SHOW BOAT sails into the Westchester Broadway Theatre

A must see musical has arrived at the Westchester Broadway Theatre and runs through January 31, 2016. This musical first produced in 1927, SHOW BOAT is considered by theatre historians to be the first great Broadway musical. The music was written by Jerome Kern and the lyrics and book were penned by the Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical was based on a novel by Edna Ferber of the same name which follow the lives and loves of a traveling troupe of performers and workers on the Cotton Blossom, a riverboat theatre as it travels up and down the Mississippi.

The musical covers a period of 40 years from 1887 and 1927 and follows the arc of the lives of the river boat performers as well as the changing racial and social attitudes during this period. Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love,as well as love found and lost.

The show has produced some very memorable songs which have stood the test of time, including “Ol Man River” “Make Believe: and “Cant Help Loving that Man”.
The show opened on Broadway in 1927 and has been revived on Broadway in 1932, 1946,1983 and 1994 and was the winner of a Tony for Best Musical Revival. It was also made in to a movie twice, first in 1936 and in 1951.

The current production at the Westchester Broadway Theater features direction and choreography by Richard Stafford who has worked extensively at WBT on a number of productions. Outside of the terrific cast, much praise must go to the Set and Costume designers Michael Bottari and Ronald Case. The set includes the one end of the river boat Cotton Blossom as well as other scenes including sets that rise up from under the stage. It is well done. Costume design is spot on for the era and the colorful costumes compliment the actors and their portrayals.

The very talented and experienced cast includes Michael James Leslie as Joe , whose deep and haunting version of “Ol Man River” is memorable. The cast is quite large and includes great performances from Sarah Hanlon as Julie Laverne, Bonnie Fraser as Magnolia Hawkes, Jamie Ross as Captain Andy, Karen Murphy as Parthy Hawks, John Preator as Gaylord Ravenal, Amanda Pulcini as Ellie May Shipley and Inga Ballard as Queenie, whose performance was a real crowd pleaser.
There is also a large ensemble cast who round out the show and they really add life to the overall performance.

The show runs from September 24, 2015 to November 29, 2015 then takes a hiatus for a month and returns on December 30th and runs through January 31, 2016.
Your ticket includes a three course dinner and a professionally produced show .

Parking is free