Bring Back Our Show Boat !
The Chesapeake Bay Floating Theatre was organized to "Bring Back Our Show Boat". We are working to build and operate a replica of the original James Adams Floating Theatre. Using donations generously provided by private donors we will construct a Show Boat, as accurately as possible, to the James Adams of the early 1900's. We will take performances from town to town around the mid-Atlantic region, to many of the same ports where the original James Adams played.
Once built the James Adams II will operate as both a performance space and a museum. The Show Boat will house exhibits on subjects such as:
- the Original Show Boat
- the cast and crew
- Edna Ferber and her novel Show Boat
- Jerome Kern and Hamerstein II stage show of Show Boat
- Show Boat movies (1929, 1936, 1951)
- Repertory theatre, Vaudeville and Melodrama
- as well as other related topics.
The James Adams II will also present more contemporary light comedies and musicals. We will perform from a repertoire of 3 - 5 different productions. We intend to present a different show each night like the original floating theatre.
We are currently searching for a steel sea service barge 35 - 50 feet in width and 130 - 150 feet in length. We hope to find a donor for this barge. If a donor can not be found we will purchase an appropriate barge as funds allow. We anticipate that such a barge will cost $250,000 or more.
With the acquisition of the barge, construction will begin. Current estimates are that the James Adams II will cost approximately $2.5 Million dollars to build. We are seeking grant funding to support performances as well as educational and interpretive projects. However grant sources do not generally fund constuction. Therefore we are relying on private funding to make our Capital Funding initiative successful.
With as little as $20 from enough people we can move ahead rapidly to "Bring Back Our Show Boat".
