![]() And he was entertaining in his own right. ![]() He wasn't the original, but he was more than fine. Lara Teeter, an Actors Equity actor, was inventive, versatile, and in all respects held everything together and kept it moving. Ones like Glimmerglass.įor me a key is a strong Captain Andy, he runs the Mississippi River showboat. Reviews were great in Chicago, but at least one critic complained that the sets weren't elaborate enough for big-time Lyric-more suited to regional companies. James Lowe conducted, but John DeMain remained as musical supervisor. Peter Davison is set designer and Paul Tazewell is costumer designer. Glimmerglass presented the same production, with a different cast, but the same sets and costumes. ![]() Racism is alive and well in America.Īlthough it is musical theater through and through, it has all the character of opera, as pretty much everything Hammerstein wrote does. That doesn't mean it is accepted everywhere. Anti-miscegenation laws continued in some states long after that, but it is no longer against the law anywhere. The show is set in the late 1800s when marriage between people of different races, really just black and white, was illegal. What I heard in the broadcast seemed really to be like an opera. But when fake southern accents are involved, it can come close. It was worth the wait.Ī show with songs like Old Man River, We Could Make Believe and Why Do I Love You?, could never be all bad (although we may have forgotten where they came from). I've been waiting to see the Francesca Zambello interpretation since I first heard a broadcast of its initial appearance at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Show Boat, the Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II musical theater staple, is closing in on 100 years old, and it still is, in many ways, a commentary on current social issues. Show Boat: Music and Message Reviewed by Ed Cloos Seen August 11, 2019
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |