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An alnbitious productionStar of Opera SanLuis Obispo's'ShowBoat'has a familylink to the musical

Bv SanaH LrNnslinn@thetribunenews.com

llfhen Kristin TowersUU Rowles steps onstagein Opera San tuis Obispo'sproduction of "Show Boat,"she'll be forgrng a bridgeto her family's past.

TowersRowles stars asMaguolia the same roleher grandmother, IGthrynGrayson, played in the 1951flm version of"Show BoaL"

"It's such a neat oppor-tunity," she said. "It's reallyspecial to me."

"Show Boat," playingthis Mother's Day week-end at the PerformingArts Center in San tuisObispo, holds magicalmemories for nrany'-thanks to its sweeping sto-ryline and lush songs suchas "Can't Help tnvin'DatMan," "Make Believe" and"Ol'Man River."

Based on Edna FerbeCsbest-selling novel of thesame niune, "Show Boaf'follows the perf<-rrmers,stagehands and dockrvork-' ers who live and workaboard the MississippiRiver showboat CottonBlossom - including CaptAndy Hawks (Iarry l(ami),his wife ParthyArur (SandySchwarer) and their daugh-ter Magnolia. Husband-and-wife team Steve (MichaelTevlin) and Julie (IGtieGuick) lead the Cotton

. Blossom's acting troupe,E while Joe (Dan Tullis)I serves as stevedore and hisf wife Queenie (Erika Bow-3 nran) runs the kitchen.:- When riverboat gambler!^ (iaylord Raveng.(Qr.aig ,

TRIBUNE PHOTO BY JOE JOHNSIONKristin Towers-Rowles and Brian Asher Alhadeff during an Opera San Luis Obispo rehearsal for'Show Boat.'

McEldowney) meets Mag-nota - or "Nola," as she'sknown - it's love at firstsight. However, her par-ents disapprove of Ravenal's shadowy past.

"She brings out some-thing in him (through)her naivete and her lackof bitterness," Towers-Rowles explained. "She'sjust this open, honest,lovely young woman ...and he sees all the thingsin her that he isn't."

"Show Boat'' follows Nolaand Ravenal over the next40 ycars through romance,ruin zurd redemption. Even

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one point in the story, Tow-ersRowles said, " (Nola)never becomes bitter toward him because the loveshe has for him transcendscircumstances."

Towers-Rowles said sherelates to Nola's journeyfrom innocent ingenue toseasoned performer andparent.

"l understand the young,narVe girl because part ofme will always be that,"she said, "and I understandthe woman who has to puther child first and work bec:ause I arn that woman."

The daughter of actors'Robert -Towers ("The Cufi.,

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ous Case of Benjamin But-ton") and Patricia Tbwers("The Squid and theWhale"), Tbwers-Rowleshas been a musical theateraficionado frorn the start.

"\,{y passion (was) reallyto bc on l]roaclway," sheMid. 'That w?s my goal." ,

Tower-Rowles startedtaking voice lessons fromher grandmother, whosefilm credits included "An-chors Aweigh" and "KissMe Kate," at age 16. TheWoodland Hills native alsospent holidays and sum-mer vacations at Grayson'sSanta Monica home.

After training at the Per-forming Arts Magnet program at Hollywood HighSchool and The AmericanMusical and DramaticAcademy in New York -slre allended the latteralongside Kelrik Produc-

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tions cofounder ErikAustin - TowersRowlesreturned to l-os Angeles toYr'ork in theater. She tourednationally with shows in-cluding'H.M.S. Plnafore"and 'The Mikado," andsang in concert versions of"ks Miserables" and 'ThePhantom of the Opera" inEurope and Taiwan.

Her career carne to anabrupt halt at age 27 \4'henshe injwed her back whileplaying Junior Aspangus ina national touring produc-tion of "Veggie Tales live!"

Even after two years ofphysical therapy, "l wastold I wouldn't be onstageagain," TowersRowles recalled. "lt n/as devastating."

The actress t@k a seveFyear break from perforrn-ing, wedding husbandRyan Rowles and givingbirth to three daughters,

The productlon's sets, aboye, are on loan from UtahFastival Oper8 & Muslcal The.tro.Ryama Makayla andAmelya- She returned tothe stage in January 2009.

