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Show Boat

Nov 10, 2009 – Jan 7, 2010
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In the vein of earlier productions like Allegro and Les Misérables, Signature Theatre reinvents this American classic in a brand new production that features the beloved songs "Make Believe," "Bill," "Can't Help Lovin' 'Dat Man," and "Ol' Man River."

Spanning the years 1880 to 1927, this lyrical masterpiece concerns the lives, loves, and heartbreaks of three generations of show folk on the Mississippi. Show Boat is a sweeping tale of enduring love and devastating hatred, illuminating through unforgettable music the cruelty of prejudice - and the beauty of romance. 

Show Boat is a musical epic, a classic theater event not to be missed.

Music by Jerome Kern
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on the novel by Edna Ferber
Directed by Eric Schaeffer

The Cast

Sandy Bainum

Sandy Bainum

Ellie Mae

SIGNATURE: Show Boat (Ellie, Helen Hayes nomination, Best Ensemble); BROADWAY: 42nd Street
(Annie). NATIONAL TOUR: 42nd Street (Annie, Lorraine). DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage Solo Concert, Celebrate Broadway, Blue Skies (one woman cabaret), Sandy Sings Gershwin (one woman cabaret), featured soloist in concerts/recitals in the Washington, DC area. REGIONAL: The Music Man (Marian Paroo, Helen Hayes nomination, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical), Kiss Me, Kate (Kate), Regina (Dance captain, ensemble), Anything Goes (Bonnie), Grease (Marty), George M! (Mary). RECORDINGS: Believe by Sandy Bainum available on iTunes. sandybainum.com.

Mardee Bennett

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Playwrights On Stage. DC AREA: Studio Theatre: Jerry Springer: The Opera, Grey Gardens (u/s), Fucking A (u/s); Baltimore Shakespeare Festival: Twelfth Night; University of Baltimore: The Tempest (Caliban), Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt); Single Carrot Theatre: La Muneca, Murder Ink. TV: PBS’s “Dolley Madison”. EDUCATION: NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, The Lee Strasberg Institute. Proud member of Actors’ Equity.

Rachel Boyd

Young Kim

SIGNATURE: Show Boat (Young Kim, Helen Hayes Award nomination), Les Misérables (Young Cosette, Helen Hayes Award Ensemble). DC AREA: Round House: Story Theatre; Fairfax High School: Beauty and the Beast (Chip). SWING BAND: Radio King Orchestra, Featured Artist. FILM: Scarred, Embalming. EDUCATION: The Dance Company (Ballet/Tap/Jazz), The Center for Ballet Arts (Ballet/Tap), Burnett Thompson (Piano).

Yolanda Denise Bryant

Ensemble

REGIONAL: Koninklijk Theater Carré: Porgy and Bess (Serena); Winston-Salem Symphony: Elijah (Mezzo-Soprano Soloist); Evansville Philharmonic: Porgy and Bess (Maria); Opera Carolina: Lucia di Lammermoor (Alicia), Porgy and Bess (Annie), Amahl and Night Visitors (The Mother); Lyric Opera Cleveland: The Crucible (Tituba), Regina (Addie); Opera Company of North Carolina: The Magic Flute (2nd Lady). EDUCATION: University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Member of American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).

Terry Burrell

Julie

BROADWAY: Three Penny Opera, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Swinging On A Star, Into The Woods, Honky Tonk Nights, Dreamgirls, Eubie. OFF BROADWAY: Almost Heaven, And The World Goes Round, Taking A Chance On Love. NATIONAL TOURS: Crowns, Show Boat (London), Copacabana, Grand Night For Singing, Bubbling Brown Sugar, The Wiz. REGIONAL: for Colored Girls, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Cinderella, Sophisticated Ladies, The Women Of Brewster Place, Thunder Knocking On The Door, A Christmas Carol, Time And Again, Up From Paradise, Man Of La Mancha, Boys From Syracuse, Bongi’s Journey, Sheila’s Day, Sweet And Hot, Of Thee I Sing, Ain’t Misbehavin’. CONCERTS: Lyrics And Lyricists, Duke Ellington Orchestra (Venice), Oslo Jazz Festival, Broadway Live, Jazz in July 92nd Street Y. AWARDS: Helen Hayes nomination for Queenie Pie.

