Central City Opera to Conclude 2013 Festival with SHOW BOAT, 8/6-11

As its final presentation of the 2013 Festival, Central City Opera (CCO) will feature a new production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's glorious American musical, Show Boat, in Denver at the Buell Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The production opens on August 6 with seven performances running through August 11. Show Boat will be performed in English.

This musical, written in 1927 by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, tells the story of the workers on a Mississippi showboat over the course of 50 years, from 1880 to 1927. The musical was innovative for its time, combining the lightness and spectacle of musical theater with the serious themes of racial prejudice and tragic love. Revivals of Show Boat, which features songs such as "Ol' Man River", "Make Believe", and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," have won both the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (1995) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival (2008).

On August 10, people can top off their Show Boat in Denver experience with a fun après show masquerade ball in the heart of downtown hosted by Central City Opera's group of young movers and shakers, The Scene. Attendees can indulge in cocktails delicious creole cuisine; test their lady luck at the Riverboat Royale casino with black jack and roulette; dance the night away to live hot jazz; and bid on silent auction items to benefit Central City Opera. Riverboat Royale will be held at the Dikeou Collection, located at 16th and California in downtown Denver. For the matinee and Riverboat Royale event, tickets are $95. The patron ticket, which includes the matinee, Riverboat Royale event with open bar, a gift bag and signed show poster is $125. Tickets to the Riverboat Royale post-show event only are $50. Visit http://www.centralcityopera.org/riverboat or call 303-292-6700 for more information or to purchase tickets.

Single tickets start at $20 with two-show subscriptions starting at just $32. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.centralcityopera.org or call 303-292-6700.