"l'm a theater persontlrough and tlrrough,"said TowersRowles, whois currently starring asJane in IGlrik RoductionsTarzan: The Stage Musical" at El Porbl Theahe inNorth Hollywood. "When.I went back to performing,it was like the fuhts justhrned on."

The actress is especiallyexcited to be making her"Show Boat" debul

"If they're. going tochoose to do a musical,they could not do a betterone," said TowersRowles,praising the "glorious"score created by composerJerome Kern and b/ricistOscar llammerSein II."That's one of the reasons .

this musical has stood thetest of time for.80 years."

sanluisobispo.com

'Show Boat'

a story ofAmerica's past

Bv Srnan Lnrslinn@thedbunenews.com

Imagine the audience'sreaction when the musical"Show Boat" premiered onBroadway in 1927.

"lnstead of a line of chorus girls showing their legsin the opening numbersinging that they were happy, happy, happy, the cur-tain rose on black dock-hands lifting bales of cot-ton, and singing about thehardness of their lives,"theater critics Richard Eyreand Nicholas Wright wrotein "Changing Stages: AView o{ British and Ameri-can Theatre in the Twenti-eth Century." "Here was amusical that showed pover-ty, suffering, bitierness,racial prejudice ... and ofcourse show business."

In short, EyT e andWright wrote, audiencemembers were witnessingthe birth of a new genre:the Broadway musical.

"lt's a story about Ameri-ca. It's a story about wherewe were," said Brian AsherAlhadeft Opera San tlisObispo's general and artis-tic director "It really is anamazing time machine."

But "Show Boaf can bea challenging story to tell,Alhadeff added, both interms of its scale and itssubject matler.

like Opera San llis Obispo's October 2013 produc-tion of Georges Bizefs "Car-men," 'Show Boat' finds thecompany trearning uP withcommunity groups. Theyinclude Civic Ballet of Sanllis Obispo and the MorroBay High Choral Ensemble.

CMc Ballet artistic direc-tor Drew Sihzggio willserve as choreogJ-apher,

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while Erik Austin, cofounder and artistic direc-tor of San l-r.ris Obispo'sKelrik Productions, is di-recting the show.

'"This is the biggestthing the opera has everdone," Austin said, fromthe sizable cast to themassive sets, on loan fromUtah Festival Opera &Musical Theatre. "Theirshows have kept gettingbigger, but this is on sucha grander scale."

One of the aspects thatmakes "Show Boat" so for-midable is its t.ime &ame,Alhadeff said. The musicaltakes place between 1887and 1927, a time of cultur-al and artistic upheaval.

"It really is a musical history course in all styles ofdance and music" fromthese erag he said. "YouVegot \iau&ville, swing, stside

piano, early iazz, and allthis is lushly f:amed in abrilliant golden-era qtn-phonic orchestration."

Silvaggio said he's usedboth music and cosbrmesto inform his directions todalcerc.

"l really just like tocome up witl a natural,original voice in choreog-raphy," he said. "But themusic produces a type ofmovement. ... That's in-evitably going to bleed in."

"Show Boaf s" historicalsetting also influences itsdepiction of African-Ameri-cans, which many consideroffensive. Black charactersspeak in an outdated DeepSouth dialect and useterms that today would beconsidered racial epithels.

Opera San l.uis Obispo'sproduction preserves thatlanguage in some casesfor the sake of coniextand discards it in others,Alhadeff said.

Before deciding to pro

sanluisobispo.com Il3duce "Show Boa!" Alhad-eff said he corsulted withSan llis Obispo Count5/sAfican American commu-nity, including the predominantly black congregation of flouse of PrayerChurch of God in Christ inSan llis Obispo.

"Respect and sensitivityis the key to doing thispiece," Alhadefl said, not-ing that the musical is of-ien credited with openingup public discourse in thearts about racism.

At the same time, hesaid. race relations aren'tnecessarily the central focus of "Show Boat."

He compared the showto "The Good, The Badand The Ugly," "a greatcowboy story that justhappens to be set duringthe Civil War."

" 'Show Boat' is a won-derful romance and lifedrama" th4t just happensto be set during the Reconstruction era, he said.

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