Show Boat
A New Era
Based on a novel by Edna Ferber written in 1926, Show Boat was thought of by American composer Jerome Kern. During the intermission of a Broadway show, Kern and Ferber met and discussed the possibility of the work being turned into a musical. When Kern received permission to do just that from the author herself, he want on a hunt for a suitable librettist. This search was brought to a halt when Oscar Hammerstein was selected for the job. The two knew that putting a project like this, intended to have both story and music combined for the first time in Broadway's history, on wheels would be, by no means, an easy task. A third man was needed for this show to have even a chance at success. Like the choice for the librettist, this place on the team was given to a man with unparalleled talent in his respective field: Florenz Ziegfeld. The latter was impressed with the work that been accomplished thus far, which was the soundtrack to the first act in its entirety, but was somewhat skeptical about the concept of weaving a big, important story derived from a serious, dramatic novel into a musical comedy.
"Ziegfeld was a man who had no equal when it comes to taste in the theatre... for visual effects...for the beauty of girls, for the beauty of scenery and costumes, and what the audience saw...I think that before we opened he expected Show Boat to be a pretty big bore and he thought all that story stuff would be cut out...and what would remain would be pretty costumes and scenery and the tunes and the girls and the comedian."
- Oscar Hammerstein II |
On top of this dubiety from the new producer, creating Show Boat was going to be a herculean task. No doubt some members of the 1920s audience would frown upon the idea of both black and white actors on stage together. To boot, the musical was about a show boat on the Mississippi river, whose players' jobs were passed down via heritage, with a plot that traversed the lives of three generations worth of show folk. Another difficult aspect of this show was writing the score. With all the historical significance being portrayed in the actors' lines and the overall visual spectacle, the accompanying music would have to be amazing. Kern accomplished this goal many times over. Since the story was set over many decades, he used music associated, and popular in, a particular time period. Original songs were taken and completely changed in reprises, creating an entirely different sounding piece to express a powerful mood. So many genres were thrown together in one show, that there really isn't one song to summarize it in its entirety. Each song is layered, relying on those around it to tell a relatable story. Since its impossible to give such a summary, I present you with the most popular song from Show Boat, "Ol' Man River". Since footage from the original production on Broadway was unavailable, I have used a clip from the 1936 motion picture.
The Debut
At the Ziegfeld theatre, on December 27th, 1927, Show Boat premiered. The audience seemed to enjoy the play, but it didn't show at the end of the performance when the curtains closed over the stage. The reason for this was simple. It was customary to, after a show had ended, to put in a curtain call. This is when actors come back out onstage in response to the audience's applause. The creators of Show Boat came to the conclusion that it was unnecessary and decided to leave it out. They hadn't accounted for the fact that crowds were so accustomed to what was traditional, that they didn't know what do to when the finale came to a halt, the final curtain fell, and deafening silence erupted from the stage. There was no cheering. There was no applause. Everyone just paused, obviously expecting something more. Ziegfeld, who was sitting in the audience during the Broadway debut, acknowledged the lack of enthusiasm by turning to his secretary, Goldie, and whispering, "Well, now I've really done it...". The audience got up noiselessly and left the theatre. Contrary to this anti-climactic premiere, the next day brought pleasant surprises for the three creators. All reviews were positive, and lines to get tickets were practically out the door and around the block. Show Boat was so popular, in fact, that it ran for 572 Broadway performances and had the first of its six revivals in 1932. This show broke all the "rules" on stage, and would be remembered to all as one of the most important musicals in history.