Destiny Jenkins
Staff Writer
destiny.jenkins@hawks.shorter.edu
Shorter University’s Theater Department, along with the Opera Department, will be involved in the musical called “Show Boat” by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein in the Rome City Auditorium on Feb. 26-27. The musical showboat along the Mississippi in the 1880s to the 1920s. The musical show dips into a nostalgic, rich and sometimes painful chapter of America’s past.
This show is promised to be filled with humor, tenderness, and much drama, which is why this musical is still remember by audiences today. Kern and Hammerstein’s innovation and lyrical combination crete an epic tale of love and perseverance. Enduring songs like “Old Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man of Mine,” “Make Believe,” and “Bill,” show how anguish and joy fade with time, surrounded by the Mississippi.
Senior musical theater major Savannah Gillam will play Magnolia, a character who is different from any character she has played because of the different stages of life the character goes through. Gilliam says that this play is different from any other musical she has done and probably one of the biggest shows that the departments has ever put on. She accounts this musical as a “golden age” musical which are musicals that are earlier and the songs are much more meaningful. She says, “The set is what’s going to blow most people away. Obviously, the acting is going to be great and beautiful. But the set is going to blow people away because we are literally building part of a boat.”
Additionally, she says that the musical department will be going with the opera department and this added to the excitement of the production. She says that it is nice to experience what everyone brings to the table by being able to interact with the other department. Finally, she states, “We really haven’t put on a show this huge; it’s a doozy.”
Also a part of the show is senior biology major Spencer Wenzel who will be playing the role of Gaylord Ravenal, a character who is confused on where he is meant to be in life and eventually falls in love with Magnolia. “The play deals with tragedy, love and racial prejudice. It’s a beautiful story of what ifs was back then and how they dealt with it,” said Wenzel.
Denzel wants the audience to know that this is one of the greatest musical theater shows there is. “Overall, this production changed how musical theater presented itself. The play deals with touchy subjects back in the day, which are still touchy subjects today.”
