{"id":8514,"date":"2011-06-28T15:02:41","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T19:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=8514"},"modified":"2011-06-28T15:03:16","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T19:03:16","slug":"theater-on-the-river-the-showboat-majestic-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2011\/06\/theater-on-the-river-the-showboat-majestic-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Theater on the River: The Showboat Majestic Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Theater<\/a><\/p>\n

By Suzanne Maggard<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1967, the City of Cincinnati purchased an old showboat named the Majestic <\/em>and docked it at Cincinnati\u2019s Public Landing.\u00a0 The city was in the process of attempting to revive its riverfront and thought the boat, which spoke to an earlier era of river travel, might be a perfect addition.\u00a0 To keep the tradition of the showboat alive, the city leased this boat to the University of Cincinnati, and in the summer of 1968, UC theater students began performing on the Majestic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Majestic<\/em> is the last of the \u201cfloating theaters\u201d once common along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.\u00a0 Showboats like the Majestic<\/em> provided a form of traveling entertainment to people who lived in isolated river towns in the 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> centuries.\u00a0 The first showboats began to appear at the turn of the 19th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 In 1817, Noah Ludlow and his troupe of actors began traveling by boat, but William Chapman\u2019s Floating Theater is the first documented showboat.\u00a0 \u201cShowboats\u201d provided a variety of entertainment from combined museums and theaters to floating circuses to disreputable gambling boats, strip shows, and medicine shows.\u00a0 Although the Civil War halted traveling river entertainment, showboats were revived in the 1870s with performances including vaudeville, melodrama, and variety acts.\u00a0 The larger showboats, including the Majestic<\/em>, were barges without their own engines, which allowed for a large theater.\u00a0 They traveled the river with the help of a tugboat.<\/p>\n

\"Theater<\/a>

Photograph of the Majestic's stage from Catherine Reynolds King's memoir.<\/p><\/div>\n

Built in 1923, the Majestic<\/em> was the third showboat owned by Tom Reynolds and his brother-in-law and business partner, Thomas Nichols.\u00a0 His first showboat, the Illinois<\/em>, was a tradeboat selling glassware, graniteware, china, pottery, tin, and ironware before Reynolds bought equipment to show movies in 1912.\u00a0 The Illinois<\/em> was lost in a fire when a projector spark ignited highly flammable nitrate movie film.\u00a0 Reynolds was passionate about his business, though, and wasted little time building a second showboat.\u00a0\u00a0 The America<\/em>, a drama and vaudeville showboat with a professional troupe of actors and musicians, was launched in 1917.\u00a0 Business was so successful that Reynolds and Nichols, decided to build a larger boat at the close of the 1922 season.\u00a0 They named the new boat, the Majestic<\/em>.\"Theater<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Reynolds and his family lived and performed on the boat as they traveled the Ohio River and its tributaries.\u00a0\u00a0 After World War II and with his family grown, Reynolds found it harder to maintain the showboat lifestyle.\u00a0 Starting in 1945, he began leasing the Majestic<\/em> to Kent State University and Hiram College for a summer theater experience for their students.\u00a0 In 1959, Indiana University bought the Majestic<\/em>, but Reynolds continued to pilot the boat until his death in December of 1959.<\/p>\n

In 1965, the Majestic<\/em> was declared unsafe to travel under federal legislation and it was dry docked in Jeffersonville, Indiana.\u00a0 In the late 1960s, after the Majestic was purchased by the City of Cincinnati, theater students at the University of Cincinnati began regular performances on the boat.\u00a0 At first, the performances were only in the summers, but during the 1970s, fall and spring performances were added.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1988, UC ended its lease of the Majestic<\/em>.\u00a0 Cincinnati Landmark Productions<\/a>, in cooperation with the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, now operates the Showboat Majestic <\/em>and continues the tradition.\u00a0 This summer\u2019s shows include 42nd<\/sup> Street<\/em>, Art of Murder<\/em> and The 25th<\/sup> Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Theater<\/a>

Showboat Follies, 1982<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re interested in learning more about UC\u2019s connection to the Showboat Majestic<\/em>, the Archives and Rare Books Library holds two collections containing Showboat Majestic<\/em> material including programs, posters, photos, budgets for each season, and other interesting information like security reports, correspondence with customers, and health inspection reports.\u00a0 Findings aids for both collections are available on the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository \u2013 UA-89-49<\/a> and UA-90-26<\/a> or contact the Archives and Rare Books Library at archives@ucmail.uc.edu<\/a> or 513-556-1959.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for more information, but aren\u2019t ready to dive into the archives, UC\u2019s libraries holds several books on showboats and the showboat era including:<\/p>\n

Here Comes the Showboat<\/em> by Betty Bryant \u2013 Langsam Library\u00a0PN2293.S4 B79 1994<\/a><\/p>\n

Showboats; the History of an American Institution<\/em> by Philip Graham \u00a0– Langsam Library\u00a0PN2293.S4 G7<\/a><\/p>\n

A History of Showboats on the Western Rivers<\/em> by Duane Eldon Read \u2013 Langsam Library PN2293.S4 R42<\/a><\/p>\n

Catherine Reynolds King , daughter of Tom Reynolds, wrote a history of Showboat Majestic and the life of Tom Reynolds entitled Cargo of Memories<\/em> which is available in the CCM Library PN2293.S4 K56<\/a><\/p>\n

You can also try searching Summon<\/a> for a list of journal, newspaper articles, and e-books related to showboats, or photographs of the showboat Majestic are also available on the Ohio Memory Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other References:<\/p>\n

“Showboat”\u00a0\u00a0The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre<\/em>. Ed. Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online<\/em>. Oxford University Press.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.oxfordreference.com\/views\/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t79.e2805<\/a> (accessed June 28, 2011).<\/p>\n

“Showboat Pilot Dies.” New York Times (1923-Current File),<\/em> Dec 18, 1959, http:\/\/search.proquest.com\/docview\/114806576?accountid=2909<\/a> (accessed June 28, 2011). <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Suzanne Maggard In 1967, the City of Cincinnati purchased an old showboat named the Majestic and docked it at Cincinnati\u2019s Public Landing.\u00a0 The city was in the process of attempting to revive its riverfront and thought the boat, which … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[53,52,58],"class_list":["post-8514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-uclibraries","tag-cincinnati-history","tag-uc-history","tag-urban-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}