‘Elephant Shoes,’ a first-of-its-kind musical comedy, premieres at Two River Theater in Red Bank

CURTIS BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

From left, Klea Blackhurst, Don Stephenson, Remy Laifer, Taylor Iman Jones, Siena Rafter, Raven Sutton and Daniel Durant co-star in “Elephant Shoes,” at Two River Theater in Red Bank.

“Don’t you want to leave a lasting legacy?” asks one character, early in “Elephant Shoes,” a musical that is having its world premiere at Two River Theater in Red Bank. It is a question that, one imagines, the creators of this ingenious work asked themselves. And answered yes to.

“Elephant Shoes” is, as Two River Theater artistic director Justin Waldman writes in the program, “The first fully original, bilingual — Spoken English and American Sign Language — musical.” It is also everything a musical that is also a romantic comedy should be: funny, and moving, and full of memorable songs. As you watch, you feel like you are witnessing a landmark moment.

CURTIS BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

Daniel Durant in “Elephant Shoes.”

It is a co-production with Los Angeles-based Deaf West Theatre, and four of the 12 characters are deaf (one of the actors in the 11-person cast plays two roles). The deaf characters, naturally, communicate with each other in sign language. But with some characters translating for others (in ways that are organic to the play’s action) and the frequent use of supertitles, everyone in the audience — including both the deaf, and the non-deaf with no previous knowledge of sign language — can understand everything that everyone is saying or signing.

The book is by Ivan Menchell, with music and lyrics by Caroline Kay, and direction and choreography by longtime Deaf West Theatre associate Jeff Calhoun. Like any good romantic comedy, “Elephant Shoes” — whose name refers to the fact that the phrases “elephant shoes” and “I love you” look the same to someone who is reading lips — is full of white lies and misunderstandings and subterfuge, and the communication difficulties between the deaf and the non-deaf works naturally into all of the above.

The play begins with Cy (Daniel Durant) — a deaf entrepreneur who is developing a pair of eyeglasses that will help the deaf and the non-deaf understand each other — winning the financial support of the skeptical, comically crass Wayne (Don Stephenson). Cy can now expand his company, and hires the non-deaf Roxy (Taylor Iman Jones). He is immediately attracted to her; so, too, is Cy’s roommate and best friend Chris (James Olivas), a handsome and good-hearted but somewhat shallow ladies’ man, who is not deaf but learned sign language at a young age because his alcoholic father Roy (Hector Reynoso) is.

T. CHARLES ERICKSON

Taylor Iman Jones in “Elephant Shoes.”

Roxy — who is smart and capable, but also something of a fragile soul — has high standards, and is not sure she even wants a boyfriend. But Chris, despite already being in a relationship with the long-suffering Jenna (Amy Keum), is aggressively pursuing her. Chris isn’t good with words. But the sweet and sensitive Cy — who feels he should stay away from Roxy because he is her boss, but would probably be too shy to make a move, anyway — is.

And so Chris asks Cy to help him court Roxy, via sign language or texting. Cy does so, even though it is killing him, inside, because his love for Roxy keeps growing. And Roxy does fall for Chris — for a while, at least. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, “Elephant Shoes” is basically an updated “Cyrano de Bergerac,” with deafness, instead of a big nose, being what makes the hero unsure of himself.)

Other characters include three of Cy’s other employees: the non-deaf stoner Bob (Remy Laifer); the deaf coding genius Liz (Raven Sutton); and Simone (Siena Rafter), who translates sign language into words for Cy in business meetings, and happens to have a sensational singing voice. In a meaty subplot, Laurie (Antoinette Lori Abbamonte), a deaf recovering alcoholic, tries to get Roy on the road to a healthier lifestyle. The Act 2 reprise of Roy’s confessional ballad “Stubborn and Difficult Dad,” signed by him but sung by Chris, is one of the show’s emotional high points.

Klea Blackhurst plays two non-deaf roles: Wayne’s perennially upbeat, marketing-genius wife, Beverly; and Roxy’s nosy neighbor, Mrs. Millner. “You have a very complicated dating life,” Mrs. Millner observes to Roxy, drolly.

Colin Analco is credited as the show’s ASL choreographer, and in the program, Deaf West Theatre artistic director DJ Kurs writes that Analco “built its sign language into the heart of the show rather than laying it on top.

“It” — the show as a whole, I assume he means — “started in our language.”

Indeed, the musical’s plot — in addition to resolving the love story — serves as an affirmation of ASL itself, and its power as a tool of genuine communication. “Hard to Put Into Words,” signed by Cy and sung primarily by Simone, added another level of meaning to a show that offered an abundance of powerful messages, already.

Two River Theater in Red Bank will present “Elephant Shoes” through June 28. Visit tworivertheater.org.

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