Broadway’s Ciarán Sheehan and Boston’s Own Sarah Muirhead headline in
Show Boat
The epic tale of life on the Mississippi
Reagle Music Theatre, July 6-16, 2017 – 8 performances only
Directed and Choreographed by Rachel Bertone
Broadway’s “Phantom,” Ciarán Sheehan, returns to Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston to take on the role of GAYLORD RAVENAL in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s 1927 masterpiece Show Boat.Running from July 6-16 for 8 performances only, Show Boat will also star Boston’s own Sarah Oakes Muirhead (Sunday in the Park with George) as MAGNOLIA HAWKS. A groundbreaking show when it debuted in 1927, Show Boat continues to touch audiences with timeless themes and unforgettable music. Rachel Bertone (IRNE Award Winner, Carousel, Wild Party) will direct and choreograph this intimate Goodspeed Musicals version of the production, in creative partnership with Musical Director and Conductor Daniel Rodriguez (Carousel, Barnum). Original set design by Mike Micucci. Producing Artistic Director Robert J. Eagle.
“What’s beautiful about the Goodspeed version of Show Boat, that our producer Bob Eagle has procured, is that it focuses very concisely on the themes of loss and love—the themes that bind all of us.” said Rachel Bertone, Director/Choreographer. “The beauty of the theatre, to me, is how it so powerfully reflects our humanity in all its strengths and weaknesses, how it holds a mirror up to who we are so that we might learn something about our own journeys through life. Great writing, like Show Boat, accomplishes this and as a director I feel an almost sacred responsibility to convey these themes with as much truth and integrity to our audiences as I can muster.”
Show Boat is based on Edna Ferber’s bestselling novel, following three generations of the Hawks family on the Cotton Blossom river boat from 1887-1927. The story chronicles the fortunes of naïve Captain’s daughter Magnolia and her troubled husband Gaylord Ravenal, and the lives of the performers, stagehands, and dock workers whose lives are affected by the ever-changing social current along the Mississippi River. Show Boat was the first fully integrated “book musical”, tackling issues of unhappy marriage, miscegenation and racial prejudice. The musical’s classic songs, including “Ol’ Man River, “Only Make Believe,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” and “You Are Love,” have become mainstays of the Broadway canon.
Performance Schedule: Thurs, July 6th at 2:00 PM; Friday July 7th at 7:30; Sat, July 8th at 7:30 PM; Sun, July 8th at 2:00 PM; Thurs, July 13th at 2:00 PM; Fri, July 14th at 7:30 PM; Sat, July 15th at 7:30 PM; Sun, July 16th at 2:00 PM.
www.reaglemusictheatre.com, 781-891-5600, The Reagle Music Theatre, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham, MA).