Big River Heading to the Big Screen Via Playwright Douglas Lyons
(© Martha Swope/New York Public Library for the Performing Arts)
Douglas Lyons, the writer of the 2021 Broadway comedy Chicken and Biscuits is adapting the musical Big River into a film.
Big River has music and lyrics by Roger Miller and a book by William Hauptman. According to Variety, Lyons will reimagine the story so that instead of focusing on Huckleberry Finn’s perspective, it will also include the point of view of Jim.
Based on Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the musical originally opened on Broadway in 1985 and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It was revived on Broadway in 2003 in a production by Deaf West Theatre that employed Deaf and hearing actors and incorporated ASL.
Lyons is also a writer on Apple TV’s series Fraggle Rock. His musicals include Polkadots, Beau, Breathe, The Moon and The Sea, and the world premiere of Five Points. As an actor, he has been on Broadway in The Book of Mormon, Beautiful, and Parade.
