Minnesota Centennial Showboat is a traditional riverboat theatre docked at Harriet Island Regional Park on the banks of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in Downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

. The showboat

Showboat

A showboat, or show boat, was a form of theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers . A showboat was basically a barge that resembled a long, flat-roofed house, and in order to move down the river, it was pushed by a small tugboat...

 contains an intimate jewelbox theatre that seats 225. The interior is decorated to keep in time with the Victorian Era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 style that is expected of most showboats. The Minnesota Centennial Showboat is ran through a partnership with the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 Theatre Department and the Padelford Boat Company. The showboat has been a long time tradition with the University beginning in 1958. The University Theatre utilizes the showboat as a learning opportunity for its students to experience professional theatre.

The Showboat Players

The Showboat Players are a troupe of performers that are cast exclusively from students at the University of Minnesota. They perform a wide range of melodramas and comedies, plays most commonly viewed by 19th century audiences. The Showboat Players are most known for their whimsical olios. Many well-known performers today received their first taste of professional theatre as a Showboat Player; Loni Anderson

Loni Anderson

Loni Kaye Anderson is an American actress who played the role of Jennifer Marlowe on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.- Early life :...

, Linda Kelsey

Linda Kelsey

Linda Kelsey is an American television actress.Kelsey's professional career began with stage appearances in her home of Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her good looks and striking mane of red hair winning her success that ultimately landed her in Los Angeles in 1972, with appearances in small roles...

, Peter MacNicol

Peter MacNicol

Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean...

, Peter Michael Goetz

Peter Michael Goetz

Peter Michael Goetz is an American actor.Goetz was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Esther L. and Irving A. Goetz, a construction engineer. Goetz studied at the State University of New York at Fredonia, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the University of Minnesota, from which he...

, and Jon Cranney to name a few.

Olios

Olios are musical entertainment pieces performed either between scenes or as an afterpiece to relieve the tension created by the melodrama

Melodrama

The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...

 and its serious storyline. University of Minnesota Professor Robert Darrell Moulton, who created many of the olios performed, found it important to have the olios be in contrast to the play, but be in tune with its stylistically and thematically. The olios mainly depend on the performers' strengths; they may also use a clever "gimmick" or surprise. It is essential in an olio to present romance, nostalgia

Nostalgia

The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...

, color, extravagance, and affectionate fun. Olios have been a favorite among the Showboat audiences, and this is mainly due in part to Bob Moulton drawing upon his talents as a dancer, costumer, choreographer, and director.

Shows performed on the showboat

• 1958 Under the Gaslight
• 1959 Billy the Kid and She Stoops to Conquer
• 1960 Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway
• 1961 Bloomer Girl
• 1962 Rip van Winkle and The Merry Wives of Windsor
• 1963 Camille and Under the Gaslight
• 1964 A Midsummer Night's Dream and Zoey, or Life in Louisiana
• 1965 Because I Love You and Arms and the Man
• 1966 The Great Git-Away and Fashion
• 1967 Romeo and Juliet and Charley's Aunt
• 1968 The Rivals and Trelawny of the "Wells"
• 1969 The School for Scandal and The Birds
• 1970 Lady of Lyons and Tartuffe
• 1971 The Matchmaker and The Devil's Disciple
• 1972 Show Boat and The Madwoman of Chaillot
• 1973 A Midsummer Night's Dream and Stephen Foster
• 1974 The Importance of Being Earnest and The Tavern and Trial By Jury
• 1975 An Ideal Husband and The Magistrate
• 1976 The Streets of New York
• 1977 The Black Crook
• 1978 Dracula
• 1979 Dandy Dick
• 1980 Charley's Aunt
• 1981 Hazel Kirke
  Hazel Kirke
  Hazel Kirke is a play in four acts written by American actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye. The play was written between 1878 and 1879 in the town of Dublin, New Hampshire. MacKaye meant it to be expressly for New York City's Madison Square Theatre, which MacKaye had recently renovated and...
  
  
• 1982 The Belle of New York
• 1983 Florodora
• 1984 The Count of Monte Cristo
• 1985 The Girl of Golden West
• 1986 Sherlock Holmes
• 1987 The Bat
• 1988 Down River Ramble: A Mississippi Panorama
• 1989 Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
• 1990 The Moonstone
• 1991 Dracula
• 1992 Angel Street and The Mystery of Irma Vep
• 1993 The Mousetrap
  The Mousetrap
  The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far. It is the longest running show of the modern...
  
  
• 1994 Charley's Aunt
• 1995 Peg O' My Heart
• 1996 The Matchmaker
• 2002 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• 2003 Dracula
• 2004 The Mousetrap
  The Mousetrap
  The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far. It is the longest running show of the modern...
  
  
• 2005 Importance of Being Earnest
• 2006 Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway
• 2007 Sherlock's Last Case
• 2008 Count of Monte Cristo
• 2009 Is There a Doctor in the House?"
• 2010 Triumph of Love
• 2011 The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: The Melodrama of Sweeney Todd

History of the Minnesota Centennial Showboat

The University Theatre had been thinking of purchasing a showboat for sometime, but the cost and unavailability of suitable boats prevented it from continuing the Mississippi tradition of entertainment on the river. In 1956, with the 100th Anniversary of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 statehood fast approaching,University Theatre Director Frank M. Whiting judged a Miss Minnesota pageant with Tom Swain, Executive Director of the Minnesota Statehood Centennial Commission. The two discussed the idea, and both agreed a showboat would be a fitting addition to the Centennial festivities.

• 1899 The General John Newton, a 175 feet (53.3 m)-long paddlewheeler, is commissioned. Over the years, it is used as a maritime courthouse and is visited by at least four U.S. presidents.

• 1958 The boat is purchased by the University of Minnesota for $1 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In celebration of the state's centennial, the General John Newton is renamed and transformed into the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.

• 1993 In need of major repairs, the Showboat closes with Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.

• 1994-1999 All energies are put toward the capital campaign and renovation of the Showboat. Captain Bill Bowell of Padelford Packet Boat Company indicates interest in the project, while Saint Paul Mayor Norm Coleman
  Norm Coleman
  Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
  
   announces plans for Showboat's permanent home at Harriet Island Regional Park.

• Jan. 27, 2000 Fire, set by an errant welding spark, destroys the original Centennial Showboat.

• Dec. 8, 2000 University of Minnesota's Board of Regents approve partnership between the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, and the Padelford Packet Boat Company to build a brand new showboat.

• March 2001 Construction of the new showboat begins in Greenville, Mississippi
  Greenville, Mississippi
  Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
  
  .

• April 17, 2002 The Minnesota Centennial Showboat arrives at its new docking site at Harriet Island Regional Park. Hundreds are there to welcome its triumphant return.

• July 4, 2002 The new Showboat, named the Frank Whiting, opens Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

• June 2003 Dracula, directed by Charles Nolte, opens to sold-out houses.

• April 2004 The Minnesota Centennial Showboat wins the "Tourism Partner of the Year" award from the St.Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau.

• June 2004 Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap returns to the Showboat

• August 2004 A joint scholarship formed between the Padelford Company and the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance awards its first recipients.

• January 2005 Minnesota Meetings and Events magazine names the U of M Showboat Players "Best Entertainment" and the Minnesota Centennial Showboat "Most Unique Venue"

• June 2005 Directed by alum Jon Cranney, The Importance of Being Earnest opens June 17.

• June 2006 Directed by alum Vern Sutton, Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway opened June 16.

• June 2007 Directed by Stephen Kanee, Sherlock's Last Case opens June 15.