Show boat
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Show boat |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Jerome Kern |
| Premiere: | December 27, 1927 |
| Place of premiere: | Ziegfeld Theater - New York City |
| Place and time of the action: | 1880-1927: Natchez, Mississippi; Chicago, Illinois; Cotton Blossom theater ship |
| Roles / people | |
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Show Boat is a musical in two acts based on the novel of the same name by Edna Ferber with music by Jerome Kern and text and book by Oscar Hammerstein II . Show Boat has been staged almost every decade since it premiered in 1927. The versions of the first two decades had the greatest influence on subsequent productions.
history
History of origin
Edna Ferber was initially skeptical when Jerome Kern approached her with his plan to turn Show Boat into a musical. She feared a reduction and humorous change in the plot and, as Lauren Acton concludes from Ferber's autobiography, could only be fully convinced when she heard the song Ol 'Man River and was deeply touched by it. Ferber's novel deals with serious topics such as racism, marital problems and alcoholism, which in the 1920s was by no means considered suitable for music. The producer, Florenz Ziegfeld , initially had great reservations about bringing Show Boat to the stage, even though the text book inspired him. Even during the premiere, he was firmly convinced that the musical had been a bad investment. Ultimately, however, Show Boat became the most successful production of his career.
Show Boat pioneered the golden age of Broadway musical. During this time, what sets American musical theater apart from other forms of musical theater was consolidated: the integration of dance, song, text, design and acting in favor of the development of the narrated story.
reception
From the start, critics agreed that Show Boat was a milestone in musical history. The design of the musical as a drama and its serious subject matter as well as the amalgamation of musical comedy and operetta , which is the reason why Show Boat is often referred to as the first musical play , are considered special . Musical play is characterized by the fact that it deals with a serious topic in everyday life for ordinary people and encourages the audience to empathize with the topic. It unfolds in a dialogue that is very close to the natural way of speaking. All elements help to advance the development of the story in interesting and increasing drama. For this purpose, music is composed that does not correspond to the usual compositional rules of the arioso operetta or the concise musical comedy, which is mostly focused on hits, amusement and stars.
Show Boat is referred to as the first book musical after Siedhoff, because, although George Gershwin's Book Musical Lady, Be Good already existed in 1927 , it was the first musical that dealt intensively with the theater world and presented it to the audience with its beautiful and ugly sides . It thus placed the focus that is characteristic of the book musical on the characters, their moods and the situations in which they find themselves.
While Show Boat was n't the first musical production to feature a mixed cast of black and white performers, the musical has been accused of racism and stereotyping since its premiere due to its popularity and notoriety. Consequently, every new staging has to face the contemporary implementation of the questionable scenes in the musical (see section “Criticism: Racism”).
Another ongoing point of criticism is directed against the second act of the musical, because next to the detailed and musically brilliant first act, it appears colorless. Too long periods of time must be summarized in the second act (1893–1927); the unrealistic clashes of the main characters and the happy ending, in which all the main characters are still alive and - in contrast to the novel - are reunited, seem forced. The role of Kim, the daughter of Gaylord (and Magnolia) Ravenal, remains unclear, her musical numbers have been changed over the years or even completely deleted.
Despite the groundbreaking character of Show Boat , there was “radio silence” for almost ten years and developments in the field of musicals went back towards operettas and musical comedy. It was only Gershwin's Broadway opera Porgy and Bess that followed in Show Boat's footsteps again .
Performance history
Show Boat has the longest-running performance history in Broadway musical history. From major Broadway revivals in almost every decade since it premiered to small performances across the US, Show Boat has obviously lost none of its appeal despite its nearly 90-year history. In Germany Show Boat was performed for the first time in 1970 in Freiburg im Breisgau under the title Das Komödiantenschiff (translation: Janne Furch) . The first German version, based closely on the original from 1927, comes from Marcel Prawy ; it was premiered on March 1, 1971 in the Volksoper Vienna .
In addition to the Broadway premiere in 1927, important productions by Show Boat are the first production in London at the Theater Royal Drury Lane in 1928, the production from 1946, as at the premiere also at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York, with Kern and Hammerstein II as producers as well as the 1994 Broadway production under Harold Prince .
action
Show Boat not only covers a span of 40 years in different locations, it also deals with ethnic conflicts, broken marriages and self-reflections on theater life. Set along the Mississippi River and in Chicago , it deals with the lives of poor black ship workers as well as the white artist troupe.
It all begins in 1880 with a scene on the deck of the Cotton Blossom, a theater ship as there were many in the USA at the time. With great drama and glamor, the Cotton Blossom is announcing the next few days of performances for the residents of Natchez. When the Natchez Sheriff finds out that Julie LaVerne, the ship's star, has black and white parents, Cap'n Andy and his wife Parthy are forced to evict them from the ship. The first ethnic question arises when Julie's husband Steve cuts her finger and licks the blood off as a sign that he now also has black blood in him and that the marriage is therefore not unlawful. To save the performances, the captain's daughter, Magnolia, replaces the role of Julie along with the handsome gambler Gaylord Ravenal, who takes on Steve's part. The two fall in love, marry and finally leave the Cotton Blossom to live in Chicago.
Andy and Parthy visit Magnolia and Gaylord for the 1893 World's Fair. Parthy is still skeptical of Gaylord - and rightly so, because Gaylord's addiction to gambling does not end, and when his debts get too big he leaves Magnolia and their daughter Kim. Two old friends from the Cotton Blossom artist group, Frank and Ellie, who represent the typical amusing secondary couple, have become successful Vaudeville stars and arrive at Magnolia at the time it was left by Gaylord. They help her in her need by establishing contact with the Trocadero, where she applies for the job as a singer, which Julie LaVerne, who has become an alcoholic, holds. This disappears for Magnolia's sake when she recognizes her during the audition. On New Year's Eve Magnolia makes her debut at the Trocadero, where Captain Andy is also in the audience and saves the performance through his trust in his daughter.
In 1927 Magnolia and Kim are successful singers. Andy meets Gaylord Ravenal by chance and invites him to the big reunion of the old Cotton Blossom artist troupe. When Magnolia and Gaylord see each other, the long separation seems to have been forgotten for both. In the background of the main plot runs the story of Joe, the colored shipworker, and his wife Queenie, the cook of the Cotton Blossom, who grapple with the white-dominated (theater) world and still get hardly any attention and like the Mississippi River endure everything and spend one day at a time.
Scenes and numbers
The following scenes can be found in the version from 1946:
| scene | number | occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Act 1 , Scene 1: 1880 - Natchez Mississippi Embankment, Show Boat Cotton Blossom | Cotton Blossom , Where's the Mate for Me? , Make Believe , Ol 'Man River | Choir, Gaylord Ravenal, Magnolia and Gaylord, Joe |
| Scene 2 - Cotton Blossom's Kitchen | Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Man | Julie LaVerne |
| Scene 3 - games room near the river | Till Good Luck Comes My Way | Gaylord |
| Scene 4 - Cotton Blossom auditorium | Mis'ry's Comin 'Aroun' | Queenie |
| Scene 5 - the box office on the foredeck | Life on the Wicked Stage , Queenie's Ballyhoo | Ellie May Chipley, Queenie |
| 6th scene - auditorium and stage during the III. Nudes from The Parson's Bride | ||
| 7th scene - upper deck | You are love | Magnolia and Gaylord |
| Scene 8 - Natchez Embankment of the Mississippi, Show Boat Cotton Blossom | Finale I. | Choir |
| Act 2 , Scene 1, 1893 - Chicago Expo amusement park | At the Fair , Why Do I Love You? , In Dahomey | Choir, Magnolia and Gaylord, Choir |
| Scene 2, 1904 - Chicago Expo amusement park | ||
| Scene 3 - St. Agatha's Convent, Chicago | Convent scene | Choir |
| 4th scene - Trocadero's rehearsal room | Bill , Reprise: Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Man | Julie, Magnolia |
| Scene 5 - Corner in the foyer of the Sherman House | ||
| Scene 6 - Trocadero decorated for New Years Eve | Trocadero Opening Chorus , After the Ball , Goodbye, My Lady Love | Chorus, Magnolia, Ellie and Frank |
| Scene 7 - Street outside the Natchez Newspaper Office, Evening Bulletin | Reprise: Ol 'Man River , Hey, Feller! | Joe, Queenie and Chorus |
| 8th scene - upper deck | Reprise: You Are Love | Gaylord |
| Scene 9, 1927 - Natchez embankment, with the modernized Cotton Blossom | Reprise: Cotton Blossom , Nobody Else But Me , Finale Ultimo | Chorus, Kim, Joe and Chorus |
layout
book
Even after the premiere, Show Boat's originality and importance for the development of the musical was recognized by the critics. The most frequent criticism to this day is directed against the libretto , especially against the bridging of the 40-year period, the unrealistic coincidences of the reunion in the second act and the quite kitschy ending, which is seen as a concession to the usual musical comedy. Nevertheless, the precision of the musical theater dramaturgy of the first act remains a masterpiece. At a time when musical comedy mostly only pursued the goal of superficial amusement for the audience, Jerome Kern had the vision of the musical as an all-encompassing, holistic and complex work of art. In collaboration with Hammerstein II, he showed how music, text, design and drama could be combined and interwoven, starting from the textbook. For him, the text book was the basis on which a score could be created. This can be seen particularly well at the beginning of the first act: the mood is already colored within the first scenes by the songs and ensemble numbers, the characters and problems can develop into three-dimensionality and drama on this basis. If an emotional, atmospheric or dramatic climax is reached, this culminates in a musical number and turns out Show Boat as a true book musical.
