Sunday, April 19 at 7:00pm | $8 |
Portland Opera and the Hollywood Theatre team up to bring you the 1936 film of Show Boat. Widely considered much superior to the gaudy, sanitized 1951 MGM Technicolor extravaganza, this black & white classic features a screenplay by librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, musical direction by Robert Russell Bennett, the show’s original orchestrator, and an all-star cast that includes Irene Dunn as Magnolia, Allan Jones as Ravenal, Helen Morgan as Julie, Hattie McDaniel as Queenie, and the incomparable Paul Robeson as Joe. In addition to the terrific performers, it got right the often-gritty period details of the original. The director was cult favorite James Whale, fresh from his string of four great horror flicks—Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, and The Bride of Frankenstein.
Portland Opera’s staging of Show Boat plays on May 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 at Keller Auditorium. For information and tickets visit www.portlandopera.org.