce Devin Linser, sings the fast paced rhyming tune “Hand for the Hog.” It is an evening that takes us for a ride back into the American frontier, and teaches us lessons about friendship, hard times, hypocrisy, and love. It’s no wonder that the show won seven Tony Awards in 1985.