Ol 'Man River is not only the most famous song in the musical and an evergreen, it also describes the tenor of the musical's content: a comparison of the living conditions of the white and black artists and workers around the Cotton Blossom. In the text, he depicts the oppressive, discriminatory circumstances and the struggle with these conditions of the black population, but without denouncing the obvious racism or inciting to protest against these conditions.
music
Ol 'Man River is the centerpiece of the score. On the one hand the song focuses on the Mississippi River, on the other hand it expresses feelings of oppression and discrimination - sung by the black ship worker Joe - through the musically and lyrically brilliant mixture of resignation and conflict: “I'm tired of livin ' , but scared of dyin '". Incessantly like the flow of the river, the melody moves up and down in waves, sometimes cheerful, then again melancholy, with dramatic climbs that end again and again in the uniform flow of the Mississippi: “but Ol 'Man River, he just keeps rollin' along ".
Old Man River is repeated four times as a musical theme throughout the musical and is the main leitmotif for the immutability of black lives. The fact that the first rhyme "cotton - forgotten" only appears on the diminished seventh chord , which has been delayed by a suggestion, artfully depicts the pain sustained over centuries with two chords and two words. Ol 'Man River has elements of with the pentatonic melody and the harmonic pendulum Spiritual and blues on. The song requires a large vocal range and a powerful voice like Paul Robeson's .
Kern presents the Mississippi, which represents the personification of the black workers on board the ship, repeatedly through the interval of a pure fourth, as for example in Cotton Blossom , Ol 'Man River or in the Mis'ry theme . When Parthy appears for the first time, the interval of the pure fourth is broken and symbolized by the fact that Parthy is not part of the natural way of life of the river, but leads the artificial life of a white man.
The music in Show Boat is a mixture of African American music as well as styles and techniques that are at home in Europe - theatrical and musical expressions from the 1880s to 1920s. The range of styles extends from the Tin Pan Alley -inspired songs ( Why Do I Love You? , Hey, Feller ) about romantic, ajar to operettas ballads ( You are Love , Make Believe ) to blue-based numbers ( not Can Help Lovin 'Dat Man ). To emphasize the epic character of Show Boat , Kern integrated different musical numbers into the narrative, which represented the respective epoch. For the New Year's Eve scene he used z. For example the songs known in the 1880s and 1890s After the Ball , Goodbye My Lady Love , Washington Post March and At a Georgia Camp Meeting . In summary, it can be said that Show Boat combines aspects of operetta, musical comedy and vaudeville and opera.
The characters are musically accompanied by leitmotifs and their presence and characteristics are made clear. Ravenal's appearance is underlined, for example, by a theme that harmoniously depicts his aimlessness and restlessness: an ambiguous accompaniment that may not find a tonal center ; this only happens when he meets Magnolia. Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Man is the song that, with its typical twelve-bar blues scheme, the blue notes and the classic AABA form of Tin Pan Alley, takes the calm, rural America of the late 19th century to wild, urban America of the 20th century best symbolized in Show Boat . When Magnolia tries to imitate the song, a funny scene emerges that leads the viewer to believe that in the music world, blacks and whites get along well despite the boundary of skin color. The imitation shows, like the later blackface number Gallivantin 'Aroun' from the 1936 film, that at the time the way white people sang black songs always seemed artificial and had the bitter aftertaste of mockery.
Film adaptations
There are a total of three film adaptations of Show Boat from the years 1929 (Universal), 1936 (Universal) and 1951 (MGM) . The first film adaptation from 1929 - initially available as a silent film - was based primarily on the novel by Edna Ferber. However, some numbers from the musical were added as it was hugely influential and successful just two years after its premiere. In 1936 a full film adaptation of the musical was finally released. This film adaptation is much more similar to the Broadway Show than the 1951 film adaptation, which is why it is often considered to be the more authentic by musical lovers.
Criticism: racism
Like the other three musicals that revolutionized American musicals after Hoffman ( Oklahoma ! , A Chorus Line, and West Side Story ), Show Boat deals with ethnic issues. Show Boat is rated by some critics as a racist musical, by others as a - for the time - realistic-critical, but nevertheless sensitive representation of the relationships between whites and blacks.
