Twain Tracks

Think Big with Huck and Jim at the Arvada Center.

Comments (0) By Susan Froyd Thursday, Jul 9 2009

What could be more perfect on a summer evening than a big, sprawling musical featuring larger-than-life characters and a message to match? Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which opened July 14 on the Arvada Center Main Stage, promises to sweep away audiences of all ages for a few hours of escapism that come full circle with Mark Twain’s morality.

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Director Stephen Bourneuf thinks it’s important to understand Twain in order to follow the spirit of the story. “Mark Twain set out to write a simple ‘boy’s book’ in a light, comic tone that would take Huck from one escapade to another,” he writes in his production notes. “What he ended up with was a boy’s exciting, unpredictable journey along the Mississippi Valley searching for freedom from so-called ‘respectable’ ways; the very complexities of society that Twain wrestled to make sense of his whole life.”

Big River will be presented nightly (except Mondays) through August 9; admission is $27 (preview) to $55 for adults and half-price for children. The Arvada Center is located at 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard; for reservations and more information about family nights and other special events, go to www.arvadacenter.org or call 720-898-7200.
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays, 1 & 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: July 14. Continues through Aug. 9, 2009