A New Show (Boat) in Town
Good fortune brought Hammerstein and Kern together, and their collaboration Show Boat (1927) is often viewed as the “flagship” of the musical theater genre. Show Boat was inspired by a 1926 novel by Edna Ferber. Kern decided it was the property he and Hammerstein needed for their first collaboration. Hammerstein immediately agreed—but few others did. Their friends tried to talk them out of it, pointing to the novel’s depiction of two unhappy relationships, the downtrodden situation of African Americans, and issues of interracial marriage, which was still illegal in many parts of the South—none of which seemed to be suitable for a light-hearted Broadway show. Even the novel’s author was horrified, fearing that her story would be trivialized, since she knew what the typical musical comedy was like.
Good fortune brought Hammerstein and Kern together, and their collaboration Show Boat (1927) is often viewed as the “flagship” of the musical theater genre. Show Boat was inspired by a 1926 novel by Edna Ferber. Kern decided it was the property he and Hammerstein needed for their first collaboration. Hammerstein immediately agreed—but few others did. Their friends tried to talk them out of it, pointing to the novel’s depiction of two unhappy relationships, the downtrodden situation of African Americans, and issues of interracial marriage, which was still illegal in many parts of the South—none of which seemed to be suitable for a light-hearted Broadway show. Even the novel’s author was horrified, fearing that her story would be trivialized, since she knew what the typical musical comedy was like.
Music came to the rescue. Kern swore to Ferber that their show would maintain the highest standards, and she reluctantly agreed to give them permission to use her work. Once Ferber heard some of the music, she knew she had made the right decision. When Show Boat reached the stage, audiences agreed with Ferber. Kern and Hammerstein had spent a full year crafting their show, when most musical comedies of the day were thrown together in a matter of weeks.
The song that won over Edna Ferber—“Ol’ Man River” (Listening Example 2)—is so “right” for the African-American character Joe that many people have thought Kern borrowed an authentic spiritual melody. Instead, it is an original tune that has now become a standard on its own accord. Nevertheless, the song is also carefully integrated into the story in multiple ways. In fact, studying this song is a bit like peeling an onion: the piece contains layer after layer of detail.
“Ol’ Man River” appears in Act I after Magnolia—a young woman who has grown up on the showboat Cotton Blossom—has met a charming man, Gaylord, who is looking for transportation to the next town along the river. When Magnolia excitedly decides to go ask Julie (an actress on the showboat) what she knows about Gaylord, the dockworker Joe mutters to himself that Magnolia should go ask the river instead, since the river has seen plenty of men of that type. In fact, Joe muses, the river has seen just about everything over the years.
As Joe starts to sing, he contrasts the steadily flowing river with the daily struggles that he and other African Americans face. Joe may be uneducated, but Hammerstein and Kern clearly are treating his character with respect—a marked contrast to most earlier stage depictions of African Americans. “Ol’ Man River” initially seems to be a simple, spiritual-like song, Kern has imbedded all sorts of sophisticated techniques within it. The artistic ambitions of the show far exceeded the expectations of musical comedies and operettas, and these new American musicals quickly traveled back across the Atlantic to Europe. In fact, our recording of “Ol’ Man River” was performed by Paul Robeson (1898–1976), who sang the role of Joe in the 1928 London production and again in the earliest film version (1936) of Show Boat. With the invention of musical theater, Broadway at last gave listeners good music that supported compelling stories.