Traditionally, viewers would expect attractive showgirls in the first act of a musical, but instead at Show Boat they saw black dock workers singing about their busy lives - in contrast to the cheerful and casual life of whites - and working on the river. The ethnic message of the musical was clear from the start: blacks enable white society to live in comfort and luxury. The opening choir was directly intended through its first word "Niggers" to evoke an emotional reaction in the predominantly white audience. On the one hand, Show Boat wanted to question the tragedy of racism of the 1880s, on the other hand it inevitably reinforced the stereotypical view of the black population.
The opening choir can serve as an illustration of the changes over the years. The 1927 production read: "Niggers all work on de Mississippi" while black dock workers pushed large bales of cotton across the stage. Over the years the word “nigger” has been replaced by “Darkies”, “Here we all”, “Colored folk” and the opening choir has been omitted entirely.
The criticism of Show Boat focuses on the following aspects: African Americans are portrayed in subordinate roles and stereotypically; especially the two main characters Queenie and Joe show no character development in the decades that the musical includes, and speak in childish, simplified and abbreviated English, and they are irrelevant to the actual main plot. The white characters are privileged - just because of their skin color - to be allowed to shape their own future, they can choose how they appear, how they want to portray themselves, whereas the black characters are not granted this luxury, they remain on the same social and economic status.
In the scene of the Chicago World's Fair, black singers are portrayed dancing wildly to show their savagery to the white audience, while they actually only long for their home, New York. In order to be able to make a living, they have to appear in a kind of double blackface and, through their acting, reinforce the unrealistic prejudices of whites against the black population. The blackface theme was also topical in the first production, because the cook Queenie was played by a white actress in the blackface. In no other scene is racism as pointedly expressed as in the scene in which Julie's origin - the daughter of a black mother and a white father - is revealed and she then has to leave the boat with her white husband due to their intercultural marriage.
Discography (selection)
- Show Boat, Original cast (1928): Showstoppers: Historic Victor Recordings. BMG 9590-2 R (CD). Include: 'Ol' Man River '(Paul Robeson),' Bill '(Helen Morgan).
- Show Boat, Original revival cast (1946). Jan Clayton, Carol Bruce, Charles Fredericks, Kenneth Spencer, Helen Dowdy, Edwin McArthur (conductor). Sony 53330 (CD).
- Show Boat, Original Lincoln Center revival cast (1966): Barbara Cook, Constance Towers, Stephen Douglass, David Wayne, William Warfield, Franz Allers (conductor). RCA LSO 112 (CD).
- Show Boat, London cast (1971): Cleo Laine, Thomas Carey, Lorna Dallas, Kenneth Nelson, Andrew Jobin, Ena Cabayo, Ray Cook (conductor). Stanyon Records 10048 (LP).
- Show Boat, Studio cast (1988): Frederika von Stade, Teresa Stratas, Jerry Hadley, Paige O'Hara, David Garrison, Bruce Hubbard, John Mc Glinn (conductor). EMI / Angel CDS 7-49108-2 (CD).
- Show Boat, 1993 Toronto Revival Cast (1994): Rebecca Luker, Lonette McKee, Mark Jacoby, Elaine Stritch, Michel Bell, Gretha Boston, Robert Morse, Jeffery Huard (conductor). Quality 257 (CD).
- The Ultimate Show Boat, 1928-1947 (Original, Revival and Studio Cast Anthology) (1999). Pearl GEMS 0060 (CD).
The recording from 1988 under the direction of John McGlinn is widely praised and gives a good overview of all productions between 1927 and 1946 and the 1936 film.
Web links
- Show Boat in the Internet Broadway Database
- Information on Show Boat , especially the institution of Show Boats, compiled by the dramaturge Wiebke Hetmanek
literature
- Edna Ferber : Show Boat. Roman (Original Title: Show Boat ). German by Gertrud von Hollander . Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1990, 352 pp. ISBN 978-3-404-11552-5 . - previous issues of this translation were also titled The comedians ship released
- Acton, Lauren: Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, in: M. Sala (Ed.): From stage to screen. Musical films in Europe and United States (1927–1961) , Turnhout 2012, pp. 1–17.
- Banfield, Stephen: Jerome Kern , Series Yale Broadway masters , New Haven u. a. 2006.
- Bering, Rüdiger: Musical , [DuMont pocket books], 512: DuMont crash course, Cologne 2006.
- Block, Geoffrey Holden: Enchanted evenings, The Broadway musical from "Show boat" to Sondheim , New York a. a. 1997.
