Thoughts on Show Boat (1994)?

[Jay94]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 8:01am

I'm curious about what you think of the Show Boat revival of 1994?

I understand that it was very warmly received when it started. The only issue people seemed to have with it stemmed from the source material.

I've searched the internet and there's not that much information (very few photos or videos) on the production.

I understand that there was a lot of buzz about it but since then it's not very spoken of, particularly considering it's 44 million gross in 1995 (which i believe was the largest ever for a single year at the time). It's strange to think that it opened so huge but closed before it could even reach 1000 performances. Was it expected to do better than that?







Updated On: 5/19/12 at 08:01 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 8:21am

I can't speak to why it didn't run longer, but I can attest to how wonderful it was. Enjoy this clip.


Show Boat

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 8:29am

I am kicking myself for not seeing the 1994 SHOW BOAT. For that matter, the only production of SHOW BOAT that I have seen is the 1930's very fine film. I just love the complete score and enjoy playing my terrific John McGlinn studio cast recording. I wish it would return to Broadway in some form.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:48am

It was wonderful. However, it had a 60+ person cast, a 30 piece orchestra, and more than 100 people working backstage, adding up to over 200 people on the payroll. With running costs like that, the show needed to sell out to turn a profit each week, which it did for almost two years. Once ticket sales started to drop in the slightest, though, there was just no way to keep the show running. Add to that the fact that Garth Drabinsky and Livent Inc were the leading producers and you can understand why a longer run wasn't in the cards. In fact, the morning after it opened, Drabinsky held a meeting with the entire legal team for the show (his, the Nederlanders, the Hammerstein and Kern estates, everyone) and requested royalty cuts for the Hammerstein and Kern estates as well as the creative team, in hopes that the show could run longer on a slightly lower running cost. Everyone refused and the running cost (probably the highest at that time) remained the same.

It WAS wonderful, though. Beautifully designed and staged and some lovely performances. Lonette Mckee's "Bill" remains one of my favorite interpretations of a song ever.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:55am

It was wonderful from start to finish. I don't think I've seen, before or since, a cast with 60 on stage. And what a cast!

Sets, costumes, lighting, orchestra, musical direction, Hal Prince's direction and Susan Stroman's choreography were all first-rate.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:55am

It was labored and heavy handed.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:57am

And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.

"It's the best!"

"It's the worst!"

"It's the most!"

"It's the least!"

[Jay94]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:01am

I see, high running costs. I just thought it was strange that a show that sold consistently over 10,000 tickets a week right down to the last few to close.

Does anyone else agree though, that it has been kind of forgotten (considering it was so big for those 2 years)?

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:08am

I don't know what you mean by "forgotten." It was the fifth revival of this show in NY and arguably the most successful, both artistically and financially.

I can only speak for myself. I haven't forgotten it.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:19am

I saw it on tour. I was 14, so my memory of it is a little hazy, but I remember it leaving me feeling warm and wonderful. The sets were amazing, and it flew by in the blink of an eye.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:27am

I love this clip from PBS

[castlestreet]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:41am

It was in a word “mesmerizing”- Prince really did a fantastic job of taking all the material that had every been written for the show over its history, and we are talking a TON of material, and put together what I think is the best overall version of the show. Add Stroman’s choreography into the mix with a top-notch cast, costumes, orchestra and it just created a night of theater that virtually anyone could enjoy. While the show was in Toronto (I live in Rochester, NY) people who NEVER went to the theater were going up there to see the show and would come back and just glow about what they had just seen, and in many cases go back! The only other show I’ve ever seen have that kind of reaction from non-theater people back then was Crazy For You.

And I too don’t think it has been forgotten at all- R&H Theatricals puts a lot of effort into licensing that version, as it is now the preferred version of the show by their organization- I think that says a lot.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:42am

Ah what a glorious production! These clips bring it all back! I loved the incredible cast and the 30 piece orchestra! It was truly a theatre going event!

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 11:00am

I, too, don't know what you mean by forgotten, Jay. Do you mean people don't regularly talk about it? Because that tends to happen when time passes. A show that opened 17-18 years ago isn't exactly the first thing people want to talk about.

However, when conversations about revivals, large scale productions or just great productions in general start up, many people (myself included) will mention this Show Boat revival. It's not discussed constantly, but then again neither are the fantastic revivals of No No Nanette, Candide (of the 70's), Anything Goes (of the 80's), Guys and Dolls, Carousel or Kiss Me Kate, which all were major, highly praised, successful theatrical productions during their season. They are brought up in conversation less and less with each passing year, but they are not forgotten.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 11:27am

Somehow, the magnificent sets by Euvgene Lee did NOT get a Tony nomination.

As for the additions/"improvements":

"I Have the Room Above Her" and "Till Good Luck Comes My Way" added absolutely nothing to the show except an extra nine minutes to the running time.

