“River†of Dreams
In 40 years working with disadvantaged youth, Sandra G. Mallah has seen talented students come and go. But one in particular stood out.
FaTye (fah TIE) was the kind of kid “who comes around in the morning to say ”˜Hi,”™” remembers Mallah, who served as a special educator and then superintendent at the Greenburgh Eleven Union Free School District at Children”™s Village in Dobbs Ferry. “He was a warm, loving, big person. He was very bright, absorbed things quickly. He was focused.”
Mallah recalls being floored by his performance in the school”™s production of “Guys and Dolls” in 2005 when he was 17. At the spring concert that year, he performed a James Brown number “that was amazing. Everyone said he needs to develop that talent.”
FaTye has done just that, taking on the role of the runaway slave Jim in the Family Theatre Company”™s production of “Big River,” at Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford Feb. 2-26.
But making that leap from high school musicals to the professional stage is easier said than done, particularly when you are a teenager in the New York state foster-care system.
“The reality is that there aren”™t a lot of people willing to work with older kids,” Mallah says.
She and Children”™s Village are two exceptions. Through Children”™s Village, FaTye was able to live independently in Elmsford through age 21. (He”™s now almost 24 and has his own apartment.) But further education, clothing, transportation, even incidentals like dance shoes ”“ they have to come from somewhere.
“What I”™ve learned is that you can”™t send these kids out into the world without giving them the tools,” Mallah says.
That”™s where she and husband Sheldon ”“ COO of Icon Parking Systems in New York City ”“ come in. They”™ve mentored youngsters in all walks of life. In FaTye”™s case, the Mallahs helped him get into the Broadway Training Center of Westchester in Hastings-on-Hudson, their hometown, where he learned the theatrical basics, playing leads over two years. FaTye went on to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan and take part in CAP21, a musical theater intensive at New York University.
Higher education helped transform FaTye from a youth who didn”™t know what Broadway was to the co-star in the Family Theatre”™s “Big River” at Yorktown Stage a year ago. The Mallahs saw every performance. They knew they had to bring it to Westchester Broadway Theatre as co-producers.
In a sense, “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” mirrors FaTye”™s own story. Like FaTye, Huck is what we would now call a disadvantaged youth. Escaping from the brutal clutches of an alcoholic father, Huck sets sail on a Mississippi River raft with Jim, who”™s desperate to reunite with his wife and children in a free Ohio. Huck”™s decision to risk all to help an escaped slave ”“ considered a serious violation of natural, divine and civil law in the antebellum South ”“ is part of his own odyssey in growing up.
Conceived as part of the centennial celebration of the Mark Twain novel, “Big River” arrived on Broadway in 1985 with a book by William Hauptman, music and lyrics by Roger Miller (“King of the Road”) and an elite supporting cast that included John Goodman as Huck”™s boozy, abusive, “gov”™ment”-hating pappy and René Auberjonois as the slippery Duke. Daniel H. Jenkins was the conflicted Huck and Mount Vernon”™s Ron Richardson the persevering Jim. The show won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Richardson and Best Original Score for Miller”™s rich work, which cut a swath across the American musical landscape, embracing folk, country, bluegrass and gospel.
The 2003 Broadway revival ”“ a unique collaboration between the Roundabout Theatre Company and Deaf West Theatre ”“ was awarded the Tony for Excellence in Theater.
Mallah says the role of Jim resonates with FaTye, with the slave”™s attempts to liberate himself and reunite with his wife and children mirroring his own struggles to come to terms with his family troubles and seek a better life.
She”™s sure it will resonate with audiences ”“ from individuals to corporations and their clients ”“Â as well.
“It”™s just a wonderful outing with its themes of collegiality, tolerance and acceptance.”
“Big River” is at Westchester Broadway Theatre Feb. 2-26. Tickets are $55 and include dinner, the show and free parking. (914) 592-2222 or broadwaytheatre.com