NRR Project: ‘Show
Boat’
Music by Jerome Kern;
Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Performed by the cast
of the 1932 revival
Show Boat started a revolution in musical theater.
Until it premiered, musicals were scattershot affairs – loose collections of
sketches and songs, or light-hearted fluff and farce, or operettas set in
imaginary European kingdoms. With the creation of Show Boat, a musical
with three-dimensional characters and a serious plot, the musical grew up.
It didn’t hurt that
some of America’s most enduring ballads are studded throughout the work.
“Bill,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine,” “Make Believe,” “You Are Love,”
and of course the iconic “Ol’ Man River – all are classics that continue to be
performed today by jazz and cabaret artists. The songs all serve to advance the
plot, and stand on their own as well, as all catchy tunes should.
The musical was adapted
from a 1926 novel by the best-selling author Edna Ferber. It’s an epic story
that plays out between 1887 and 1927, from the banks of the Mississippi to the
theaters of New York City, encompassing the evolution of American music from
old-time sentimental ballads through bluesy torch songs and on to jazzy
standards. Kern had plenty of
practice as a songsmith – he’d already been in the business for 20 years, and
had cranked out 16 musicals between 1915 and 1920. Hammerstein was similarly
experienced.
The story involves
the steamboat Cotton Blossom, which serves as a floating, traveling
theater along the banks of the Mississippi River. Its owners, Cap’n Andy and
Parthy, have a daughter, Magnolia. When it revealed that the show’s leading
lady, Julie, is of mixed race, she is forced to leave the show boat. Her role is
taken over by Magnolia, who acts opposite the charming gambler Gaylord Ravenal.
Magnolia and Gaylord
end up together and have a daughter, but, impoverished and ashamed, Gaylord
leaves the two of them. Magnolia goes on to be a successful singer in a club
thanks to the selfless sacrifice of Julie. Twenty years later, Magnolia and
Gaylord are reunited at their daughter’s Broadway debut.
The musical was the
first to deal with racism, and has been accused of a kind of racism itself.
While the “n-word” is bandied about freely in the original script, later times
have caused alternations to accommodate better sensibilities. It deals frankly
with the scourges of the time: the segregation of black and white populations, the
inability of a mixed-race person to be thought of as little better than an
animal. No one had tried to seriously engage these thorny issues on stage
before. Merely the act of having black and white performers on stage together
was seen as the breaking of a taboo.
The recording is interesting,
as is the comprehensive and explanatory essay by Todd Decker, which you canread here. The cast is that of the first Broadway revival of the musical, in
1932. It features eight musical pieces, six songs and two medleys.
Interestingly, the arrangements are unique to the recording, not taken from the
score of the musical.
Of particular merit
are the performances of Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson. Morgan, a well-known
torch singer, was the original Julie, and her renditions of “Bill” and “Can’t
Help . . .” are iconic – musically superior and heart-rending. And, of course,
Robeson is purely and magnetically Robeson in the role he originated in the
London production, a role no one else could play to satisfaction. (An unnamed
baritone reprises “Ol’ Man River” in the Finale, and it is obvious not Robeson.)
This became his signature
song, one he would reprise with more hopeful lyrics throughout his career. It’s
the best remembered song from a history-making production.
The National Recording
Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in
the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next up: Voices from the Days of Slavery.