HERMANN, MO. — In Hermann, the Showboat Community Theatre sits quietly on East Fourth Street. With its plush carpets and old wooden structure, the 90-year-old theater stands as what could best be described as a time capsule to the past.
Inside, a pianist’s silhouette bounces against the theater’s burgundy walls as a line of nuns amble down the aisles, singing in unison. Soon, Maria will sing “The Hills are Alive.” Six days from opening night, the “Sound of Music” cast — half of which are from St.
Louis, half of which are from Hermann — rehearse together for the first time. The cast has been collaborating together over Zoom, with many members making the 90-minute trip multiple times a week to practice. The performance is the result of a collaboration between R-S Theatrics, a professional theater company from St.
Louis, and Half Act Theatre Company, a youth theater troupe from Hermann, coming together for the first time to form what is called the Riverside Theatre Project. “Sometimes people bring theaters to towns that have a smaller, more rural population as a way of being a tourism draw, and I really wanted to create something for the people that are already here,” Christina Rios, artistic director of the project and founder of R-S Theatrics, says. Like the hills, the historic Showboat theater is alive with music.
But it hasn’t always been like this. For months, members from both R-S Theatrics and Half Act have been scrubbing floors, clearing the balco.