Jane Alexander & Erika Henningsen Join Cast of New York Philharmonic's All-Star SHOW BOAT

The New York Philharmonic has announced final principal cast members for its semi-staged production of Kern & Hammerstein's Show Boat, November 5-8, 2014: Tony-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress Jane Alexander will portray Parthy, and Erika Henningsen will portray Kim.

The New York Philharmonic's free Insights at the Atrium will present "Intertwining Histories: William Warfield, Show Boat, and the New York Philharmonic" Wednesday, October 22, 2014, at 7:30 p.m., when Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence Carol J. Oja speaks about the artistry of African American baritone William Warfield, whose relationship with the Philharmonic began at the summer Stadium Concerts with his performance as Joe in a concert version of Show Boat in 1952. The lecture includes clips of the 1951 MGM film featuring Warfield as Joe and his 1976 performance with the Philharmonic in London narrating Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait with Leonard Bernstein conducting. The event takes place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street) at 7:30 p.m. and is co-presented with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

As previously announced, the New York Philharmonic's production of Show Boat will also star

Christopher Fitzgerald as Frank, Norm Lewis as Joe, Alli Mauzey as Ellie, Julian Ovenden as Gaylord Ravenal, Edward Watts as Steve, Fred Willard as Cap'n Andy, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Queenie, Vanessa Williams as Julie, and Lauren Worsham as Magnolia. All cast members will be making their New York Philharmonic debuts in this production. As previously announced, the performances will be conducted and directed by Ted Sperling and choreographed by Randy Skinner.

The production will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS stations. The air date will be announced at a later time.

Show Boat is Broadway's most revived and revised work; productions vary widely, with scenes and songs added or eliminated to serve each production's vision. The Philharmonic's presentation will take the original 1927 score as a basis and emphasize the music in its original orchestration by Robert Russell Bennett. It will include several rarely heard songs, including "Let's Start the New Year" and "Mis'ry's Comin' Round," which are operatic in scope and spotlight the chorus and orchestra; "It's Getting Hotter in the North," a bluesy number cut during the original tryouts; and "Ah Still Suits Me," written especially for Hattie McDaniel and Paul Robeson for the 1936 film. The scenes selected for this production will primarily be those that include music behind the dialogue; scenes without underscoring will be included only as needed to tell the story.

"One of the reasons we chose Show Boat is because music is at its core. The score is by turns lyrical, dramatic, and joyous - it will sound especially luxurious and dynamic when played by the Philharmonic. Our production will explore the show's inherent racial issues through its music. Show Boat anticipates more recent musicals like Dreamgirls, Hairspray, and Memphis in its portrayal of the differences between the music of the black and white communities and how they can influence and bounce off each other. I'm very excited to work with the New York Philharmonic and this extraordinary group of actor-singers on this ground-breaking show," said Ted Sperling, the production's conductor, stage director, and book adapter.

Based on a bestselling novel by Edna Ferber, Show Boat tells the 40-year story of the lives of performers, stagehands, and dock workers who are the denizens of the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat. The New Yorker noted that the show "was a radical departure in musical storytelling, marrying spectacle with seriousness," moving beyond the light and airy plots of previous operettas and musical comedies with its serious subjects of racial prejudice and tragic love. Highlights include "Ol' Man River," "Make Believe," and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat

Man." Broadway's most revived and revised work, Show Boat was the first musical ever performed by an opera company - by New York City Opera in 1954. Recent productions have garnered the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (1995) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival (1991).

The New York Philharmonic presented condensed concert versions of Show Boat as part of its all-Kern & Hammerstein Stadium Concerts at Lewisohn Stadium from 1952 through 1954, all featuring baritone William Warfield as Joe. Hammerstein attended the 1952 performance, his 57th birthday, and addressed the audience of 19,000 people, the largest audience of the season to date. The New York Times reported that "as the singers employed dialogue before launching into their songs, the full continuity of the play was thereby assured.... A mighty fine 'Show Boat' was the result." Paul Robeson - for whom Kern and Hammerstein created that character - performed "Ol' Man River" at Stadium Concerts in July 1932, June 1940, and June 1941, by which time he was a major star of stage and screen. Frank Sinatra performed "Ol' Man River" with the Orchestra at a Stadium Concert in August 1943. Andre Kostelanetz led the Orchestra in arrangements of Show Boat selections at Carnegie Hall in December 1959, at Avery Fisher Hall in May 1963, and at Carnegie Hall and on a U.S. tour in May-June 1976; the Orchestra also performed Show Boat selections at Avery Fisher Hall in November 1977, led by Arthur Fiedler.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride