Show Boat
Music by: Jerome Kern
Lyrics by: Oscar Hammerstein II
Directed by: Nicolas Muni
Book by: Oscar Hammerstein II
October 16th 2005 - February 19th 2006
Stadttheater Bern
Bern, Switzerland
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Act 1
The time is 1890. As the river showboat, Cotton Blossom, owned by jovial Cap'n Andy and his sharp tongued wife, Parthy Ann, docks on the levee in Natchez, Missippi, the company of actors are greeted by the stevedores and townsfolk. The actors are introduced and we meet: Julie Lavern, the leading lady who is married to the untalented leading man, Stephen Baker; Frank, the villain with a comic touch who dances with Ellie, the comic soubrette: Cotton Blossom. The happy mood ends when Pete, who is attracted to Julie, angrily confronts her for giving his present to one of the blacks. Steve orders him away and the two fight. Cap'n Andy leads the crowd to believe that it was just a staged fight to drum up interest in the performance. The chorus exit as Cap'n Andy has Pete thrown off the boat.
Gaylord Ravenal, a handsome riverboat gambler looking for a quick passage to the next town is a traveling man with a zest for life: Where's The Mate For Me? He meets Magnolia, Andy and Parthy's daughter, and urges her to pretend they are lovers who have just met: Only Make Believe. Standing on the dock, Ravenal kisses her hand, which she extends from the rail of the ship. Ravenal exits to talk to the judge as Joe, a stevedore, enters carrying a sack of flour and comments to Magnolia about the wisdom of the Mississippi: Ol' Man River.
In the kitchen pantry, Magnolia asks Queenie, the cook, and Julie about love. Julie tries to explain why she loves Steve: Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man. When Queenie's husband, Joe enters, Queenie reprises the song and Joe and two colored children join in.
In the auditorium Cap'n Andy is rehearsing Julie, Rubberface and Steve, accompanied by Magnolia on the piano. Ellie interrupts the rehearsal to quietly tell Steve and Julie that Sheriff Vallon plans to arrest Julie for being black and married to a white. Steve cuts Julie’s finger and sucks the wound, which makes him have black blood. When the sheriff accuses them of miscegenation, Steve announces he has black blood and everyone present swears it is true. Before exiting, Vallon tells Cap’n Andy he won’t arrest anyone but doesn’t want any mixed blood performers in the show.
Andy has Magnolia perform in Julie's place and hires Gaylord Ravenal, who is still looking for passage out of town, as his leading man. As Joe watches the rehearsal he senses Ravenal will bring problems: Ol' Man River (Reprise). The rehearsal ends as Ravenal passionately kisses Magnolia.
On the ship's deck, five star-struck girls enter to buy tickets to the show. When they are overwhelmed by the supposed glamour of Ellie's life she quickly fills them in on the realities of show business: Life Upon The Wicked Stage. Parthy, worried about Magnolia's infatuation with Ravenal, informs Andy she is going to find out about Ravenal's past.
That night, during the performance, two backwoodsmen become so antagonized by Frank portraying the villain that they pull a gun and prepare to shoot. Frank fearfully rushes from the stage and Cap'n Andy is forced to ring down the curtain and detail the remainder of the story to the audience. In a very funny monologue, he single-handedly enacts all the roles.
On the moonlit deck of the Cotton Blossom, Ravenal asks Magnolia to marry him, You Are Love, and she eagerly accepts. The next day Cap'n Andy, taking advantage of the free publicity, invites the showboat customers to the wedding: Finale. As the wedding carriage is drawn onstage, a scream is heard offstage and Parthy enters with Vallon and Pete claiming Ravenal is a murderer. When Andy finds out it was self-defense he tells Parthy to come along to the wedding. She promptly faints as the bridal couple enter the carriage and the curtain falls.
Act 2Gaylord Ravenal, a handsome riverboat gambler looking for a quick passage to the next town is a traveling man with a zest for life: Where's The Mate For Me? He meets Magnolia, Andy and Parthy's daughter, and urges her to pretend they are lovers who have just met: Only Make Believe. Standing on the dock, Ravenal kisses her hand, which she extends from the rail of the ship. Ravenal exits to talk to the judge as Joe, a stevedore, enters carrying a sack of flour and comments to Magnolia about the wisdom of the Mississippi: Ol' Man River.
In the kitchen pantry, Magnolia asks Queenie, the cook, and Julie about love. Julie tries to explain why she loves Steve: Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man. When Queenie's husband, Joe enters, Queenie reprises the song and Joe and two colored children join in.
In the auditorium Cap'n Andy is rehearsing Julie, Rubberface and Steve, accompanied by Magnolia on the piano. Ellie interrupts the rehearsal to quietly tell Steve and Julie that Sheriff Vallon plans to arrest Julie for being black and married to a white. Steve cuts Julie’s finger and sucks the wound, which makes him have black blood. When the sheriff accuses them of miscegenation, Steve announces he has black blood and everyone present swears it is true. Before exiting, Vallon tells Cap’n Andy he won’t arrest anyone but doesn’t want any mixed blood performers in the show.
