Since it opened last season in Toronto, it’s gotten better, tighter; the performances have matured. Michel Bell delivers “Ol’ Man River” with a spine-tingling passion of resignation. Lonette McKee’s rendition of “Bill” rekindles the torch in torch song. And the rest of Kern’s ageless score–“You Are Love,” “Why Do I Love You,” “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun’ “–awakens feelings of love and loss you forgot you had. John McMartin’s Cap’n Andy presides over the show’s tragicomic revels like a hybrid of Puck and Uncle Sam. Producer Garth Drabinsky’s $8.5 million allows Prince, his brilliant team, including set designer Eugene Lee, choreographer Susan Stroman and a cast of 71, to create a rich, subtle texture of sound, sight and movement. In the age of PC, MTV and MS-DOS it’s superficially easy to see “Show Boat” as a dated cultural artifact. Those who succumb to this trendy temptation deserve to be digitized.
