SHOW BOAT Opens 5/4 at the Kennedy Center

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2012-2013 season with the company premiere of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's musical masterpiece Show Boat, May 4 to 26.

More than 100 singers, actors, and dancers will fill the Kennedy Center Opera House stage to tell the tale of a troupe of riverboat performers as they make their way through the decades, and a 50-piece orchestra will play Show Boat's legendary score, which mixes the best traditions of opera, musical theater, jazz, gospel, and vaudeville. This sweeping new production is directed by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello (WNO's Porgy and Bess) and the WNO Orchestra is conducted by John DeMain.

While generally regarded as the first giant of the American musical theater upon its premiere in 1927, Show Boat is also one of the first true American operas. As the Cotton Blossom travels the Mississippi, iconic characters like Magnolia, Gaylord, Julie, Queenie, and Joe navigate the trials of show business, love, and loss in a landscape overshadowed by racial inequality. Featuring classics like "Ol' Man River," "You Are Love," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," "Bill," and many more, WNO's expansive production will enable audiences to hear and see this timeless work as it was originally performed.

The performance on Saturday, May 18 will be broadcast live to Nationals Park as part of WNO's annual M&M'S Opera in the Outfield.