Initial casting includes Tony nominee Vanessa Williams as Julie, Julian Ovenden as Gaylord Ravenal and Lauren Worsham as Magnolia, all in their Philharmonic debuts. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

The performances will be conducted and directed by Tony winner Ted Sperling.

Based on a best-selling novel by Edna Ferber, Show Boat, according to press notes, "tells the 40-year story of the lives of performers, stagehands, and dock workers who are the denizens of the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat." Highlights of the score include “Ol’ Man River,” “Make Believe” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.”

Broadway’s most-revived and revised work, Show Boat was the first musical ever performed by an opera company — by New York City Opera in 1954. Recent productions have garnered the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (1995) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival (1991).

Tickets for Show Boat start at $89. Tickets are available now through July 11 only to 2014–15 New York Philharmonic subscribers online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656.

Tickets will become available to the general public July 14, at which time tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org, by calling (212) 875-5656, or at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office.