Review of SHOW BOAT
SHOW BOAT
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Broadway by the Bay of San Mateo is currently staging what could arguably be the finest musical available anywhere in the bay area.
Start with a heart warming romantic novel by Edna Ferber, add the music of Jerome Kern and the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II, and you have the makings of an epic musical.
Bring the show to life with great actors, singers and dancers and you have a showpiece.
On the surface, SHOWBOAT is a thick slice of Americana pie: the vibrancy of the Mississippi River trade and traffic, hopeful entrepreneurialism, dreams of romance and stardom, and the music that celebrates the American Dream.
But if one looks and listens beneath the vibrantly colored costumes, the brightly painted set and the sweet loves songs, one can sense the persistent dark truth that haunts this fluvial American landscape.
The signature tune: Ol' Man River reprises itself several times in the play reminding us of the Mississippi River Basin's dark side: if life on the river seemed easy it was only because it was resting on the backs of others, "You an'me, we sweat an' strain, Body all achin' an' racket wid pain, Tote dat barge! Lif' dat bale! . . . Ah gits weary, An' sick of tryin', Ah'm tired of livin', An' skeered of dyin', Colored folks work while de white folks play . . . Pullin' dose boats from de dawn to sunset, Gittin' no rest till de judgement day . . . Don't look up, An' don't look down, You don' dast make De white boss frown, Bend your knees, An'bow your head, An' pull date rope Until you' dead."
The engine that drove life on the Mississippi was not the steam engine that turned the giant paddle wheels, it was the cheap labor provided by the captive audience of disenfranchised African-Americans.
In the closing scene all the loose ends seem to be tied up, Gaylord and Magnolia are reunited, Captain Andy is rich and secure, and Kim is a rising a starlet.
Only one thread is left untied: the very catalyst or vehicle whose sacrifices and misfortunes made it all happen: Julie LaVerne.
Twice, Julie gives up her career to the advantage of Magnolia: once on the Cotton Blossom when she runs afoul with Jim Crow Laws regarding miscegenation and has to flee the onerous maw of the law, and again in Chicago when she deliberately gets herself fired so that the desperate, deserted Magnolia can get her job at the Trocadero Nightclub.
Julie's devastating losses translate directly into Magnolia's gains: they are the first two rungs on Magnolia's ladder to success.
Julie "the mulatto" is last seen on stage holding out an alms cup to indifferent whites on the busy streets of Chicago.
Strange that the collaborative plot line of Kern, Hammerstein and Ferber makes no provisions for restoring the fortunes of the big hearted Julie.
But then, this apparent oversight could be the metaphor and the kernel of truth that is secretly stowed onboard the SHOW BOAT.
If you attend one musical this year, the tickets should read: SHOW BOAT.
For reservations call the Broadway by the Bay Box Office at 650-579-5565 or visit www.broadwaybythebay.org .
U.S. Naval Aviator and Lieutenant Commander Retired
Math Teacher at Encinal High School A.U.S.D.
San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Sidewalk Politician and Arm Chair Liberal
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