Opera North, Leeds/Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford upon Avon/London Palladium (two seasons)/Two National Tours - 1989/92.

Cast: Linda Kitchen,  Rosa Mannion, Peter Savidge, Jason Howard, Sally Burgess, Bruce Hubbard, Karla Burns, Trevor Peacock, Dilys Laye/ Janis Kelly,Margaret Courtenay, Simon Green, Caroline O'Connor, Janie Dee.

"Ian Judge’s production is done with zest and affection: it avoids any pitfalls and potential sentimentality, and makes its effects through honest emotion, fun, wit and with the set-piece love scenes done so lovingly that only the hardest of hearts could fail to find them melting." - Daily Telegraph

"A great and inspiring evening." - The Times

"Exaggerated claims may sometimes be made for SHOW BOAT as a musical but no praise can be too high for Ian Judge’s Opera North-RSC production now installed at the London Palladium. In an age when musicals are full of tinny, underpowered voices it induces a feeling of giddy ecstasy to hear Jerome Kern’s numbers so beautifully sung." - The Guardian

"Director Ian Judge adds genuine sexiness and toughness in order to rid the show of its unfair reputation for a certain slick superficiality. Judge’s production has a robustness and even a raunchiness that makes this sprawling story as fresh today as it ever was." - Daily Express

"Ian Judge’s cunningly paced and stylish production. It’s strengths are dramatic fluidity and considerable musical finesse." - The Times

"Catching the gaudy and resonant diversity of the work with accomplished versatility, Ian Judge’s superlative production makes this SHOW BOAT a show-piece." - Independent