San Francisco Opera's SHOW BOAT Out on DVD/Blu-ray Today

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's quintessentially American masterpiece Show Boat comes to full life in a new DVD/Blu-ray recording from San Francisco Opera to be released by EuroArts Music International today, June 30, 2015.

Directed by Francesca Zambello and featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast spanning the worlds of opera and Broadway, this production -- recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House in June 2014 -- boasts unforgettable performances, sumptuous costumes and sets and exhilarating dance numbers, continuing San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley's long history with this watershed of American musical theater.

A beloved story of life on the Mississippi in the 1880s, Show Boat is both a poignant love story and a powerful reminder of America's bitter legacy of racism. The classic score is filled with unforgettable songs such as "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." San Francisco Opera's Show Boat remains faithful to the 1927 original with deluxe casting and lavish musical resources. As the romantic leads, soprano Heidi Stober as Magnolia Hawks and baritone Michael Todd Simpson as Gaylord Ravenal "convey an easy blend of show-tune naturalism and operatically luxurious vocal production" (Los Angeles Times). Soprano Patricia Racette, in her debut performance as singer Julie La Verne, "balances her rich and powerful soprano chops with a practical experience in cabaret" (Huffington Post). As Cap'n Andy Hawks, the owner of the Cotton Blossom, Broadway veteran Bill Irwin "brought his trademark loosey-goosey physical shtick to the role... and was ably joined by Harriet Harris as his domineering wife, Parthy Ann" (San Francisco Chronicle). Bass Morris Robinson as Joe "brings a penetratingly deep operatic bass to 'Ol' Man River.' [Soprano] Angela Renée Simpson is a sensational scene-stealing Queenie, his sassy wife" (Los Angeles Times).

Maestro John DeMain, who previously led San Francisco Opera's 2009 production of another music theater masterpiece, The Gershwins' Porgy and BessSM, conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus. DeMain partnered with David Gockley to lead the groundbreaking 1982 production of Show Boat at Houston Grand Opera and was instrumental in restoring much of Jerome Kern's original score. According to Gockley, "in this day and age, only opera companies command the resources necessary to give a grand work like Show Boat its artistic due. ... As a top-tier opera company, we are able to present this work the way Kern and Hammerstein intended it, and we are able to cast the type of rich, legitimate voices required to give it its luster."

Francesca Zambello's "splashy, energetic production" (San Francisco Chronicle) features choreography by Michele Lynch, sets by Peter J. Davison, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Mark McCullough and sound design by Tod Nixon. This San Francisco Opera co-production premiered at Lyric Opera of Chicago in February 2012, and has subsequently been produced at Houston Grand Opera and Washington National Opera. "San Francisco Opera's Show Boat celebrates the depth and diversity of our musical heritage and with its brilliant cast glorifies the sounds of America" (Huffington Post).

This new DVD/Blue-ray release features 33 minutes of artist interviews, among other bonus materials. Show Boat is the sixth release in San Francisco Opera's collaboration with EuroArts Music International (euroarts.com) and Naxos of America (naxosusa.com). The Company's critically-lauded productions of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's Moby-Dick and Gaetano Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia were released in October 2013, followed by The Gershwins' Porgy and BessSM in March 2014, and Boito's Mefistofele and Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in fall 2014. For more information and video clips go to sfopera.com.

Recorded live in high-definition in the Koret-Taube Media Suite at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House.

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA / SHOW BOAT

Music by Jerome Kern; Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber

Conductor: John DeMain

Artists: Cast includes Heidi Stober (Magnolia Hawks); Michael Todd Simpson (Gaylord Ravenal); Bill Irwin (Cap'n Andy Hawks); Patricia Racette (Julie La Verne); Morris Robinson (Joe); Angela Renée Simpson (Queenie); Harriet Harris (Parthy Ann Hawks); Kirsten Wyatt (Ellie Mae Chipley); John Bolton (Frank Schultz); San Francisco Opera Orchestra (Kay Stern, Concertmaster); San Francisco Opera Chorus (Ian Robertson, Chorus Director); San Francisco Opera Dance Corps

Production: A San Francisco Opera co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera and Houston Grand Opera; presented through special arrangement with R & H Theatricals

Stage Director: Francesca Zambello

Stage Production Team: E. Loren Meeker (Associate Director); Michele Lynch (Choreographer); Peter J. Davison (Set Designer); Paul Tazewell (Costume Designer); Mark McCullough (Lighting Designer); Tod Nixon (Sound Designer)

Directed for the Screen by: Frank Zamacona

Recorded: Live at San Francisco Opera/War Memorial Opera House, June 2014

Running Time: 144 minutes + 33 minutes bonus

Subtitles: Sung in English, with English/German/French/Spanish/Italian subtitles

Label: EuroArts Music International; distributed by Naxos of America

Catalogue Number: DVD 2059688 / Blu-ray 2059684

Release Date: June 30, 2015; available at all major retailers, including Amazon, and the San Francisco Opera Shop (shop.sfopera.com)

Pictured: Angela Renee Simpson as Queenie. Photo by Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera.