Daniel Durant and James Olivas to star in ELEPHANT SHOES
Two River Theater and Deaf West Theatre have announced that Daniel Durant (Spring Awakening, CODA) and James Olivas (Evita, American Idiot) will star in Elephant Shoes, a world premiere co-production with Deaf West Theatre, featuring a book by Ivan Menchell, music and lyrics by Caroline Kay, and direction and choreography by Jeff Calhoun.
This new musical, with a soaring contemporary score and an immersive blend of spoken English, American Sign Language (ASL), and ground-breaking stage technology that will ignite your senses and change the way you experience musical theatre, will run in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theatre from 4-28 June.
Cy is on the verge of revolutionising communication! His brilliant invention instantly translates spoken English into American Sign Language, and vice versa. But his breakthrough means nothing if he cannot connect with the one person he longs for — Roxy, a whip-smart coder, and an integral part of turning their tech dream into reality. As they work side by side, Cy finds himself falling in love, only to watch his best friend, Chris, sweep Roxy off her feet. A modern-day ‘Cyrano’ tale, Elephant Shoes asks: Can love transcend language or will it forever be lost in translation?
Elephant Shoes will be performed in ASL, spoken English, and open captioning, and will be fully accessible to both deaf and hearing audiences.
The creative team for Elephant Shoes also includes ASL choreographer Colin Analco, musical director Meghan Zervoulis Bate, orchestrator Tom Kitt, set designer Tobin Ost, projection designer Caite Hevner, costume designer Sarafina Bush, lighting designer Annie Wiegand, sound designer Daniel Lundberg, and casting director TRC Company/Spencer Gualdoni, CSA.
Artistic Director of Deaf West Theatre, DJ Kurs, said: "We are thrilled to partner with Two River Theater to premiere Elephant Shoes, a bold new musical led by a deaf hero set in a world that reflects our complex, interconnected reality. Comedy becomes a lens to examine our preconceptions, challenging audiences to see beyond preconceived boundaries. At its core, the piece is a powerful catalyst for human connection, exploring our fundamental desire to be understood in a landscape of ever-shifting communication and technology. With an extraordinary creative team at the helm, we can't wait to share this hilarious, thought-provoking story with beautiful music that illuminates our shared humanity.”
Artistic director Justin Waldman said: “Building a world premiere musical is the ultimate collaboration and to do so with this incredible team is a tremendous gift to Two River Theater. It is a true honour to join forces with the renowned and venerable Deaf West Theatre to tell Ivan and Caroline’s stunning story, helmed by the Tony Award nominated director, Jeff Calhoun. Elephant Shoes’ combination of Sign language, music, laughs, and poignancy is utterly unique and continues Two River’s tradition of bringing people together for world class theatrical experiences right here in Red Bank, NJ.”
For more info on Elephant Shoes, please click here