Obie Award-winning Target Margin Theater, in collaboration with NYU Skirball, presents a daring reimagining of the seminal musical Show Boat, now re-envisioned as Show/Boat: A River. This bold adaptation reframes the 1927 classic for today’s audience, exploring America’s transformation from 1880s Jim Crow to the challenges of today – journeying from steamboats to airplanes, vaudeville to radio, and the Spanish-moss South to the bustling city of Chicago amid the Great Migration. Show Boat is both a powerful narrative and a historical reflection, revealing a legacy marked by violent racism while striving for a more just America. Director David Herskovits, known for his provocative interpretations, brings a fresh perspective to this quintessentially American masterpiece. Building on Target Margin’s renowned tradition of re-envisioning classic works, this new staging promises the company’s trademark extravagant theatricality, intricate design layers, and a vibrant celebration of language, song, and spirit. Show / Boat: A Riverchallenges us to confront our past and envision a reimagined America for 2025, bridging the gap between history and the present with striking relevance.
The recently announced cast includes Tẹmídayọ Amay, Alvin Crawford, Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, Suzanne Darrell, Edwin Joseph, J Molière, Steven Rattazzi, Philip Themio Stoddard, Rebbekah Vega-Romero and Stephanie Weeks.
Show Boat, based on the 1926 novel by Edna Ferber, is both a powerful narrative and a historical reflection, revealing a legacy marked by violent racism while striving for a more just America. The work explores America’s transformation from the 1880s through the Jazz Age —journeying from steamboats to airplanes, vaudeville to radio, and the Spanish-moss South to the bustling city of Chicago amid the Great Migration. Show Boat forever changed the face of American theater. The first show to integrate its music and plot, Show Boat presented complex characters grappling with timely, realistic themes woven into a substantial plot. Its epic narrative concerns the lives, loves and heartbreaks of three generations of show folk and their lifelong friends on the Mississippi, in Chicago and on Broadway.
