Update: Is Racing’s Serious ‘Show Boat’ Keeping Up With The Spirits Of History?
Disasters happen when you take off a sailboat. Remove the planks from the hull, refit the rudder, put more cargo in one place, and the stoutest schooner will bow in cold, choppy water. About Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II Show Boatquantum jump in the evolution of Broadway musicals, seaworthiness was an issue long before director David Herskovits did A change for the better. That’s not it Show Boat leak, exactly: the 1927 stage megahit led to three movie versions and six Broadway revivals (the most recent of which closed in 1997). Nevertheless, this original combination of drama and operetta has been erased and repainted over the decades for a reason: its attitude towards race. The proliferation of n-words and expletives may have been blunt and liberal in their day but they read in 2025 as a dirty relic of Creepy Americana. Racial slurs have gradually been replaced by softer language, but stereotypes remain. As a cultural landmark, Show Boat you always float, but would you dare to ride?
Herskovits and his talented team of singers and performers make a strong case for revisiting a classic that’s great, for what it sounds like—and not just for its truly beautiful lyrics. In adapting Edna Ferber’s novel about life on a Mississippi River boat Cotton BlossomKern performed beautiful scores from spirituals, Dixieland, European waltz and emerging jazz. Deeply emphatic and richly inspired, the composer’s music has spawned several breakout hits: the swoony duet “Make Believe,” the bluesy ballad “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” and the soulful “Ol’ Man River” it became popular. by Paul Robeson—and that’s just Act I. Bolstered by Hammerstein’s witty and powerful vocals, these numbers sprout from Jim Crow’s dire state like prayers for a better world—or opiates to forget it.
To the delight (or dismay) of those familiar with this cornerstone of the American Songbook, the score has been boldly updated by fellow musical directors Dionne McClain Freeney and Dan Schlosberg. The former created surprisingly close vocal arrangements for the ten actors, who switched between lead roles, supporting parts, and chorus. Meanwhile, Schlosberg has split the orchestration from its traditional multi-player to a six-piece band that includes electric guitar. The result is a sonic world as polyglot and as surprising as Hammerstein’s libretto, from low-key vaudeville yuks to domestic tragedy. One minute, high-spirited chef Queenie (Suzanne Darrell) is barking at a carnival to woo Black audiences with the patter number “C’mon Folks.” A few scenes later, ingénue Magnolia (Rebbekah Vega-Romero) and handsome gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Philip Themio Stoddard) fall in love with the honey “You Are Love.” The band may be small, but they sound lovely under Freeney’s direction and Vega-Romero and Stoddard combine vocals (and lips) with increasing frequency.
Apart from the canny reduction of power, the score has been cleverly changed to bring those songs closer to modern ears (ie, to make Kern sound a little whiter). When Julie—played by the fiery Stephanie Weeks—sings “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” those shrill vocal lines begin to swing more, taking on an R&B smokiness. After the break, when Weeks delivers a tender ode to an unknown lover, “Bill,” she plays Julie as Billie Holiday nods to dope, who suddenly gets excited by demonic powers and ends the song with incoherent rage, crying. The word suddenly became popular. Yes, those who want to hear an absurd, highly rational “Bill” may be outraged, but it is a serious risk.
For the stage, Herskovits brings an eye for small stage sets and a passion for gestural play that he has cultivated over decades as the founder of the experimental company Target Margin Theatre. Kaye Voyce’s sleek design incorporates subtle elements like a wide white scrim with doors designed in large BLACK AND WHITE, reverse-printed letters. Costume designer Dina El-Aziz dresses the actors in white belts with WHITE written on them, and with all the caps, which they take off and on when playing Caucasians. The cast is diverse and full of strong, engaging actors, from urban legend Steven Rattazzi (if avant-garde theater ever had the hillherself) and the magnetic Tẹmídayọ Amay, a thin and mysterious presence who plays the second banana dancer Frank and the equally benevolent sheriff Vallon.
In a sense, Hammerstein’s freetto follows four marriages over several decades from the South to Chicago and back: two that end happily, two that don’t. Queenie is married to Joe (Alvin Crawford), a Black stevedore who sings “Ol’ Man River.” Although the details of their prickly union cannot be studied in depth, it seems that they are a stable twosome. It’s the same for Captain Andy (Rattazzi) and his minister wife, Party (J Molière): he abuses and neglects her to run a showboat. On the sad side of the marriage book is Julie (Weeks), the leading lady Cotton Blossom until he is revealed to be biracial, forcing him to leave. Julie’s white husband and leading man, Steve (Edwin Joseph) bravely sticks by her, but leaves her up north. The final couple, whose story is fully foregrounded, is Captain Andy and Party’s daughter, Magnolia, and Gaylord, a gambling addict but good-hearted man he falls for.
Show Boat it’s not about marriage, per se, but lifestyles: whether that means rising above poverty for a woman or living with the injustice of a racially divided society. As “Ol’ Man River” reminds us all night, life is hard, and nature doesn’t care. Such philosophical resignation may be provocative, but today’s sentiments are more in line with social justice, intervention, progress. By undressing Show Boat to its bones and shining a harsh light on its social and showbiz mechanics, Herskovits wants us to watch, enjoy, and judge all at once. He calls this conversion a dissertation: Show/Boat: River. And in that river? Flotsam and jetsam for a closer look.
Another revival Show/Boat naturally reminiscent of the Daniel Fish-directed In Oklahoma! transferred to Broadway in 2019. In comparison, the Fish used to be frugal. Still, they both reveal the dark side of musical comedy and direct the work to a multiracial audience that can navigate the complexity and humor. And to be fair, the categories of freely available popular music have been around for a long time. John Doyle’s high mind takes over Sweeney Todd he is 20 years old. Company it has been repaired twice. Even Andrew Lloyd Webber’s often-singing music and musicals have benefited from a directorial innovation: the witness Cats: The Jellicle Ball and the full Jamie Lloyd video Sunset Boulevard.
However, this is a difficult and controversial time to ride Cotton Blossom it won’t be for every taste. Purists and anyone allergic to experimental theater (metatheatrical gags, presentation, deadpan delivery) may escape during the intermission. In my game, few do. It helps to learn real freetto or view the 1936 film before leaving. I’ve done both, which has helped me see how the stage has shaken off a century of cultural decay and sensibility to reveal the art of musical theater that is often deeply sad and always funny. Full disclosure: It was a first Show Boat I saw it live. Will it be my last? The Centenary is coming up in two years. Has the world moved on to the point that no rewrite would allow for a return to Broadway? Or will Ol’ Man River roll backswept us into the past when we didn’t see and didn’t want to live?
Show/Boat: The river | 2 hours 30 minutes. One break. | NYU Skirball | 566 LaGuardia Area | 212-998-4941 | Buy Tickets Here
