
Here’s a confession for you. I didn’t really know “Show Boat” before I saw this production in London. Of course I knew it was an old classic show; this is my jam after all. And of course I knew the song “Bill” was from it, because I have everything Audra McDonald ever sang in my DNA (it’s on her album How Glory Goes). And of course I knew it was about an acting troupe on a boat and they put on shows because I read the title. But really, I never saw it before, and never listened to non-Audra recordings of the music. I’m sure I knew at one point that both “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Old Man River”, super famous songs that I’m sure all of you are familiar with, are also in this show; I guess I just forgot. What an idiot! Such great songs!