At Two River Theater in Red Bank, the new musical “Elephant Shoes” takes the classic Cyrano de Bergerac love story and retells it through a deaf tech founder’s world—making ASL, spoken dialogue, and captions feel like one shared language rather than a gimmick.
The first time Cy (Daniel Durant) falls for Roxy (Taylor Iman Jones). it’s not just the feeling that lands—it’s the distance. In “Elephant Shoes. ” now running at Red Bank’s Two River Theater. love arrives with a kind of restraint. as if the romance can’t fully enter the room until the communication catches up.
Cy is the deaf founder of a tech startup. and when Roxy walks into his office to apply for a job. the spark is immediate. He keeps his distance as Roxy’s boss. but Cy’s best friend Chris (James Olivas)—a hearing man who grew up with deaf parents and who is also an unrepentant womanizer—doesn’t waste time. The moment he meets her, Chris asks Roxy out.
The musical’s approach is bold without being cold. The script by Ivan Menchell follows a recognizable arc: Chris is handsome but dull and needs Cy’s help to woo Roxy. Cy, loyal to a longtime friend, lends him his gift for romantic eloquence. In a typical Cyrano setup, the trick would be hidden, overheard, and whispered from the bushes. Here, Cy stays out of Roxy’s gaze and uses ASL to deliver the language of love to Chris. It’s still Cyrano de Bergerac at the story’s core. but the show doesn’t treat that familiarity as a shortcut. Instead. it uses the well-worn structure to create fresh emotional impact against a backdrop audiences often aren’t used to seeing.
That matters, because the production refuses to treat language differences as an accessory. Directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun. “Elephant Shoes” features an eleven-member cast—some deaf and some hearing—and the staging consistently keeps ASL and spoken language accessible to the full audience.
Sometimes, Cy’s interpreter, Simone (Siena Rafter), speaks for him when he’s signing to hearing characters. When characters communicate only in signs or only in speech, on-stage supertitles capture the dialogue, courtesy of Tobin Ost. At other points. projections by Caite Hevner of words and lyrics float over on-stage surfaces. turning what could have been a translation tool into part of the performance’s texture.
Those techniques become especially inventive during songs, with music and lyrics by Caroline Kay. Projections or signs don’t sit off to the side. They connect to the music and lyrics in ways that feel built-in, melodious, and expressive.
The best example comes in Cy’s solo. “That Was Me.” Cy is non-verbal. but Durant signs with deep emotion as the cello—Louise Dubin under the music direction of Meghann Zervoulis Bate—carries the lead melody. Captions dance the lyrics on stage next to Cy. The moment is so precise it’s hard to call it “explaining” anything. It feels like the production is simply letting the audience experience love as it actually happens for the person living it.
No part of the show treats signs, captions, or speech as an interpretive gloss. They work in unison—integral components to the performance rather than a workaround for the audience.
“Elephant Shoes” doesn’t need a special label to justify itself. It succeeds for the same reasons great theater succeeds: a story that’s sharply written and warm. a cast that delivers. and a production that stays crisp. The musical challenges expectations not by dismantling them. but by giving the familiar—an old. well-worn romantic comedy built from Cyrano’s bones—in an unfamiliar and invigorating form.
“Elephant Shoes” is playing at Two River Theater Company, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank. Tickets are available online at http://www.tworivertheater.org/. The run goes through Sunday.
Elephant Shoes Two River Theater Red Bank Deaf West Theatre Cyrano de Bergerac Daniel Durant Taylor Iman Jones ASL musical Ivan Menchell Jeff Calhoun