- Bordman, Gerald M .: American musical theater, A chronicle , New York a. a. 1992.
- Decker, Todd: Race, Ethnicity, Performance in: R. Knapp, M. Morris, SE Wolf (Eds.): The Oxford handbook of the American musical , New York 2011, pp. 197–209.
- Furia, Philip / Lasser, Michael L .: America's songs, The stories behind the songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley , New York 2006.
- Graziano, John: Images of African Americans: African-American musical theater, Show Boat and Pergy and Bess , in: WA Everett, PR Laird (Ed.): The Cambridge companion to the musical , Cambridge u. a. 2002, pp. 63-76.
- Hoffman, Warren: The Great White Way, Race and the Broadway musical , New Brunswick, NJ u. a. 2014.
- Internet Broadway Database, Show Boat , undated
- Kenrick, John, Comparative Cast CD Reviews V, Show Boat. Sound of Music. South Pacific, http://www.musicals101.com/cdcomps5.htm#Showboat , undated
- Kislan, Richard: The musical, A look at the American musical theater , New York 1995.
- Knapp, Raymond: The American musical and the formation of national identity , Princeton, NJ u. a. 2005.
- Kowalke, Kim H .: The Golden Age of Musicals , in: R. Bering (Hrsg.), Musical. The entertaining genre , Laaber 2002.
- Siedhoff, Thomas: Das Handbuch des Musicals, The most important titles from A to Z , Mainz 2007.
- Stempel, Larry: Showtime, A history of the Broadway musical theater , New York, NY 2010.
- The Guide To Musical Theater 2015, Show Boat, http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_s/show_boat.htm# , undated
- The Society Of London Theater, Olivier Winners 1991, http://www.olivierawards.com/winners/view/item98525/olivier-winners-1991/ .
Individual evidence
- ^ Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 554
- ^ Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 552
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, Jan.
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, 2
- ↑ Furia, Lasser, America's songs, 57
- Jump up ↑ Furia, Lasser, America's songs, 59
- ^ Kowalke, The Golden Age of Musicals, 137ff
- ^ Bering, Musical, 51
- ^ Stamp, Showtime, 201
- ^ Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 554
- ↑ Kislan, The musical, 123
- ^ Bordman, American musical theater, 435
- ^ Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 555–556
- ↑ Kislan, The musical, 117
- ^ Graziano, Images of African Americans: African-American musical theater, Show Boat and Porgy and Bess, 74
- ↑ Banfield, Jerome Kern, 176ff
- ↑ Bering, Musical, 56ff
- ^ Stamp, Showtime, 200
- ^ Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 552
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 26ff
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, 3
- ^ The Guide to Musical Theater 2015, Show Boat
- ^ Bordman, American musical theater, 434
- ^ Bering, Musical, 53
- ↑ Banfield, Jerome Kern, 170
- ^ Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 552–554
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 20-21, Siedhoff, The Manual of the musical, 554-555
- ↑ Kislan, The musical, 113ff
- Jump up ↑ Bering, Musical, 54, Furia, Lasser, America's songs, 57
- ↑ Bering, Musical, 51-52
- ^ Stamp, Showtime, 198
- ^ Furia, Lasser, America's songs, 58
- ^ Hoffman, The Great White Way, 42
- ^ Banfield, Jerome Kern, 165
- ^ Stamp, Showtime, 199
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 29ff
- ^ Knapp, The American musical and the formation of national identity, 186, Hoffman, The Great White Way, 49
- ^ Stamp, Showtime, 198-199
- ^ Graziano, Images of African Americans: African-American musical theater, Show Boat and Pergy and Bess, 75, Siedhoff, Das Handbuch des Musicals, 555
- ^ Stamp, Showtime, 198-199
- ^ Knapp, The American musical and the formation of national identity, 186-187
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 36
- ↑ Banfield, Jerome Kern, 175; Banfield, Jerome Kern, 167
- ^ Knapp, The American musical and the formation of national identity, 192
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, 2
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, 13-14
- ^ Hoffman, The Great White Way, 4
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 40
- ^ Bering, Musical, 54
- ^ Hoffman, The Great White Way, 37
- ^ Decker, Race, Ethnicity, Performance, 200
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, Sept.
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, Jan.
- ^ Hoffman, The Great White Way, 24; 32ff
- ^ Knapp, The American musical and the formation of national identity, 193
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, 4
- ^ Acton, Can't Help Lovin 'Dat Musical: Show Boat in Films and Revivals, Jan.
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 309-310
- ↑ block Enchanted evenings, 23, Kenrick, Comparative Cast CD Reviews V