Here Comes the Showboat!
Betty Bryant. University Press of Kentucky, $24.95 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-8131-1862-8
Three generations of Bryants who plied the Ohio River as showboat entertainers are the subject of this memoir. The author, a ``river rat'' who made her acting debut when she was six weeks old playing the baby in Uncle Tom's Cabin , recounts the vaudeville acts and melodramas that entertained audiences from the riverbank communities. Rich in anecdotes and character sketches, Bryant's delightful book recalls that last-minute substitutions were easily made, since all members of the troupe knew all the lines of every play; the crew also helped out in emergencies. The author's father sold his showboat in 1943 during the waning days of this sort of entertainment; a scale model of Bryant's Showboat is now on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution. Photos not seen by PW. (June)
Details
Reviewed on: 06/06/1994
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 219 pages - 978-0-8131-4996-7
Paperback - 216 pages - 978-0-8131-2967-9