Matt Conner

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: The Fix (Frankie/Ensemble), Elmer Gantry (Art Nichols), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Rufus/Senator Wingwoah), Hairspray (Male Authority Figure), Sunset Boulevard (Manfred), Sweeney Todd (Bird Seller/Jonas Fogg), Show Boat (Windy), Les Miserables (Thenardier, Pimp), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Aurelio), Merrily We Roll Along (Scottie), The Witches of Eastwick (Toby), Into the Woods (Steward), My Fair Lady (Cockney), Assassins (Hinckley), Pacific Overtures (Tamate, Lion Dancer), A Funny Thing…Forum (Protean). DC AREA: Olney Theatre Center: West Side Story (Riff); Synetic Theatre: Oscar Wilde’s Salome (Page of Herodias); ATW: Naked Boys Singing; Open Circle Theatre: Jesus Christ Superstar (Judas). COMPOSITIONS: Signature: Silver Belles, Crossing, The Hollow, Nevermore, Partial Eclipse; Regional: Night of the Living Dead, Turn of the Screw, Monsters of the Villa Diodati.

Susan Derry

Susan Derry

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Sunday in the Park with George (Celeste #1), Sunset Boulevard (Betty Schaeffer), Saturday Night (Helen), Show Boat, Sizzlin’ Summer Cabaret, Sondheim Galas. BROADWAY: Wonderful Town (Eileen, Ensemble); City Center Encores!: 11 appearances. GERMANY: Phantom of the Opera (Christine). DC AREA: Shakespeare: Kiss Me, Kate! (Kate/Lili u/s); Kennedy Center: Ragtime, Mass, Mame; Creative Cauldron: Turn of the Screw, Monsters, Kaleidoscope. REGIONAL:  Music Man (Marian), Othello (Desdemona), My Fair Lady (Eliza), Crimes of the Heart (Meg), Importance of Being Earnest (Gwendolen), I Do! I Do! (Agnes), Brigadoon (Fiona), West Side Story (Maria), Company (Susan), Regina (Alexandra), The Merchant of Venice (Jessica). CONCERT: Carnegie Hall, NY Pops, NY Phil, BSO, Lawton Phil, Joe’s Pub, Kennedy Center. EDUCATION: Northwestern University, Manhattan School of Music. Prof at AU, GWU. www.susanderry.com

Will Gartshore

Ravenal

SIGNATURE: A Little Night Music, The Fix, Show Boat, Merrily We Roll Along, My Fair Lady, Assassins, Sex Habits of American Women, Urinetown, Pacific Overtures, Elegies, Allegro, Twentieth Century, Follies, Grand Hotel, Side Show, Floyd Collins, Anyone Can Whistle in Concert. BROADWAY: Parade. OFF-BROADWAY: The Last Session, Encores!: Ziegfield Follies of 1936. DC AREA: Round House: Caroline, or Change; Ordinary Days; This; %(underline)Becky Shaw%; Orson’s Shadow; A Year with Frog and Toad; The World Goes ‘Round; Kennedy Center: The Great Gatsby, Passion; Theatre J: The Religion Thing; Woolly Mammoth: The Velvet Sky; Olney: Monster; Studio: Privates on Parade, A New Brain. Library of Congress: West Side Story 50th Anniversary, Stephen Sondheim's 70th Birthday. REGIONAL: Philadelphia Theatre Co: Elegies; Prince: Myths + Hymns, 3hree; Ahmanson: 3hree; Goodspeed: Fanny Hill, Lucky in the Rain. AWARDS: Three Helen Hayes Awards, nine nominations.

Helen Hedman

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Crazy for You (Mrs. Childs, Patricia), Beaches (Rose), The Sex Habits of American Women (Agnes), Show Boat (Mrs. O’Brien). DC AREA: Arena Stage: A Delicate Balance, Watch on the Rhine, The Women; Round House: I’ll Get You Back Again, Rapture, Blister, Burn; Studio Theatre: The Year of Magical Thinking; Shakespeare Theatre: A Woman of No Importance, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Camino Real; Ford’s: Sabrina Fair, A Christmas Carol; Olney: Piaf (Helen Hayes nomination), Triumph of Love, Omnium Gatherum; Rep Stage: The Seagull (Baltimore Theatre Awards nomination), Kimberly Akimbo (Best Actress, Baltimore City Paper); Everyman Theatre: August: Osage County (Violet), The Book of Joseph, The Importance of Being Earnest, Pygmalion. REGIONAL: Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma: Glass Menagerie, An Inspector Calls. FILM: recent, BEAST (Winner SXSW Film Festival).

