Bringing people together through our stories on stage and beyond

Uncommon friendships are at the center of our 2018-2019 season: Nate and Annie’s story of becoming best friends in NATE THE GREAT; the unexpected friendship between the Bradleys and the Herdmans that arises amidst the chaos in THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER: THE MUSICAL; the friendship between Matilda and Miss Honey that helps them both make the change they need in their lives in Roald Dahl’s MATILDA THE MUSICAL; the untold story of Peter Pan and Tink and how a young boy became friends with a fairy in TINKER BELL; the story of Huck and Jim in BIG RIVER: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN.

Based on Mark Twain's timeless classic, this coming-of-age musical celebrates a journey of discovery and uncommon friendship as Huckleberry Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom and reunite with his family.

This production serves as inspiration for Uncommon Friendships, a community event held this March to highlight the powerful story of friendship between Huck and Jim, with activities to explore friendship across lines of division with our families and young people. Pardeep Kaleka and Arno Michaelis were invited as guest speakers to share their own story of uncommon friendship. Pardeep Kaleka lost his father in the August 5, 2012 Sikh Temple of Wisconsin shooting, and Arno Michaelis is a former white supremacist who helped to start a gang back in the late 1980s that produced the August 5 shooter. Pardeep and Arno are now working together to build a world that is centered on love rather than hate.


Both First Stage’s production of BIG RIVER and the Uncommon Friendships event provide a framework to better understand Huck’s journey from a state of ignorance to a state of love, and to inspire individual reflection and conversations regarding our own ongoing journey toward becoming our best selves.
Through BIG RIVER and our community engagement efforts, First Stage reaffirms our commitment to soften hearts and inspire constructive action, in our lives and our community.Learn more about First Stage’s community engagement efforts in conjunction with this and other productions at FirstStage.org, or find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.