Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Music by Jerome Kern
SYNOPSIS AND CAST
The story starts in the 1880s on one of the many American riverboats that featured travelling shows. It follows the lives and loves of the troupe that work aboard the Cotton Blossom under the command of Cap’n Andy and his wife Parthy Ann. In Natchez they come up against racial prejudice when the sheriff discovers that the leading lady, Julie, is a half-caste. He does not allow mixed shows in his town. The Captain’s daughter, Magnolia, steps in to save the show together with her love, the handsome gambler Gaylord Ravenal. Gaylord also has problems with the sheriff over a little matter of gambling debts. Magnolia and Gaylord leave the relative security of the Cotton Blossom to go and live in Chicago where, for a few years they are happy. Gaylord’s luck in winning at gambling eventually makes way for losing and soon his gambling losses cause him to leave his wife and their daughter, Kim.
Two of the old showboat song-and-dance pair, Frank and Ellie, have become successful on the vaudeville circuit and they meet up with Magnolia. Realising her desperate situation they get her a job as a singer at the Trocadero to replace the, by now alcoholic, Julie La Verne, the same Julie La Verne who used to be the Show Boat star.
Years later, both Magnolia and Kim are radio stars and Cap’n Andy organises a reunion of the old team aboard the Cotton Blossom and invites them. It is the ideal opportunity for them to be reunited with the now reformed Gaylord. Frank and Ellie stop off to greet their old colleagues en route to Hollywood.
Running throughout the story is the story of Joe, a coloured stevedore and his girl, Queenie and their role in a predominantly white environment where the coloured folk are very much considered second class citizens – if they are considered at all.
Director: Mike Bretton
Musical Director: Michael Newton
Choreography: Ma\rily McPherson
CAST
| Captain Andy Hawks | Phil Wilcox |
| Ellie May Chipley | Joanna Manley |
| Frank Schultz | John Taylor |
| Parthy Ann Hawks | Trish Campbell |
| Julie la Verne | Jayne Wilcox |
| Steve Baker | Chris Toole |
| Pete | Peter Lines |
| Queenie | Joanne Merry |
| Gaylord Ravenal | Matthew Wyles |
| Magnolia Hawks | Diana Hilty |
| Sheriff Ike Vallon | Dennis Steer |
| Joe | Laurie Reed |
| Dealer | John Thompson |
| Windy McLain | Norman Drummond |
| Jeb | Neil Catton |
| First Barker | Michael Crow |
| Second Barker | Norman Drummond |
| Third Barker | Laurie Cuckney |
| La Belle Fatima | Ruth Howard |
| Gambler | Chris Pope |
| Landlady | Ann Kidson |
| Max | John Thompson |
| Jake | Paul Sadler |
| Wardrobe Mistress | Dianne Norton |
| Lottie | Eve Manghani |
| Dolly | Jane Catton |
| Hazel | Janet Hendy |
| Kim Ravenal | Helen McCree |
| BLACK CHORUS | |
| Gill Birchall | Jane Catton |
| Margaret Etches | Sue Fairman |
| Barbara Fleming | Janet Hendy |
| Mary O’Keeffe | Marion Stewart |
| Penny Stone | Peter Bagwell |
| Brian Card | Nigel Catlow |
| Laurie Cuckney | Dick Plumridge |
| Ken Warner | |
| WHITE CHORUS | |
| Madeline Cuckney | Claire Hargadon |
| Anne Kidson | Anne Loveder |
| Eve Manghani | Anne Mitchell |
| Dianne Norton | Melanie Osborne |
| Sally Patten | Gill Penrose |
| Dawn Terry | Annette Wills |
| Anna White | Neil Catton |
| Michael Crow | Paul Sadler |
| Iain Saville | John Thompson |
| Ray Vamplew | Norman Drummond |
| Chris Pope | |
| DANCERS | |
| Ruth Howard | Marilyn McPherson |
| Marilyn Page | Nina Sutherland |
| Rosamund Turton | Vanessa Turton |