Sam Ludwig

Ensemble

Sam Ludwig SIGNATURE: A Little Night Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, Midwestern Gothic, Titanic (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical), The Hollow, [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, Partial Eclipse, Les Misérables. DC AREA: Olney Theatre Center: How to Succeed... (Helen Hayes Award, Lead Actor in a Musical), Avenue Q, Big River, 1776; Theatre J: Sons of the Prophet; Ford’s Theatre: 1776; 1st Stage: The Farnsworth Invention (Helen Hayes nomination for the Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play), Proof; MetroStage: Jacques Brel is Alive...; Rep Stage: Speech and Debate; Theatre J: Sons of the Prophet; Creative Cauldron: Monsters of the Villa Diodati (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical); 3D Theatricals: The Secret Garden.

Sean-Maurice Lynch

Sean-Maurice Lynch

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Dreamgirls, Brother Russia, Hairspray, [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Show Boat. DC AREA: Arena Stage: Toni Stone, Jubliee; Ford’s Theatre: Twelve Angry Men, Ragtime, Parade; Washington National Opera: Lost in the Stars; Everyman Theater: Ruined; Studio Theatre: Pop!, Passing Strange; Adventure Theatre: A Year with Frog & Toad.

Kevin McAllister

Kevin McAllister

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Blackbeard, Grand Hotel, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Helen Hayes nomination), A Little Night Music, Titanic, SCKBSTRD, Brother Russia, The Break, Show Boat, Sweeney Todd. BROADWAY: Caroline, or Change; Come from Away. DC AREA: Round House Theatre: Next to Normal; Washington National Opera: Lost In The Stars; Ford’s Theatre: The Wiz, Ragtime (Helen Hayes winner, Best Actor in a Musical), 110 In The Shade, Freedom’s Song, …Spelling Bee, Violet (Helen Hayes nomination), Our Town, Parade (Helen Hayes nomination), The Civil War; Arena Stage: Five Guys Named Moe; Olney: The World Goes Round, Annie (Helen Hayes nomination), Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella; Kennedy Center: 2013 Gala, James and the Giant Peach, The Phantom Tollbooth; CenterStage: Expanding the Cycle Series; Toby’s: Rent, Dreamgirls, Ragtime (Helen Hayes winner, Best Actor in a Musical); Teatro 101: Brooklyn, Side Show, The Wild Party; Artistic Director, ArtsCentric, Inc. REGIONAL: Sacramento Music Circus: Ragtime. AWARDS: 2016 and 2018 Helen Hayes Award, Best Lead Actor in A Musical; Broadway World’s Performer of The Decade (2020).

V. Savoy McIlwain

Joe

SIGNATURE: Show Boat (Joe). NATIONAL: La Boheme (Marcello), Carmen (Morales), Don Giovanni (Leporello), Shadow Boxer (Blackburn), Let Freedom Sing (Jack Johnson, world premiere). INTERNATIONAL: Porgy and Bess (Jake and Jim), Cosi fan tutte (Guglielmo). DC AREA: Adventure Theatre: Strega Nona (Mayor). EDUCATION: Duke Ellington School of the Arts; University of Northern Iowa, BM; University of Maryland at College Park, MM.

Jim Newman

Steve

SIGNATURE: Over and Over (Henry). BROADWAY: Curtains (Randy Dexter), Minnelli on Minnelli, Steel Pier (Happy), Sunset Boulevard, The Who’s Tommy. NATIONAL TOURS: Kiss Me Kate (Bill Calhoun), Big! (Josh Baskin), Joseph...Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond (Levi). OFF-BROADWAY: Almost Heaven (John Denver), Newsical! (Bush/Osama), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Millard), Destry Rides Again (Destry), A Good Swift Kick, Up Against It. REGIONAL: MUNY: Annie (Rooster); AMTSJ and Arvada Center: The Full Monty (Jerry Lukowski); Papermill Playhouse: Pippin (Leading Player). DC AREA: Cole! (Dramalogue award best actor). TELEVISION: Celebrity Apprentice, Hope and Faith, All My Children, One Life to Live, The View, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, The Magic of Music, The Name Game on Nickelodeon. FILM: Out of Sync with L.L. Cool J and The Big Gay Musical.

