Kern and Hammerstein: Show Boat Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Kern and Hammerstein: Show Boat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 30, 2015

Hi, my name is Jeff and I’m a musical theater geek. There has to be some kind of “anonymous” group for people who can instantly transform any situation into an excuse to warble some obscure show tune, doesn’t there? Many who share this same particular “affliction” can get into heated arguments about the history of the American musical, as when for example operetta gave way to more traditional so-called book musicals. A lot of fans insist that honor belongs squarely to Oklahoma!, though any objective reading of American theatrical history easily proves that the boards were littered with both hits and flops that presaged the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic which were at least attempting to integrate score and dialogue into an organic whole. One of those precursors bears Hammerstein’s name in fact—the epochal 1927 Show Boat, one of the first musicals to actually try to tell a story, and a largely dramatic one at that, while also providing ample opportunity for a large cast to segue into a huge variety of tunes composed by the iconic Jerome Kern. Show Boat may look a little creaky at times to modern day eyes, but in 1927 it was something of a revelation, and both critics and audiences were completely wowed by the musical’s power and grace. Literally decades before Hammerstein would visit ideas of bigotry courtesy of wonderful little ditties like “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” from South Pacific, Show Boat examined some of the racial tensions that unfortunately have been deeply woven into the American fabric, while also offering some tortured love stories that would in fact have been completely at home in an operetta.

The fact that this production bears the imprimatur of San Francisco Opera is some indication of the kind of strange middle ground that Show Boat often tends to hold in the history of American musical theater. While the show has been revived at various New York venues a number of times throughout the intervening decades, and while there are two famous film versions from 1936 and 1951 (neither available on domestic Blu-ray as of the writing of this review, sadly), the piece has attained a sort of hybrid status that makes it somewhat more palatable to “legitimate” opera lovers who would normally turn up their noses at the thought of composers like Sigmund Romberg or Victor Herbert.

As is often the case with pieces culled from the works of Edna Ferber, Show Boat (ultimately) takes a cross-generational look at a rather large gaggle of characters, not necessarily relegated solely to life on the titular vessel, the Cotton Blossom. Cap’n Andy Hawks (Bill Irwin) and his harridan wife Parthy (Harriet Harris) own and operate the Cotton Blossom in the (barely) post- Reconstructionist south. Racial tensions bubble just beneath the surface, as is detailed in an early development dealing with one the Cotton Blossom’s featured acts, Julie La Verne (Patricia Racette), a mixed race woman who has been passing for white and who is married to a Caucasian fellow troupe member, Steve Baker (Patrick Cummings).

A lothario and inveterate gambler named Gaylord Ravenal (Michael Todd Simpson) makes a play for the Hawks’ pretty daughter Magnolia (Heidi Stober), a girl who has dreams of becoming a star, hoping that work on the Cotton Blossom might further that aim. Offering Magnolia support and advice are two black workers for the Cotton Blossom, Joe (Morris Robinson) and his wife Queenie (Angela Renée Simpson). Already Hammerstein’s book is clearly delineating lines between the haves and the have-nots, detailing a sometimes discomfiting social strata that is definitely far from being color blind.

When Julie’s secret leads to both her and Steve being let go from the Cotton Blossom, suddenly Magnolia and Gaylord (who just so happens to have a bit of performing expertise) become the new main duo on the boat, though their “happily ever after” is short lived. A brisk and bustling first act gives way to an increasingly melodramatic second act, as Magnolia’s marriage begins to crumble and she looks for work in more traditional show business venues. Julie, also dealing with repercussions from her own tortured path, reenters the picture as well. A number of segues get the characters several years down the line, but the tying up of loose strings in Show Boat has always been one of its weakest elements, and many audience members will probably be less than convinced with how things play out at least toward the end of the second act, and perhaps with regard to everything after the intermission.

Still, Show Boat is a big, splashy musical filled with enduring Kern melodies (among the standards in the score are the showstopper “Ol’ Man River,” given a commanding performance by Robinson, and such lighter weight fare as “Make Believe,” still one of the most performed duets in the entire American musical theater canon). Director Francesca Zambella attempts (not always completely successfully) to elide some of the clunkier elements of the musical, offering a stage full of cartwheeling ensemble members and a handsome if somewhat minimalist physical production that suggests various locales rather than offering them fully formed.

Performances are generally very winning throughout this production, though Irwin and Harris are bit cartoonish, and Racette’s Julie lacks a certain tragic gravitas that should underpin that role. Stober is delightful and perky as Magnolia, but struggles a bit in the second act as trauma overtakes the character. The undeniable standout in this Show Boat is the towering Morris Robinson as Joe, a role that can devolve into near racist stereotype if not handled carefully. Robinson’s take on the character is noble and patient, exactly like that river about which he sings so eloquently.

Kern and Hammerstein: Show Boat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Show Boat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of EuroArts and San Francisco Opera with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. Yikes! There's an infestation of mosquito (noise) on the Mississippi hobbling this presentation, one that may well scuttle plans to keep this particular Cotton Blossom afloat. Whether this was a result of filming conditions or some later issue which arose during mastering and/or compression, it's unignorable, coating much of the image with cross hatching and something that almost (almost) looks like grain, at least if you sit far enough from the screen. This unfortunate situation tends to rob the image of clarity (look, for example, at the face in screenshot 8). Colors are generally very nicely suffused and accurate looking, and when detail can emerge from the omnipresent scrim like overlay, things pop at least decently if not overwhelmingly well. Shadow detail is murky at best and is not helped by the aforementioned problems. This is still watchable, though more persnickety types (and you know who you are) will probably be far from happy with the overall look of this release.

Kern and Hammerstein: Show Boat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much less problematic are the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks included on this release, both of which offer excellent clarity and precision. The 5.1 track significantly opens up the soundstage during the sung moments, with good directionality and spaciousness. There are occasional prioritization issues in the surround track, with a few solo lines getting swallowed in the mix and dialogue during songs or underscore similarly not being placed far enough forward in the mix. These are transitory issues, though, and never seriously undermine the effectiveness of the track. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range wide, offering full support for the large orchestra (yay! — a real, honest to goodness orchestra supporting a musical!).

Kern and Hammerstein: Show Boat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• In Conversation with Heidi Stober and Michael Todd Simpson (1080i; 5:04)


• In Conversation with Angela Renee Simpson and Morris Robinson (1080i; 5:32)


• In Conversation with Bill Irwin and Harriet Harris (1080i; 5:54)


• In Conversation with John Bolton and Kirsten Wyatt (1080i; 5:15)


• In Conversation with Patricia Racette (1080i; 3:19)


• In Conversation with Francesca Zambello (1080i; 3:18)


• In Conversation with John DeMain (1080i; 5:18)

Kern and Hammerstein: Show Boat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Classic film musical fans have been clamoring for both the 1936 and 1951 film versions of Show Boat for some time, and this opulent if occasionally creaky San Francisco Opera production may help to stem the wish list tide for a while, though fans should be aware there are some issues with the video presentation on this release. With that perhaps major caveat taken in stride, Show Boat comes Recommended.