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| Francesca Zambello with the set for Show Boat |
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Boat Floats as Albert Hall’s First Full Musical, 10 JunDate: 8 December 2005
International director Francesca Zambello and producer Raymond Gubbay today launched their in-the-round production of Show Boat (See News, 6 Dec 2005), co-produced by the Royal Albert Hall, at an event at the prestigious Kensington venue today. While the Hall has previously hosted concert versions of musicals, the revival of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Broadway classic, which will have a strictly limited season of 18 performances only from 10 to 25 June 2006, will mark the venue’s first ever fully-staged musical.
Based on the novel by Edna Ferber, the story follows the lives and loves of a song and dance troupe. The musical broke new ground when it premiered on Broadway in 1927, dealing with racial prejudice, poverty and abandonment.
Speaking at today’s event, Zambello (pictured with a model of the elaborate set), a triple Olivier Award-winning director of opera and theatre who has previously directed La Boheme at the Royal Albert Hall, said: “I am very excited about directing the first fully staged musical at the Royal Albert Hall. Show Boat is ideal because it is the musical from which all the modern musicals come, it was the first of the era. It is deep and meaningful while also being full of the joys of life. And Magnolia’s journey from girlhood to womanhood is very touching. I think it will be incredible for the actors to be playing these emotional scenes surrounded by 5,000 people in the audience. Because it is in the round, the audience will be so close the actors will have a lot of interaction with them – probably more so than in most proscenium arch productions.”
The production will feature a cast of 100, joined by a 65-strong orchestra. The full cast will be announced in the New Year. According to Zambello, “We have cast at least half the main roles now. They are very good musical theatre people, it is an impressive line-up with some well-known West End faces. People want to do this show because of the show itself, which has an amazing score, and also because it is the first ever fully-staged musical at the Royal Albert Hall.”
Peter J Davison’s set will include real water and decks leading from the aisles of the auditorium onto the boat. Raymond Gubbay said: “This is a very exciting production for us. We are working in partnership with the Royal Albert Hall and they have been very supportive. We just so wanted to do this here because the operas we have done here previously in the round, including Madame Butterfly and Tosca, worked so well we thought an arena musical would be wonderful. And Show Boat seems to bridge the gap very well between opera and musical.”
Show Boat has costumes by Sue Willmington, choreography by Arthur Pita, lighting by Andrew Bridge and sound by Bobby Aitken. The musical director is David Charles Abell.
The musical was last seen in the West End in 1998 when Hal Prince’s Tony Award-winning Broadway revival transferred for a short season at the Prince Edward Theatre (See News, 6 Jul 1998).
- by Caroline Ansdell
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