Having Parthy sing "Why Do I Love You" to baby Kim was ridiculous. Parthy is not a star part, and does not deserve a solo, especially when it's Elaine Stritch singing in a baritone range.

The Cakewalk in the last scene was delightful, except for wne Stroman stole from herself by having Kim dance on thehood of the car.

Speaking of self-plagiarism, some of Hal Prince's staging of the "You Are Love" scene, set on the top deck of the showboat, looked an awful lot like the scene in POTO that's set on the roof of the opera house. Updated On: 5/19/12 at 11:27 AM

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 11:58am

I saw this revival when I was 7 and it remains one of my favorite productions. The whole experience was transformative. I would love the show to be remounted on this scale, but I don't see that happening with all of the rising costs.

[someone.else's.story2]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 12:43pm

I, too, saw the tour as a kid and still remember how much I loved it!

[Proper Villain]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 4:01pm

Best12 - I LOVE that clip! Thanks for the link.

For me, this is the show that introduced me to and began my love of pre-R&H musicals. I even wore out my first CD of this cast.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 8:46pm

I saw the production in Vancouver (where it was one of the first shows to play the Ford Center that Livent built there). I guess I was the same age as Growl--but I found it thrilling as well. I knew the show pretty well from the 30s film (I still haven't bothered to see the MGM one aside from some clips) and the 3 disc complete recording. Show Boat has so many various script versions, I think Prince and crew did a great job of cobbling together something that could be seen as fairly authentic to (I assume from Kreiger's book) the original.

I have an hour special that aired in Canada when it originally opened in Toronto that had a ton of clips--I wonder if I can get anything online.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:30pm

We got freebies from working at Telecharge at the time, and I must say, it was one of my most memorable nights in the theater EVER. Just sumptuous, esp. Lonette Mckee, Michaell Bell, Stritch, who had hip problems at the time and could barely walk), and the very underated fabulous actor Jon McMartin. and that scene change (New Year's eve). Juststunning - w/the ribbons, etc. Just as good as it gets. There's a reson Prince is so revered. Artistry AND Commercialism!! IMHO, the ONLY show design ever that made good use of that barn that is the Gershwin! Bravo, just for that!

[E.Davis]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:43pm

Was is it a big deal for Lonette McKee to play Julie? I know she had played it before but she is supposed to pass for white and no one is supposed to realize until it comes out which is kind of a shock.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 9:55pm

I also saw it on tour, and even then they had a great cast. Lonnette McKee and Michael Bell both went on the road with the show, and Dean Jones and Cloris Leachman were on hand for Cap'n Andy and Parthy respectively. The physical production did not seem to be scaled back at all for the tour, and it was just thrilling. Everything, from direction, to choreography, to the physical design was amazing.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 10:05pm

Visually it was a nice show and well cast, but the pacing of this show was slooooooooooooooow. People didn't call it Slow Boat for nothing.

And to add to what Jon said, they also added Mis'ry's Coming Aroun which really wasn't needed.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 11:14pm

I was at the premiere in Toronto in the fall of 1993 and thought it was a glittering performance.

Slow? Not at all and Prince streamlined the story-telling with a breathtaking montage in the 2nd act.

SHOW BOAT dates from 1927 when plays and musicals were longer and often filled with extraneous filler. Prince got rid of most of it and kept the story-telling focused.

"Mis'ry" forms the basis of Kern's score and restoring it gave the miscegenation scene some added power. No, it's not a lively song and dance like "Can't Help Lovin' Dat MAn" but it does add atmosphere. And it was very well sung.

The ending still feels false... Gaylord should vanish as he does in the novel, so Magnolia can draw her strength from the river.

Assigning "Why Do I Love You" to Parthy cuts done on the repetition of declamatory love songs..how many songs does it take to establish that Gaylord an Magnolia are in love? - and it sets up Kim's Charleston which is based on the same song. I had no problem with that. Also seeing the hard-hearted Parthy sing to the baby so tenderly made her less of a caricature and more human.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 11:21pm

There had been some cast changes when I saw the production and the gal from The Fifth Dimension (Marilyn McCoo?) had taken over as Julie. She could sing up a storm but her acting was the pits. I cringed every time she mentioned she "was going on a tear" because there ws absolutely no conviction in her delivery.

Carole Shelley, though, was marvelous as Parthy.

My favorite SHOWBOAT remains the one presented by the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center. With Barbara Cook as Magnolia, David Wayne as Cap't Andy, Margaret Hamilton as Parthy, Stephen Douglass as Gaylord and the beautiful and electrifying Constance Towers as Julie, it was glorious in every way. Somewhere in my attic I have the LIFE magazine with that memorable cover photo of Towers seated atop a piano singing "Bill".

Updated On: 5/20/12 at 11:21 PM