Minnesota Centennial Showboat Struggles To Remain Financially Afloat

Since first welcoming passengers aboard in 1958, the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, docked at St. Paul's Harriet Island, has been offering old-fashioned melodramas, laced with period songs and family-fun comedy, performed every summer by University of Minnesota theater students.

But the school's website is advertising its current production, UNDER THE GASLIGHT, as the feature of its farewell season.

Associated Press reports that while the showboat is owned by the university, it's attached to a dock and walkway owned by the city. Financial troubles multiplied when the 2014 season was cut short due to high water and the next season was cancelled altogether.

"The showboat, from a producing standpoint, was set up originally as a self-sustaining enterprise," says Marcus Dilliard, head of the department of theater arts and dance. "But the cost of everything from driftwood removal to hull insurance, security and utilities has to come out of ticket sales from the summer production. Those ticket sales total about $60,000 each year."

"It's just too expensive for the theater department to maintain," he says.

Click here for the full article and visit theatre.umn.edu/showboat.