11/01/14 – Show Boat – 1pm

San Francisco Opera

OPERA: Show Boat
COMPOSER: Music by Jerome Kern · Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber

A true classic of American musical theater, this tale of life on the Mississippi from the 1880s to the 1920s is both a poignant love story and a powerful reminder of the bitter legacy of racism. Director Francesca Zambello’s grand-scale production is “a triumph—a stylish, fast-paced and colorful show that had the capacity audience on its feet, cheering loud and long” (Chicago Classical Review). The magnificent Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II score, which includes such classic songs as “Ol’ Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” “Make Believe” and “You Are Love,” will sound glorious “under the authoritative baton of music-theater maestro John DeMain” (Chicago Tribune). “No one should miss it” (Chicago Sun-Times).

According to General Director David Gockley, “Show Boat will be done in grand opera fashion in the way the creators conceived. The Opera House is—I believe—the appropriate venue for these great classic musicals that require full-voiced, ‘legit’ singing.”

Recorded Summer 2014, War Memorial Opera House.

Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes including one intermission
Production photos: Cory Weaver

CAST

MAGNOLIA HAWKS HEIDI STOBER
GAYLORD RAVENAL MICHAEL TODD SIMPSON *
CAP’N ANDY HAWKS BILL IRWIN *
JULIE LA VERNE PATRICIA RACETTE
QUEENIE ANGELA RENÉE SIMPSON
PARTHY ANN HAWKS HARRIET HARRIS *
ELLIE MAE CHIPLEY KIRSTEN WYATT *
JOE MORRIS ROBINSON
FRANK SCHULTZ JOHN BOLTON *
MRS. O’BRIEN SHARON MCNIGHT *
PETE, EMCEE JAMES ASHER *
SHERIFF VALLON, MAITRE D’ KEVIN BLACKTON *
STEVE BAKER, MAX GREENE PATRICK CUMMINGS *
JAKE MATTHEW PIATT *
NATCHEZ GIRL, YOUNG KIM CARMEN STEELE *
QUEENIE’S FRIEND, LADY ON THE LEVEE TRACY CAMP *
GIRL KATHLEEN BAYLER
GIRL SALLY MOUZON
MOTHER SUPERIOR MARY FINCH
QUEENIE’S FRIEND SAMANTHA MCELHANEY
LOTTIE ERIN NEFF
QUEENIE’S FRIEND, WOMAN SIMONE PAULWELL *
QUEENIE’S FRIEND RACHELLE PERRY
BACKWOODSMAN CHRISTOPHER JACKSON
YOUNG MAN ANTHONY MCGLAUN *
DRUNK, DEALER PHILLIP PICKENS

PRODUCTION CREDITS

CONDUCTOR JOHN DEMAIN
DIRECTOR FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO
SET DESIGNER PETER DAVISON
COSTUME DESIGNER PAUL TAZEWELL
LIGHTING DESIGNER MARK MCCULLOUGH
SOUND DESIGNER TOD NIXON
CHORUS DIRECTOR IAN ROBERTSON
CHOREOGRAPHER MICHELE LYNCH
FIGHT DIRECTOR DAVE MAIER

* SAN FRANCISCO OPERA DEBUT