The Lowry in Salford will be one of only three UK venues, and the only one in the north west, to stage Show Boat from Cape Town Opera—winners of the Best International Opera Chorus at the 2013 International Opera Awards.
It’s a rarely-performed production which reflects the situation of South Africa’s past while highlighting, through Cape Town Opera’s talents, the bright future ahead.
The story follows the lives of the performers, stagehands, and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River Show Boat, over a 40-year period from 1887 to 1927. Show Boat premièred on Broadway in 1927 and has all the glamour and flourish of a big family musical but with a story that highlights real life.
It is directed by multi-award-winning Janice Honeyman, whose musicals include Hair, Little Shop of Horrors and an original non-replica production of Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express in 2013.
Show Boat is the perfect showcase for the talented voices of Cape Town Opera, many of whom have visited the UK on previous tours of Porgy & Bess and Mandela Trilogy.