50 Favourite Musicals: 15: SHOW BOAT (1927) (Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II, PG Wodehouse)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

 First performed: 1927, Ziegfeld Theatre, NY

First seen by me: London Palladium, 1991

Productions seen: two

Score: Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II, P.G. Wodehouse
Book: Oscar Hammerstein II

Plot: The lives and loves of the performers on Capt'n Andy's show boat "The Cotton Blossom" as it sails up and down the Mississippi River span 40 years and the evolving styles of American popular entertainment...

Five memorable numbers: OL' MAN RIVER, CAN'T HELP LOVIN' DAT MAN, MAKE BELIEVE, BILL, LIFE UPON THE WICKED STAGE

You would have thought that the show acknowledged to be the one that first presented a narrative with a fully integrated score and believable characters - not just an evening of skits, songs and production numbers or imported European operetta - would be handled with more respect but no, SHOW BOAT has been revised and rewritten with practically every revival on stage or screen.  Incidentally how interesting that the original SHOW BOAT was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld whose splashy revues were wiped away in the coming years by Musical Comedy productions.  The story stays the same - professional gambler Gaylord Ravanel meets aspiring actress Magnolia Hawks aboard her father's show boat and they marry unhappily ever after - but songs are dropped to be added to the film to be added to the revival to be dropped again etc. etc.  However, no matter what version you see the magic always happens - Edna Ferber's original characters are all sympathetically drawn by Hammerstein and you are never far away from a cracking song whatever the production. 

My first voyage on the SHOW BOAT was James Whale's 1936 film version with the excellent cast of Irene Dunne as Magnolia, Helen Morgan repeating her original stage role as Julie Laverne the Cotton Blossom's leading lady who has to leave when it is revealed that she is half-black, Hattie McDaniel as the boat's cook Queenie and the legendary Paul Robeson as her husband Joe.  Incidentally 'Joe' was written for Robeson but because Ziegfeld's production was delayed he had to withdraw because of other commitments, he played it instead in the original London production.  I first saw it onstage in 1991 when Ian Judge directed an RSC & Opera North co-production at the London Palladium with a memorable cast of Jan Hartley (Magnolia), Bruce Hubbard (Joe), Marilyn Cutts (Julie), David Healy (Cap'n Andy), Karla Burns (Queenie) and Margaret Courtenay (Parthy).  It was a wonderful production that made me realize the show's power.  Then in 2016 Daniel Evans directed an excellent revival for the Sheffield Crucible which later transferred to the New London Theatre for a shamefully short run.  At the Crucible the show had lovely performances from Michael Xavier (Gaylord), Gina Beck (Magnolia), Allan Corduner (Cap'n Andy), Emmanuel Kojo (Joe), Sandra Marvin (Queenie), Danny Collins (Frank) and particularly Rebecca Trehearn's haunting Julie - the character has my two favourite numbers from the show "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "Bill" (originally written by Kern with PG Wodehouse in 1917).  It was wonderful to experience SHOW BOAT on stage again, and it proved that a historical milestone from 1927 can be as vital, touching and entertaining as ever.

Again I am confronted with there being so many fabulous songs in SHOW BOAT over so many productions... which to choose?  I kept returning to this, a promo for the New London production with Rebecca Trehearn showing why she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress In A Musical for playing tragic Julie and delivering such a thrilling version of "Bill"...

SHOW BOAT - Another visit now it is docked in London!

When I had to decide what show should be my birthday night event it was an easy choice - a return visit to Daniel Evans' revival of the game-changing 1927 musical SHOW BOAT, which has now slowly steamed into dock at the New London Theatre.

Finally!  A production has appeared at the New London Theatre that I want to see.  Since I became a 'proper' theatre fan in 1982 - apart from the transfer from the National Theatre of WAR HORSE - the New London Theatre has been home to a run of shows that I would walk a mile in tight shoes to avoid, but now I could visit safe in the knowledge that I wouldn't be seeing a dud.  To be honest the New London reminds me of any number of regional theatres I have been in - definitely a cross between Chichester and Sheffield with a similar 1970s feel of carpet and concrete.  Nice big bar area though!

We saw and loved SHOW BOAT back in January in it's Sheffield home but now it is gracing the West End with it's glorious score by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and Evans' elegant production that guides you through the plot's decades.  In the journey from Sheffield to London, the production has lost it's two male leads but this has not sunk the ship, in fact it has made it a smoother journey.

In Sheffield Michael Xavier played Gaylord, the raffish gambler who falls for heroine Magnolia, while Allan Corduner was the affable Cap'n Andy, owner of the Cotton Blossom Showboat but these they have been replaced by Broadway import Chris Peluso and the always-dependable Malcolm Sinclair respectively.

Xavier was better than the role to be honest - it gave him very little chance to shine as it is quite a strait-jacketed role but it suited Chris Peluso but dear God... all through the show, through whatever decade, the tab at the back of his boots stuck out from under his trouser hems - It was profoundly irritating!  No such problems with Malcolm Sinclair who was a total delight as the hen-pecked but tender-hearted owner of the Cotton Blossom.

The strength of Evans' production is in the casting of the three central female roles: a majestic triumvirate of Gina Beck's sweet-natured Magnolia, Rebecca Trehearn's tragic Julie and Sandra Marvin's imperious Queenie with Trehearne coming out on top of them all thanks to having the two best songs in the score: "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "Bill".

Lucy Briers has grown in the role of Parthy Ann Hawks, the battle-axe of the Cotton Blossom and the good news is that Emmanuel Kojo is still toting barges and lifting bales as he belts out a passionate and emotive "Old Man River".  I was particularly happy to see again the bendy dancing of Danny Collins as Frank Schultz who turns choreographer Alistair David's routines into something quite thrilling.

It was a huge delight to see this production again to enjoy Lez Brotherston's spare but evocative designs, David's physical choreography and Evans' direction that spills out into the auditorium at times.

SHOW BOAT was the show that in 1927 proved that a musical could be more than just a string of numbers and comedy scenes, it could actually tell a through story with characters you care for while also dealing with serious themes.  If you have never seen it now is your chance to - and if you have, then see it again!