Like many army brats, John Cameron Mitchell found his peripatetic childhood a good training ground for a career in show business. Moving often and being the new kid in school, he perfected an ability to adapt to a variety of situations. While attending Northwestern University's well-regarded theater school, the openly gay Mitchell landed roles in industrial films and a Chicago stage production of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". A photograph of him in character caught the attention of an agent who suggested him to the producers of the 1985 musical "Big River" (which itself was based on
