The William Hauptman-Roger Miller show will be presented Jan. 5 and 6 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX. Fran Dorn will direct with musical direction by Michael McKelvey and choreography by co-founder Lewis.

Lawrence Hamilton, who has been seen on Broadway in Ragtime, Jelly's Last Jam, Play On! and The Wiz, will head the cast as Jim. He will be joined onstage by Bill Akey as the Duke, Lavelle White, Judy Arnold, Ricky Perkins and Damian Green. Daniel Adams will play Huck Finn.

This past summer, Mary Poppins' Rebecca Luker starred in a concert production of The Music Man for the new organization.

Big River, which debuted at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre in 1985, is a musical retelling of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," concentrating on Finn's travels with the runaway slave Jim as they float down the Mississippi. Songs in the score include "Waiting for the Light to Shine," "Guv'ment," "Muddy Water," "River in the Rain," "The Royal Nonesuch," "Worlds Apart," "Leaving's Not the Only Way to Go," "You Ought to Be Here With Me" and "Free At Last." The Deaf West Theatre's revival of Big River — a unique production using deaf and hearing actors — played the American Airlines Theatre in 2003.

TexARTS is a not-for-profit association for the visual and performing arts. Visit www.tex-arts.org for more information.