The Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre and New Jersey's Two River Theater will co-produce the world premiere of the new, original musical Elephant Shoes next year.
Performed in American Sign Language and spoken English, Elephant Shoes will play Two River June 4鈥�28, 2026, as part of its 2025鈥�2026 season. Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies, Grease, Big River) will direct and choreograph.
With a book by Ivan Menchell and music and lyrics by Caroline Kay, this modern-day Cyrano tale follows Cy, who is on the verge of revolutionizing communication with a new invention that translates spoken English into ASL and vice versa. But his breakthrough means nothing if he can't connect with Roxy, a whip-smart coder. As they work side by side, Cy finds himself falling in love, only to watch his best friend, Chris, sweep Roxy off her feet.
Casting and additional creative team members will be announced at a later date.
Deaf West Artistic Director DJ Kurs said in a statement, 鈥�Elephant Shoes is a moving and resonant story about the complexities鈥攁nd beauty鈥攐f communication between Deaf and hearing people. What excites me most is that this new musical has been conceived by Ivan and Caroline from the very beginning as a piece with Deaf characters. I鈥檓 especially grateful to be collaborating once again with Jeff Calhoun, whose work on the Broadway revival of Big River with Deaf West over two decades ago was a milestone. And we鈥檙e thrilled to be expanding Deaf West鈥檚 footprint nationally through this meaningful partnership with Two River Theater in New Jersey.鈥�
Calhoun added, 鈥淚 feel so fortunate to be working with Deaf West again on an original American musical! Elephant Shoes is a project very close to my heart. I can鈥檛 wait to get in a rehearsal room to collaborate with extraordinary talent and bring this inspiring story to the stage.鈥�
Committed to innovation, collaboration, training, and social change, Deaf West Theatre serves as the artistic bridge between the Deaf and hearing worlds. The company has been represented on Broadway with the Tony-nominated revivals of Big River and Spring Awakening. Visit .
Elephant Shoes is presented in association with Kevin Ryan and Diane Scott Carter.
The Two River season will also include Agatha Christie鈥檚 Murder on the Links, adapted and Directed by Darko Tresnjak (September 13鈥揙ctober 5, 2025), THE MONSTERS: A Sibling Love Story, written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu and co-produced with Manhattan Theatre Club (November 1鈥�23), William Shakespeare鈥檚 As You Like It, adapted and directed by Noelle Marion (January 17鈥�25, 2026), and Henrik Ibsen鈥檚 A Doll鈥檚 House, directed by Justin Emeka (February 21鈥揗arch 15).
Two River Theater season subscriptions are available .
