In 1897 Mark Twain wrote, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” And although he did corporeally pass on in 1910, his cautioning words seem to still ring true in early 21st century New York—at least in a theatrical sense. Now—added to his Broadway-running “Is He Dead Yet“”—his undying presence can be realized in the engaging and entertaining Off-Off Broadway “Mark Twain’s Blues,” a play with songs that deals with the life of the great American humorist as well as his seminal “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” With book, music and lyrics by Walter Stepp (and a hardy heaping of the writings and “voice” of Samuel Clemens), the multi-talented cast, under the steady and often inventive direction of Tom Herman, transports the audience back to the worlds of the “real” Mark Twain and several of his fictional characters.
The evening opens with the familiar persona of Twain (a credible and appealing Bill Tatum) at a youthful-looking 65 years preparing for one of his on-the-road lectures. This time he will have vocal accompaniment: Actress played by Bonne Kramer, who “lights up the stage” with her presence and lovely singing as the many female characters she portrays throughout the evening. After several songs which add some personal background and depth to the author’s character, Twain’s humorous presentation to the audience is interrupted by the arrival of Huck Finn (a restive Lance Olds) and a little later former slave Jim (a surprisingly refined Barry Phillips), twenty years older than when they were first created. They both feel betrayed by the fates given to them in the final chapters of the classic novel and accuse their creator of “copping out” for financial as well as pusillanimous reasons. Earnest Hemmingway, who praised “Huck Finn” as “the best book we’ve had,” expressed similar sentiments when he said, “If you read it, you must stop where…Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating.”
So Huck and Jim, with the help of Ms. Kramer as Aunt Sally and Emmeline, Mr. Tatum as a more somber Twain as well as Jen Varbalow’s brilliantly supple scenic design and Charles Forster’s enhancing light design, set out to arrive at a more “honest” ending. They enact a number of pivotal scenes (from and not from the book), sing several songs and perform a few period-piece dances to arrive at an interesting and satisfying way in which the original could have ended.
The theatrical journey which is “Mark Twain’s Blues” may not be as smooth as a voyage on the QE II nor as exhilarating as rafting down the Mississippi, but it does have the ability to transport one on an artistic journey which is musical, literary, historical and extremely enjoyable.
