SHOW BOAT

Show Boat is a musical by Oscar Hammerstein II  (book and lyrics) and Jerome Kern (music) based on Show Boat by Edna Ferber.

Synopsis

Show Boat tells the story of the lives, loves and heartbreaks of three generations of Mississippi show folk, spanning the years 1880 to 1927. Magnolia, the naive daughter of  a the show boat’s captain, Andy, and his wife, Parthy, marries a gambler, Gaylord Ravenal, and moves with him to Chicago. His gambling continues as his debts compound, and soon he deserts her and their young daughter. Magnolia’s selfless best friend, Julie, is almost arrested on charges of miscegenation when it is discovered that she is mulatto. When she is forced to leave the show boar, Julie spirals downward into despair. Queenie and Joe, who work on the show boat’s as a cook and stevedore respectively, observe time and tragedy as it keeps rolling along. Years later, Magnolia and her grown daughter are reunited with her family on the show boat as well as with Gaylord, eventually offering a hopeful second chance for their life as a family.

1979 Production

Nico Malan Opera House: 13 October onwards.

Produced by Capab Music. Director: David Matheson. Musical Direction: Gerry Bosman. Assitant Musical Director: Errol Girdlestone. Choreography: Audrey Turner. Settings: Bruno Santini. Costumes: Penny Simpson. Lighting: Jonn T. Baker. Chorus Master: David Matheson.

Production Stage Manager: Aden Love. Technical Stage Managers: David Fevrier and Jimmy Slabbert.  Stage Manager: Christine Crouse. Senior Mechanist: John Bevan. Senior Lighting Operator: Tom Swan. Senior Sound Operator: Robin Shuttleworth. Stage Electrix: Richard Prouse. Rehearsal Pianists: Thea Estié and Sylvia Schulman. Production Secretary: Viven Warwick. Photography: Montgomery Cooper.

Orchestra Director: David Tidboald. Assistant Orchestra Director and Orchestra Manager: Gerry Bosman. Leader: Mario Filippi. Violins: Edward Polidi (deputy leader), Karl Koperski (principal second violins), Rolando Rinfreschi (sub-principal second violins), Gloria Britt, Theodor Engel, Maria Filippi, Barbara Fish, Paul Gamble, Bernard Hurner, Maryke Lintvelt, Marietjie Roelofse, Harry Taylor and Lykele Temmingh. Violas: Aubrey Meyer (principal), Charles Kreitzer (acting sub-principal), Mia Hartman, Lindy Kaplan and Gaston Niculescu. Cellos: Hartmut Kreutzer (principal), Marijan Milakovic (sub-principal), Herbert Hall, Ida Kreutzer, Ole Weddin and Hans Wegelin. Double basses: Jan van Velsen (principal), David Bell, Alirio Lourenco and Patrick Stilton. Flutes: Rainer Strauss, Vesna Milakovic and Maureen Cottan. Oboes: Jillian Streater and Gerold Pfitzinger. Clarinets: Leslie Craven, Ian Holloway and Darryl
Walters. Bassoons: Glyn Partridge and Derek Vaughan-Heapy. Horns: Eddie Muir, Simon Keates, Helmut Otto, Ernest Kettenring and Werner Rohde. Trumpets: Graham Coote, and Reynier Strydom. Trombones: Alan Griggs, Joseph Stott and Edgar Tyson. Tuba: Patrick Stilton. Timpani: Peter Hamblin. Percussion: John Hargreaves. Harp: Sheila Rossouw. Assistant orchestra manager: Peter Hamblin. Librarian: Harry Hamblin. Assistant Librarian: Saline Dunning.

Cast: Bernie Segal (Windy), Nigel Donkin (Steve), Dennis Smith (Pete), Betty Mthombeni (Queenie), Paddy Canavan (Parthy Ann Hawks), Tom St Clair-Lang (Captain Andy), Sharon Lynne (Ellie), Frank (Philip Godawa), Jean Dell (Julie), Gé Korsten (Gaylord Ravenal), Paul du Toit (Vallon/Singer), Suzanne Davies (Magnolia), Joel Thomas (Joe), Jeff Weiner (Backwoodsman/Singer), Dennis Smith (Backwoodsman/Jim), Willem Vermaas (Barker/Singer), Phillip Swales (Barker/Singer), Audrey Harding (La Belle Fatima/Dancer), Miranda Kark (Strong Lady/Lottie/Singer), Helen Brand (Landlady/Singer), Graham Scott (Jake/Singer), Nigel Donkin (Charlie/Singer), Glenys Evans (Dolly/Singer), Avril Kasimov (Kim/Dancer), Sofia Berrisford (Singer), Tanja Borgin (Singer),  Jayne Chegwidden (Singer), Kathleen Clark (Singer), Ivy Collins (Singer), Anne Crosbie (Singer), Fatima Davids (Singer), Dorothey Dawson (Singer), Heather Earp-Jones (Singer), Rhona Fernandez (Singer), Evelyn Flint (Singer), Jacqueline Florence (Singer), Marion Foley (Singer), Soleen Hough (Singer), Helena Lesch (Singer), Anna Maria Liliefeldt (Singer), Joy MacNab (Singer), Joyce Miller (Singer), Martine Saffery (Singer), Charlise van Velsen (Singer), Olwen Williams (Singer), Sarah Williams (Singer), Geraldine Witbooi (Singer), Cedric-John Adamson (Singer), Chris April (Singer), Vernon Castle (Singer), Frankie Cord (Singer), Michael de Beer (Singer), Cecil de Wet (Singer), Roy Donovan (Singer), Geoffrey du Plooy (Singer), Bennie Ely (Singer), Ivan Flint (Singer), Roy Gabriel (Singer), Harold Hart (Singer), Anthony Heldsinger (Singer), G.B. Kaye (Singer), Michael Mossop (Singer), Brian Orsmond (Singer), Colin Scholtz (Singer), Bernie Segal (Singer), Dennis Windell, (Singer), Megal Chappell (Dancer), Sue Clark (Dancer), Wendy Hyde (Dancer), Patty Manual (Dancer), Wendy Manual (Dancer), Wendy Ridley (Dancer), Shaughn Adams (Dancer), Derek Bardin (Dancer), Ismael Buffkins (Dancer), Noordien Dirk (Dancer), Noel Purves (Dancer), Glen Shelton (Dancer), Tertius van Niekerk (Dancer) and Jack Wyngaard (Dancer).

Reviews: None filed. Overall Review Score: TBC.

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