Here Comes the Showboat!

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)