Andy has Magnolia perform in Julie's place and hires Gaylord Ravenal, who is still looking for passage out of town, as his leading man. As Joe watches the rehearsal he senses Ravenal will bring problems: Ol' Man River (Reprise). The rehearsal ends as Ravenal passionately kisses Magnolia.
On the ship's deck, five star-struck girls enter to buy tickets to the show. When they are overwhelmed by the supposed glamour of Ellie's life she quickly fills them in on the realities of show business: Life Upon The Wicked Stage. Parthy, worried about Magnolia's infatuation with Ravenal, informs Andy she is going to find out about Ravenal's past.
That night, during the performance, two backwoodsmen become so antagonized by Frank portraying the villain that they pull a gun and prepare to shoot. Frank fearfully rushes from the stage and Cap'n Andy is forced to ring down the curtain and detail the remainder of the story to the audience. In a very funny monologue, he single-handedly enacts all the roles.
On the moonlit deck of the Cotton Blossom, Ravenal asks Magnolia to marry him, You Are Love, and she eagerly accepts. The next day Cap'n Andy, taking advantage of the free publicity, invites the showboat customers to the wedding: Finale. As the wedding carriage is drawn onstage, a scream is heard offstage and Parthy enters with Vallon and Pete claiming Ravenal is a murderer. When Andy finds out it was self-defense he tells Parthy to come along to the wedding. She promptly faints as the bridal couple enter the carriage and the curtain falls.
At the opening of Act II, it is 1893 and the Chicago World’s Fair is in full swing: At The Chicago World's Fair. Magnolia is showing her parents the sights. Cap'n Andy is enthralled and Parthy appalled by the cooch dancers and low life. Ravenal enters and invites them to an evening on the town, but Parthy refuses and she and Andy return to the hotel as Magnolia and Ravenal reaffirm their love: Why Do I Love You? As they exit the Dahomey savages from the wild west show enter and perform, In Dahomey.
The scene shifts to 1904. Frank and Ellie, who have become partners in a vaudeville dance act, enter to look at a room in a second class boarding house whose former tenant is being evicted. They are shocked to discover that Magnolia is the one who is being evicted; it seems Ravenal has fallen on hard times and left Magnolia and their eight year old daughter, Kim. His final correspondence included two hundred dollars and the suggestion that Magnolia return to the Cotton Blossom. The two tactfully leave but urge her to consider the possibility of working at the Trocadero nightclub where they are employed.
Two weeks later at the Trocadero, Julie, the featured singer, depressed, drunk and alone since Steve left, is finishing a rehearsal: Bill. Magnolia, not realizing Julie is at the club arrives to audition. She is about to be rejected when the doorman tells the boss that Julie has left to get drunk, but she recommended that Magnolia be hired in her place. Later that evening, the comedy team of Shultz and Shultz (Ellie and Frank) performs, Goodbye, My Lady Love. A terrified Magnolia appears on stage and is nearly hissed off by the patrons, but Cap'n Andy, who happens to be carousing at the club, helps her out by urging the patrons to sing along: After The Ball.
It is 1927. Andy has convinced Gaylord to return to Magnolia and the Cotton Blossom. He greets Magnolia who embraces him happily as the curtain falls.
(Taken from Musical Notes, by Carol Lucha-Burns)The scene shifts to 1904. Frank and Ellie, who have become partners in a vaudeville dance act, enter to look at a room in a second class boarding house whose former tenant is being evicted. They are shocked to discover that Magnolia is the one who is being evicted; it seems Ravenal has fallen on hard times and left Magnolia and their eight year old daughter, Kim. His final correspondence included two hundred dollars and the suggestion that Magnolia return to the Cotton Blossom. The two tactfully leave but urge her to consider the possibility of working at the Trocadero nightclub where they are employed.
Two weeks later at the Trocadero, Julie, the featured singer, depressed, drunk and alone since Steve left, is finishing a rehearsal: Bill. Magnolia, not realizing Julie is at the club arrives to audition. She is about to be rejected when the doorman tells the boss that Julie has left to get drunk, but she recommended that Magnolia be hired in her place. Later that evening, the comedy team of Shultz and Shultz (Ellie and Frank) performs, Goodbye, My Lady Love. A terrified Magnolia appears on stage and is nearly hissed off by the patrons, but Cap'n Andy, who happens to be carousing at the club, helps her out by urging the patrons to sing along: After The Ball.
It is 1927. Andy has convinced Gaylord to return to Magnolia and the Cotton Blossom. He greets Magnolia who embraces him happily as the curtain falls.
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