Show Boat

Recent debate in the press and social media about the suitability of Jerome Kern's and Oscar Hammerstein II's legendary "Show Boat" opening the San Francisco Opera's summer season seems a bit unnecessary now. Some were wondering if the operetta based on Edna Ferber's panoramic novel would be operatic enough to merit a place on the War Memorial stage. Others said the famous watershed musical, filled with beloved American Songbook standards, didn't really need the grand treatment.

The argument stopped when conductor John DeMain confidently mounted the podium and crashed headlong into a loud and quick-tempo pit-band version of the overture. He had us engaged so quickly and enjoyably no one could pause long enough to ponder or even care whether "Show Boat" is high- or middle-brow art. Director Francesca Zambello's sensibly fast-paced staging turns out to take a fairly safe stance, but the bright and blaring production still manages to entertain us and exhibit the pioneering soul of an incredible 87-year-old experiment.

The disturbing social commentary embedded in the plot is somewhat soft-pedaled in the current edition, and the controversial aspects of the New York 1927 premiere (a mixed-race chorus of singers and dancers!) can't help but seem less shocking today. Zambello understands the significance of the libretto, but avoids a heavy-handed revisionist style. "Show Boat" is a musical first and foremost. The serious moments are potent, but the ultimate aim is to amuse.

The famous "miscegenation scene" framed by the doleful (and often cut) "Mis'ry's Comin' Aroun'" sung by the black members of the chorus is strong, but it is muted by the sheer size of the opera-house stage. Joe's powerful first rendition of "Ol' Man River" becomes less a symbolic motif than a welcome reprise as the show goes on, and everything bogs down dramatically in the surprisingly weak second act.

That is no fault of the production team. The first act may be much longer, but it is more clearly plotted and never dull, thanks to Zambello's brisk direction. The exciting choreography by Michele Lynch and Peter J. Davison's fluidly functional sets keep things moving. The parade of gorgeous costumes by Paul Tazewell is just more eye-catching icing on the cake.

It is left to the cast to add dramatic weight to the darker moments, and they flesh out every joyous minute of lively comedy as well. Following in the footsteps of Paul Robeson as Joe, Morris Robinson gives his own memorable interpretation. His big and fluent bass has no trouble filling the auditorium, and he also shows flashes of droll humor.

Angela Renee Simpson is irresistible as his wife Queenie, and she makes the stage her own every chance she gets. Luckily, she gets more than a few. Seeing a black married couple fussing and loving alongside the similar personalities of a white domestic duo is another remarkable aspect of Hammerstein's insightful book.

Bill Irwin as Cap'n Andy Hawks is a treat, with his trademark loose-limbed goofiness eliciting belly laughs during the comic set-pieces. He can't sing, but he doesn't really need to, and he channels Joe E. Brown hilariously during the potentially shticky scene in which he plays all the parts in a melodrama that has been cut short on the show boat stage. Harriet Harris (the ruthless agent from TV's Frasier) is Andy's bossy wife Parthy, and she is a perfect foil to his gentle ineptitude.

The comedy song-and-dance team of the floating Cotton Blossom gets a lot to do, and John Bolton is engaging as Frank Schultz. As his impossibly twinkly partner Ellie Mae Chipley, Kirsten Wyatt is energetic to the point of shrillness, but her "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" is cute without cloying.

The romantic leads are given the show's big, soaring, near-operatic duets, and baritone (make that barihunk) Michael Todd Simpson as the rather poignant ne'er-do-well Gaylord Ravenal makes an assured SFO debut. His acting is a little under-characterized, but he is still convincing when he sings, and his clean and pleasing voice pairs beautifully in "Make Believe," "You Are Love" and "Why Do I Love You?" Heidi Stober is Gaylord's great love Magnolia Hawks, and she is believable enough in the part, if also a bit bland. I have seen her display stronger acting skills before, and she did cope admirably with the role's grueling vocal demands.

The potential centerpiece of any "Show Boat" is the beautiful and tragic character Julie La Verne. Her racial heritage is cruelly turned against her, and her decline into alcoholism is pitiful. She also gets two of the best songs in the score. Local and world favorite soprano Patricia Racette showed her amazing versatility and stamina (yet again) making her role debut as Julie. When she sang the first of her big songs "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," Racette turned it into the showstopper it deserves to be. In the second act, her rendition of the heartbreaking "Bill" fell just short of the emotional mark. We know she has the requisite pathos, so I suspect she may have been purposefully underplaying. Maybe she is saving it up for her June 19 return to SFO, when she rounds off the three-opera summer season in her signature role as "Madama Butterfly."

"Show Boat" plays the War Memorial Opera House through July 2. Info: sfopera.com