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For the past seven years, Musical Theater Heritage’s mission has been presenting quality entertainment through their popular concert-style productions of classic American Musicals and original revues, says Associate Producer Chad Gerlt. The next musical, “Big River,” will be..well...big, and features a big, 18-person, all-star local cast including Seth Golay, Mykell Hill, Kip Niven, Craig Benton, Jerry Jay Cranford, and George Harter. The 18-person cast is one of the largest MTH has staged. So why did so many of these great performers agree to do the show? The answer is easy. “Big River” is seldom performed, Gerlt says. It is based on Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and is loaded with colorful characters and great music. The musical also won seven Tony Awards in 1985 including Best Musical and Best Original Score by Roger Miller, known in country circles as the “King of the Road.” “It’s an unjustly forgotten musical masterpiece, and stands as a dazzling, heartwarming slice of musical Americana and the final crowning achievement of Roger Miller’s celebrated career,” says MTH’s executive director, George Harter, who is also playing the role of Mark Twain in the show. “Big River” has a huge Missouri appeal with characters steeped in Missouri’s folklore, so MTH is offering discounted tickets to get people down to the Off Center Theatre at Crown Center to see it. “And seeing how ‘Big River’ runs August 13-30, it should be plenty hot outside, and many people are expected to attend as they get out of the heat and into a nice, cozy air-cooled theater,” Gerlt says. www.mthkc.com

For the past seven years, Musical Theater Heritage’s mission has been presenting quality entertainment through their popular concert-style productions of classic American Musicals and original revues, says Associate Producer Chad Gerlt. The next musical, “Big River,” will be..well...big, and features a big, 18-person, all-star local cast including Seth Golay, Mykell Hill, Kip Niven, Craig Benton, Jerry Jay Cranford, and George Harter. The 18-person cast is one of the largest MTH has staged.

So why did so many of these great performers agree to do the show? The answer is easy. “Big River” is seldom performed, Gerlt says. It is based on Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and is loaded with colorful characters and great music. The musical also won seven Tony Awards in 1985 including Best Musical and Best Original Score by Roger Miller, known in country circles as the “King of the Road.”

“It’s an unjustly forgotten musical masterpiece, and stands as a dazzling, heartwarming slice of musical Americana and the final crowning achievement of Roger Miller’s celebrated career,” says MTH’s executive director, George Harter, who is also playing the role of Mark Twain in the show.

“Big River” has a huge Missouri appeal with characters steeped in Missouri’s folklore, so MTH is offering discounted tickets to get people down to the Off Center Theatre at Crown Center to see it. “And seeing how ‘Big River’ runs August 13-30, it should be plenty hot outside, and many people are expected to attend as they get out of the heat and into a nice, cozy air-cooled theater,” Gerlt says.