 music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II conducted by Jerome Shannon directed by Kyle Marrero Based on Edna Ferber’s novel of the same name, Show Boat is a story that takes place over 50 years looking into the lives of the Hawks family, their Show Boat troop of actors, and the Cotton Blossom floating theatre. Since its premiere in 1927 at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the music - including such great hits as “Make Believe,” “Old Man River,” “Bill,” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” - and a story that is full of romance and intrigue have made it an American classic. Join Pensacola Opera and a star studded cast as we bring this musical theatre masterpiece to life in a semi-staged concert presentation at the Historic Saenger Theatre. Featuring Show Boat sponsored by: Synopsis A handsome riverboat gambler, Gaylord Ravenal, appears on the levee, then sees and is taken with eighteen-year-old Magnolia Hawks, an aspiring performer and daughter of Cap'n Andy and his wife Parthy Ann. Magnolia (aka Nolie) is likewise smitten with Ravenal (Make Believe). She seeks advice from Joe, one of the workers aboard the boat. He replies that there are "lots like [Ravenal] on the river", and, as Magnolia excitedly goes inside the boat to tell her friend Julie about the handsome stranger, Joe mutters to himself that she ought to ask the river for advice. With the other dock workers joining him in the second chorus, he then sings the well known song, Ol' Man River. Magnolia finds Julie inside and joyously announces that she's in love. Julie, worried for Magnolia, cautions her that this stranger could be just a "no-account river fellow". Magnolia innocently retorts that if she found out he was "no-account", she'd stop loving him. Julie warns her that it's not that easy to stop loving someone, explaining that she'll always love Steve. This reminds Magnolia of a song Julie often sings, and Julie dreamily sings "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man". Queenie walks in and suspiciously asks why Julie knows that song; Queenie says she has only heard "colored folks" sing that song, and it's funny that Julie knows it. Magnolia declares that Julie sings it all the time, and when Queenie asks her if she can sing the entire song, Julie defensively obliges. During the rehearsal for that evening's show, Julie and Steve are alerted that the town sheriff is coming to arrest them. To the shock of all except Julie, Steve takes out a large pocket knife and makes a cut on the back of her hand, sucking the blood and swallowing it. Pete returns with the sheriff, who insists that the show not go on, because Julie is a woman married to a white man, and local laws prohibit miscegenation. Julie admits that she is a mulatto. Steve, because he swallowed Julie's blood (and therefore has at least "one drop of black blood" in him), is able to claim that he too is mulatto. The sympathetic troupe backs him up, boosted by ship's pilot Windy McClain, a longtime friend of the sheriff. The sheriff is powerless to arrest Julie and Steve, but they must leave town anyway. Pete is fired by Cap'n Andy. As Julie and Steve prepare to leave, Gaylord Ravenal returns and asks for passage on the boat; his gambling has cost him the boat ticket he planned to use to leave town. Noticing Ravenal's good looks, Andy immediately hires him as the new leading man, and suggests, over Parthy's objections, that Magnolia be the new leading lady. Julie bids a tearful goodbye to Magnolia and leaves with Steve. Weeks later, Magnolia and Gaylord are an enormous hit with the crowds and have fallen deeply in love. Gaylord proposes to Magnolia and she accepts. The two are married while Parthy is out of town: she can do nothing, despite her disapproval of Gaylord. Years pass. Gaylord and Magnolia have moved to Chicago with their daughter, Kim, and are now living off the money that Ravenal makes gambling. After years of alternately being rich and poor, depending on Gaylord's winnings, they are completely broke and reduced to renting a room in a cheap boarding house. Depressed and shamed by his inability to support his family, Gaylord leaves Magnolia. Frank and Ellie, two actors on the boat, choose this time to visit. These old friends seek a singing job for Magnolia at the Trocadero, the club where they are doing a New Year's show. Unbeknownst to Magnolia, Julie, abandoned by Steve and now a drunken cabaret singer at the Trocadero, hears Magnolia singing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" for her audition, the song Julie taught her years ago. Julie secretly abandons her position so that Magnolia can fill it, and Magnolia never learns of her sacrifice. On New Year's Eve, Andy, in Chicago with Parthy for a surprise visit, ends up at the Trocadero while celebrating without her. He is unaware of Magnolia's presence, only to discover her choked with emotion and nearly being booed off stage. Andy rallies the crowd to her defense by standing up and initiating a grand sing-along of the old song "After the Ball". Magnolia becomes a great musical star. More than 20 years pass; it is now 1927. Magnolia has become an international star of the stage and radio. Cap'n Andy has a chance meeting with Ravenal, and, knowing that Magnolia is retiring from the stage and returning to the Cotton Blossom with Kim, arranges for a reunion. Although Ravenal is uncertain whether he has the right to ask Magnolia to take him back, she does. As the happy couple walks up the boat's gangplank, Joe and the chorus sing a final reprise of "Ol' Man River".
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