Show Boat

There isn't a more glorious antique in the American musical theater than "Show Boat," the 89-year old musical that was something of the "Hamilton" of its day. Adapted from Edna Ferber's popular potboiler by Oscar Hammerstein II, who also wrote lyrics to Jerome Kern's music, the show was the sensation of 1927. It also has found a solid place in the American culture having been filmed three times, been a hugely popular amateur and stock favorite, and frequently revived on Broadway and the West End (where one is currently playing). It was most recently revived in New York in 1994 in a spectacular turn reconfigured and directed by Harold Prince.

It is that version that makes the template for the admirable Fiddlehead Theatre Company production at the Shubert Theatre through July 3. Like most musicals of its time, the original "Show Boat" wouldn't play well today; not only because it is such a jumble of styles -- operetta, vaudeville, melodrama -- but, more significantly, due to its commentary on race relations as seen through the prism of its time. (For an example of what the original was like, watch the faithful 1936 film version that featured many cast members from Broadway and London productions of the time.) What Prince did so effectively was diffuse its questionably racist elements as well as sleekly smooth out its plot, especially in its rambling second act, and restore some significant musical numbers often curtailed in revivals, most notably a stirring sequence called "Misery's Comin' Around."

It is still, nonetheless, a melodramatic, multi-generational epic that likely appears quaint for those brought up on "The Lion King" and "Wicked." Yet those interested in seeing a pivotal work in the evolution of musical theater should head to the Shubert to marvel at Hammerstein's construction and his inspired collaboration with Kern. It would establish the template that he would refine decades later with a string of hit shows written with Richard Rodgers.

You will also likely marvel at this inventive production, which makes the narrative a flashback (this production opens in 1954) experienced by the aging Kim Ravenal (Kathy St. George) when she discovers a chest containing photo albums and other memorabilia from her family's past. Her family ran a Mississippi showboat in the 1880s and within moments she's swept up in her reverie, moving back in time to the fateful day her parents, Magnolia (Kim Corbett) and Gaylord (Jeremiah James), met on a Natchez levee. Kim retires to the side of the stage in what could have been a case of the fatal framing device, but due to Ms. St. George's believable immersion in the moment, it proves a touching point-of-reference throughout this three-hour show.

What she watches is the story that runs from the late 1880s through the mid-1920s that follows the lives of numerous performers and workers on a Mississippi showboat run by Captain Andy (John Davin) and his wife Parthy (Dawn Tucker). Parthy has sheltered their daughter Magnolia from working on the showboat, but when the show's leading lady -- Julie Laverne -- a mulatto accused of being married to a white man (illegal in state of Mississippi at the time) -- leaves the boat, Magnolia gets her break. She also gets a leading man in Gaylord, a somewhat jaded riverboat gambler, who joins the troupe to woo her. They marry, have a daughter (Kim), move to Chicago and hit hard times, which leads to Gaylord abandoning his family. Such is the melodrama that Hammerstein gleaned from Ferber's book. He also adds a pair of African-American characters, Joe (Brian Kinnard) and Queenie (Lindsay Roberts), who give voice to the day-to-day struggles that blacks experienced during this period.

With its vast historical scope, "Show Boat" requires a production that can bring its disparate elements into a seamless whole. Happily this "Show Boat," jointly directed by Meg Fofonoff and Stacey Stephens, is sleekly staged, benefiting from a terrific, state-of-the-art look (the inventive work of Paul Tate dePoo III) that uses projections to frame the action and augment the visuals. Fofonoff and Stephens make good use of dePoo's central set piece -- a handsome, two-story showboat that moves in and out, and comes apart for some scenes, then joins together again for others. Stephens also designed the handsome costumes, a lavish parade of period styles that display the changing times, from late 19th-century Americana to the Roaring Twenties chic. Wendy Halls choreography is nicely integrated in the action, exploding with a spectacular Charleston in the final scene, led by the younger Kim (a terrific Megan Yates). There is also first-rate musical direction by Charles Peltz leading the 28-piece orchestra.

They also cast the show with an emphasis on voice -- big voice. "Show Boat," which came in the waning days of operetta, requires the full-bodied vocal style usually associated with opera. It also breaches the musical-comedy styles of its day. Kern's copious score contains much of both, which is very well realized here as the musical moves from the soaring romantic melodies for Magnolia and Gaylord (a nicely paired Kim Corbett and Jeremiah James) to specialty numbers for showboat performers Ellie and Frank (Lindsay Sutton and Carl-Michael Ogle, equally fine).

Kern also provides heartfelt, authentic sounding music for its African-American characters, specifically Joe and Queenie. Brian Kinnard delivers a powerfully realized "Old Man River," while Lindsay Roberts stops the show with a boisterous "Queenie's Ballyhoo." Sarah Hanlon makes for a heartbreaking Julie, whose secret of passing as white becomes the story's pivotal event. She leads the ensemble in a gorgeously sung "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine," then breaks your heart with her plaintiff reading of the classic torch song "Bill." Acting like the evening's hosts are the showboat's proprietors, Captain Andy (John Davin) and his starchy wife Parthenia (Dawn Tucker), whose chronic marital discord provides much comic relief.

Imagine what it must have been like to be sitting in the audience in 1927 and hear the incendiary word that opens the show -- one that has been replaced over the years by more acceptable terms. That word turns up in this production at a crucial dramatic moment and its use not only the underscores the blatant injustice presented in the scene, one representing the social conditions of 1888 Mississippi. It also keys audiences in that "Show Boat" is far from an ordinary musical as it tells a story that mixes family melodrama and social commentary in equal measure, the latter being a divisive flashpoint over the years. Whether it is or isn't, may be in the eye of the beholder. I tend to agree with New Yorker critic John Lahr who wrote: "Describing racism doesn't make 'Show Boat' racist." Hammerstein, an unabashed liberal, uses the racial elements to expose injustice and inequality -- something that likely stirred its audiences in 1927, and still does today. The takeaway from this exemplary Fiddlehead production is that "Show Boat" keeps rolling along, showing its age, no doubt; but also displaying a timeless quality that still stirs both mind and heart.

"Show Boat" continues through July 3 at the Citi Shubert Theatre,
265 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. For further information, visit the Fiddlehead Theatre Company's website.