Anna Grace Nowalk

Young Kim

SIGNATURE: Les Misérables (Young Cosette, Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble), Show Boat (Young Kim, Helen Hayes nomination, Outstanding Ensemble), Chess (Young Florence). DC AREA: Zemfira Stage: The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy). SCHOOL: Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr. (Millie Dillmount), Guys and Dolls Jr. (Miss Adelaide). TRAINING: Stage One, Voice: Erin Driscoll.

Aaron Reeder

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Les Misérables (Helen Hayes Award, Best Ensemble), One Red Flower (u/s). DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Broadway: Three Generations, Celebrate Broadway; Studio Theatre Second Stage: Jerry Springer: the Opera (Tremont); M.E.T: The Wild Party; Landless Theatre: tick, tick…BOOM!, BatBoy; Washington National Opera; Ford’s Theatre. REGIONAL: john & jen, Miss Saigon, Aida, Ragtime. Recipient of 2009 Roger Sturtevant Award.

Kimberly Schraf

Parthy Hawks

SIGNATURE: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Angels in America: Perestroika. DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: A Christmas Carol, The Member of the Wedding; Arena Stage: Molly Sweeney, The Women; Round House: A Prayer for Owen Meany, Redshirts, Our Town, The Chemistry of Change, Better Living, The Misanthrope; Studio: Crestfall, Frozen, Skylight, The Bacchae, The Women, As Is; Woolly Mammoth: Measure for Pleasure, Patience, The Gigli Concert, Freedomland, The Gene Pool, Watbanaland; Everyman: Going to St. Ives, Proof, Light Up the Sky, Fifth of July. INTERNATIONAL: The Edinburgh Festival: Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You.

J. Fred Shiffman

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Show Boat, Dirty Blonde. DC AREA: for the past thirty-three years, Fred has performed at Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and Theater J. Additionally, Fred has recorded Barefoot in the Park for LA Theatre Works with Laura Linney and Eric Stoltz. AWARDS: 12 Helen Hayes nominations; two Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Ensemble; three Helen Hayes Awards: Outstanding Actor/Resident Play (Souvenir); Outstanding Actor/Resident Musical (Falsettos); Outstanding Supporting Actor/Resident Play (Lovers and Executioners). Proud member of Actors’ Equity.

Chris Sizemore

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Midwestern Gothic, Titanic, Crossing, Miss Saigon, Spin, Crossing in concert, Spin, Chess, Sweeney Todd, Show Boat (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Ensemble), Les Misérables (Helen Hayes nomination for Supporting Actor, Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Ensemble). NATIONAL TOUR: Kennedy Center: Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka. DC AREA: Arena Stage: Fiddler; Ford's Theatre: Freedom’s Song, Violet, 1776, Parade, The Civil War (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Ensemble); Shakespeare Theatre: Two Gents...Rock Opera, Candide (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Ensemble); Olney Theatre Center: 1776, Fiddler, Cinderella; Toby's: Miss Saigon, Beauty & The Beast, Grease, Seussical. REGIONAL: Serenbe Playhouse: Miss Saigon.

Bobby Smith

Bobby Smith

Frank

he/him SIGNATURE: No Place to Go, She Loves Me, Midnight at The Never Get, Assassins, Grand Hotel, Passion, Light Years, A Little Night Music, Titanic, Simply Sondheim, Company, Midwestern Gothic, Road Show, Threepenny Opera, Disney's Freaky Friday, La Cage aux Folles (Helen Hayes Award), Spin (Helen Hayes Award). BROADWAY: Crazy for You. OFF-BROADWAY: Forever Plaid, The World Goes ‘Round, Of Thee I Sing. NATIONAL TOURS: Brigadoon, The World Goes ‘Round. DC AREA: Theater J: Two Jews Walk Into a War; Studio Theatre: Fun Home, A Class Act; The Long Christmas Ride Home; Caroline, or Change; Grey Gardens; Reefer Madness; Jerry Springer: The Opera; Ford’s Theatre: Elmer Gantry, Liberty Smith, 1776, Violet; Metrostage: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Helen Hayes Award). AWARDS: 2018 Anderson/Hopkins award.

Stephanie Waters

Magnolia

SIGNATURE: Les Misérables (Cosette), Into the Woods (Cinderella), A Little Night Music (Anne). BROADWAY: Les Misérables (Cosette). DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Shakespeare Theatre: Peer Gynt; Toby’s: The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy, Helen Hayes Award Nomination). REGIONAL: Mill Mountain Theatre: Grease (Sandy). EDUCATION/AWARDS: New York University, Political Science, Summa Cum Laude; White House Presidential Scholar; American Academy of Achievement Inductee; youngARTS alumna and member of the Board of Trustees for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

Tiffany Wharton

Ensemble

OPERA: Opera Memphis: Porgy and Bess (Clara); Nashville Opera: Porgy and Bess (Strawberry Woman/Lily) Decca Recording; Peabody Opera Theatre: Dora (Frau K).

Delores King Williams

Queenie

OFF-BROADWAY: Capitol Steps. NEW YORK: Carnegie Hall: US Army Band (Soloist), Jazz Museum in Harlem’s Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. INTERNATIONAL: Washington National Opera/Australia: Porgy and Bess, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks: Egypt, Montreux, North Sea, Vienne, Nice Jazz Festivals. DC AREA: Capitol Steps; Washington National Opera: Carmen Jones (with Vanessa Williams); LyricOpera: Porgy and Bess; Everyman: Rodgers/Hart/Hammerstein Celebration, US Army Band. CONCERT: performances with the Indianapolis Symphony, McLean Symphony, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Quincy Jones, Jessie Norman; performances at The White House, Kennedy Center, DAR, Blues Alley. RECORDINGS: buselliwallarb Jazz Orchestra, The Music of Hoagy Carmichael, Dan Gottshall: Christmas Time, Interplay. OTHER: Audio book series Deathlands (Mildred Wyeth). EDUCATION: Peabody Conservatory, Virginia Commonwealth University, Frederick Petrich: Voice.

Hannah Willman

Ensemble

SIGNATURE: Show Boat, Les Misérables (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble ), Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Reading, Open House. DC AREA: Shakespeare Theatre: Will Award gala performance; Imagination Stage: Heidi Workshop; Open Circle Theatre: Evita; Rockville Music Theatre: Into the Woods (WATCH Award), Broadway Treasures, Past and Present; Kensington Arts Theatre: Urinetown, A Funny Thing… Forum; Inaugural Capital Fringe Festival: When I Wake Up. REGIONAL: Astor’s Beechwood Mansion, Newport, RI. EDUCATION: Indiana University, Bloomington, 2004, Vocal Performance and Arts Administration.

Harry A. Winter

Captain Andy Hawks

SIGNATURE: Allegro, 110 in the Shade, Hairspray (18 more). NATIONAL TOURS: Gigi, Jolson: the Musical. DC AREA: Kiss Me, Kate; Racing Demon; Come From Away (US); The Magic Play; Pins and Needles; Bringing Up Amy.

Creative Team

Jon Kalbfleisch

Music Direction by

SIGNATURE (Resident Music Director) Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, She Loves Me, Broadway in the Park (Wolf Trap), Simply Sondheim, A Chorus Line, Assassins, Passion, Crazy for You, A Little Night Music, West Side Story, Cabaret, Sunday in the Park, Gypsy, Company, Hairspray, Saturday Night, Side by Side, Sunset Boulevard, Show Boat, Anyone Can Whistle, Spider Woman, Merrily, Into the Woods, Pacific Overtures, Elegies, Allegro, Follies, 110 in the Shade, Putting It Together, Forum, Sweeney Todd, Wings. BROADWAY: Ambassador Theatre: The Visit (Actor's Fund Benefit), Marius Company: Les Misérables (Associate Conductor). DC AREA: Kennedy Center: First You Dream; National Theatre, Warner Theatre, Round House Theatre, Everyman Theatre. OTHER: Carnegie Hall, Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony. TV: Celebration of the Arts (Executive Producer), Good Morning America. AWARDS: Grammy nomination; Bernstein MASS, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, pianist; Anderson-Hopkins Award; ten Helen Hayes Awards and 30 nominations; Distinguished Alumni Award, Cameron University. EDUCATION: Master of Music, Southern Methodist University.

Signature Theatre

4200 Campbell Ave Arlington, Virginia