Show Boat

Synopsis

Based on Edna Ferber's novel, the musical begins when Cap'n Andy docks his show boat for a performance. However all does not quite go according to plan when his daughter falls in love with a local gambler, while his leading lady is forced to leave the show. The 1927 musical features the classics 'O' Man River', 'Make Believe', 'Can't Help Lovin Dat Man' and 'You are Love'.

Our Review:

14 June 2006

The astonishing size and spectacle of Show Boat, arguably the first great modern musical, could never have been more excitingly realised than it is in Francesca Zambello’s production at the Royal Albert Hall. The entire venue is occupied by the Cotton Blossom show boat, whose upper tiers are suspended from the roof. The full complement of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Charles Abell, is easily contained, apparently, on the ship’s bows.

This production of the sprawling, magnificent epic of life on the Mississippi from the 1880s to 1927 (the year of the musical’s premiere) is based on the Hal Prince version of 1994, with the orchestrations of Robert Russell Bennett and William David Brohn.

This is likely to remain the standard version, though personally I miss the inclusion of “Nobody Else But Me” (the last song Jerome Kern wrote) in the last scene. But in all other respects, the story, based on Edna Ferber’s novel, i...

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Latest User Review

195.82.123.181) - 21 June 2006:

While it is undeniably exciting to see something on this scale, at least for the first part of a very long evening, this isn't really a terribly good production of this classic musical. For a start, the acoustics of the RAH render almost all the lyrics and some of the dialogue completely incomprehensible. On top of that, the staging is fairly unimaginative, and the sheer size of the Hall makes one realise how many small, intimate scenes ShowBoat has....all of which look completely lost here. On the up side, Elena Shaddow and Rebecca Thornhill are superb as Magnolia and Julie respectively, and Mark Coles does a moving "Old Man River". Peter J Davison's set is nicely atmospheric fot the river scenes but clumsy the rest of the time, and Sue Wilmington's costumes are lavish and lovely. Jenny Galloway's lazy, lifeless turn as the proprietress of the show boat is a disgrace however: hard to believe this is the same performer who was so good in Les Mis, Oliver, Mamma Mia and Nine. Altogether, despite a few great moments ("Can't Help Loving That Man Of Mine" is a genuine showstopper), this colourful but underrehearsed production feels a bit aimless. ...

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