Newtown High School Students Prepare For Production Of ‘Show Boat’

By Larissa Lytwyn

 Despite the school administration’s recent sudden removal of Choral Director Sabrina Post for reasons that still remain unclear, Newtown High School’s upcoming production of Show Boat continues steaming forward.

“The creation of this musical is really about the kids,” said Music Department Chair Michelle Hiscavich, “and they’ve really come through.”

The musical’s interim director, George Vollano, is well known in the region’s theater community for his directorial work at schools including Joel Barlow High School in Redding as well as at Musicals at Richter, Inc, a Danbury-based outdoor theater company.

Following the consecutively sold-out performances of Les Miserables last spring, Ms Post and set designer Andrew Knapp thought that the students had the talent and drive to tackle the complex, large-scale production of Show Boat.

“Ms Post and I had collaborated on a production of Show Boat back in 1989, and it was one of our favorite shows,” said Mr Knapp.

The set will include rotating illustrated screens, inspired, Mr Knapp said, by a Currier & Ives print, the novel Show Boat, and Harper’s Weekly engravings.

History Of Show Boat

Before the advent of computers, film, and television, there were show boats.

Miles Krueger, author of Show Boat: The Story of a Classic American Musical, notes that show boats “pioneered” mid-19th Century America, winding down rivers through sleepy farming towns.

The boats were floating theaters, employing dozens of actors who lived on the river and performed each night in a different town.

Until they were usurped by motion pictures in the 1920s, the vessels, flat-bottom barges with three-decks pushed along the river by towboats, thrived. Organizers would herald their arrival in town by playing a calliope-style organ. Tickets would be sold on their main deck “auditorium” for 25 cents apiece.

Theatergoers usually enjoyed a popular melodrama or comedy, followed by the “olio,” a musical improvisation.

After traveling on one of the last show boats, the James Adams Floating Theatre, in 1925, Edna Ferber wrote about her experience in the novel Show Boat, released in 1926.

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein adapted the book into a musical in 1927, where it has enjoyed huge success on Broadway and around the world.

Ms Post is quoted in a recent press release about the show as saying, “Show Boat is wonderful not only for its vivid costuming and music, but also for its musical significance. It’s multilayered and simply a wonderful piece for students to do.”

Show Boat, under the direction of Mr Vollano, is the story of the Hawks family — Cap’n Andy (Paul Ashey) and his wife, Parthy (Brianna Eckhardt), who raise their daughter, Magnolia (Evan Barbour) aboard their show boat, the Cotton Blossom.

The extended family of actors and workers aboard the boat include romantic leads Julie (Jackie Curran) and Steve (Greg Gordon), dancer Ellie (Amanda Evantoff), and the villainous Frank (Steve Petrovich).

Magnolia grows up and marries Gaylord (Matthew Grills), a man with a gambling problem. They have a young daughter, Kim (Jessica Braun, Tory Marlin, and Becky Huot play Kim at various ages).

Show Boat traces the challenges Magnolia faces through the span of four decades, from the 1880s to the 1920s, set to the sounds of American gospel, jazz, blues, and romantic ballads. The story makes clear how her bonds with the Cotton Blossom’s actors provide her with a continuous source of strength.

The production’s best-known musical numbers include “Ol’ Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man,” and “Make Believe.”

More than 70 students are involved in the production, which includes musical accompaniment by the Newtown High School band, under the direction of Kurt Eckhardt.

Assisting Mr Knapp in the creation of the Show Boat set are Technical Director Sarah Copeland, Stage Managers Alicia Tolson and Melissa Russell and 14 additional student crewmembers.

Show Boat will be performed Thursday, April 7, at 7 pm; Friday, April 8, at 7:30 pm; Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 pm; and Sunday, April 10; at 2:30 pm.

For more information, or to reserve tickets, call Cyndi DeMarco at 426-7983.