SHOWBOAT sails into the Shubert Theatre this week (a new home
for the Fiddlehead company), to churn up the waters through July 3rd.
It’s a vast undertaking for co-directors Meg Fofonoff and Stacey Stephens, with
a cast of thousands, well it feels like thousands, when over 60+ actors fill
the stage to bring Edna Ferber’s sprawling novel to life. Oscar Hammerstein II
tweaked the novel quite a bit to get a handle on the innumerable characters
spanning three generations of performers, town folk and dock workers who made
the Mississippi
riverboats bustle.
What makes SHOWBOAT a classic of the American theater is the memorable
music. Jerome Kern’s score and the clever Hammerstein lyrics can take your
breath away. Music director Charles Peltz, choreographer Wendy Hall and the vibrant
performers on the Shubert stage make the Fiddlehead version feel fresh. The
production overflows with standout performances, especially Jeremiah James as Gaylord
Ravenal, the dashing riverboat gambler who steals the heart of the Captain’s
daughter. Kim Corbett as Magnolia Hawks and James make the operatic “You are
Love” one of the show’s highlights. (James’ extraordinary voice has a lustrous
range which thrills with its sonority and singularity.)
Brian Kinnard’s resonant bass for Joe’s anthemic “Ol’ Man
River” sets the emotional tone that guides the sorrowfully familiar story of
bigotry in the South. Sarah Hanlon as the hounded Julie breaks your heart with
her bittersweet rendition of “Bill.” Lindsay Roberts as Queenie not only
anchors the chilling “Misery” in Act I, she dances up a storm in the
“Ballyhoo.” (I used to view Act II as rather scattered and inconsequential but
Hall’s vivacious choreography makes you forget altogether what doesn’t jibe
dramatically.)
Your head will spin trying to negotiate the math to figure
out how some of the characters are still the same age some forty years hence – which
the directors expand with an additional character (Kathy St. George) silently
reflecting on the story. My advice is, don’t try. Just concede… Perhaps they’ve
paid a visit to BRIGADOON! I suspect the Captain’s wife dipped her toes in the
TUCK EVERLASTING fountain. She looks three decades younger at the end of the
show! (OK. It’s Stephens’ snazzy costumes for the jazz age that do it.)
John Davin follows in the famous footsteps of comedians Joe
E. Brown and more recently, Tom Bosley, as the antic Cap’n Andy, pursued at
every turn by the delightful Dawn Tucker (against type) as his shrewish wife;
with more charming comic relief from Lindsay Sutton (affecting a hilarious
squeak) and a cheeky Carl-Michael Ogle as the “featured performers” on the
Cotton Blossom stage. You don’t have to “Make Believe.” This SHOWBOAT delivers.
