Show Boat

Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book
(based on a novel by Edna Ferber) and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. One
notable exception is the song Bill, which was originally written for Kern in 1917
by P. G. Wodehouse but reworked by Hammerstein for Show Boat. Two other
songs not by Kern and Hammerstein — "Goodbye, My Lady Love" by Joseph
Howard and "After the Ball" by Charles K. Harris — are always interpolated
into American stage productions of the show.

Show Boat is based on a best-selling 1926 novel of the same name by Edna
Ferber. Ferber spent several weeks on the James Adams Floating Palace
Theater in Bath, North Carolina, gathering information for the novel about a
disappearing American phenomenon: the showboat. In a few short weeks,
she gained what she called a "treasure trove of show-boat material, human,
touching, true." The setting for the musical version was mostly the Mississippi
River, much traveled by real show boats in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. Show Boat is generally considered to be the first true American
"musical play" — a dramatic form with popular music, separate from
operettas, light musical comedies of the 1890s and early 20th century (e.g.,
Florodora), and the "Follies"-type musical revues that preceded it. In many
ways, it took the plot-and-character-centered "Princess Musicals" that Kern
had developed with Bolton and Wodehouse in the previous decade and
broadened their scope.

George S. Kaufman and George Gershwin's Strike Up the Band, which

previewed earlier that year, clearly made similar leaps, although their subject
matter was satirical and farcical. Unlike Strike Up the Band and the "Princess
Theatre" musicals, though, Show Boat was sentimental and somewhat tragic;
it also displayed the style of a musical epic, contrasted with an intimate show
with two sets and only a few characters.

Plot synopsis
The story spans 47 years, beginning aboard the show boat Cotton Blossom
as it arrives at the river dock in Natchez, Mississippi. Cap'n Andy Hawks,
owner of the showboat, introduces all of his actors to the excited crowd on the
levee.

Almost immediately, a fist fight breaks out between Steve Baker, the leading
man of the troupe, and Pete, a rough, coarse engineer who had been making
passes at Steve's wife, Julie La Verne, the company's leading lady. Steve
knocks Pete down and Pete swears revenge, apparently knowing some dark
secret about Julie.
Cap'n Andy pretends to the shocked crowd that the fight was a preview of a
scene from one of the melodramas performed on the boat. The troupe exits
with the showboat band.

A handsome riverboat gambler, Gaylord Ravenal, appears on the levee, then

sees and is taken with eighteen year old Magnolia Hawks, an aspiring
performer and daughter of Cap'n Andy and his wife Parthy Ann. Magnolia (aka
Nolie) is likewise smitten with Ravenal. She seeks advice from Joe, one of the
workers aboard the boat. He replies that there are "lots like [Ravenal] on the
river", [1] and, as Magnolia excitedly goes inside the boat to tell her friend Julie
about the handsome stranger, Joe mutters to himself that she ought to ask the
river for advice. With the other dock workers joining him in the second chorus,
he then sings the well known song, Ol' Man River.

During the rehearsal for that evening's show, full of comical blunders, the
mood abruptly changes when Julie and Steve are alerted that the town sheriff
is coming to arrest them. To the shock of all except Julie, Steve then takes out
a large pocket knife and makes a cut on the back of her hand, sucking the
blood and swallowing it. Then Pete returns with the sheriff, who insists that the
show not go on, because Julie is a mulatto woman married to a white man,
and local laws prohibit miscegenation. Julie admits that she is a mulatto. But
Steve, because he swallowed Julie's blood (and therefore has at least "one
drop of black blood" in him), is able to claim that he too is mulatto. The
sympathetic troupe backs him up, boosted by ship's pilot Windy McClain, a
longtime friend of the sheriff. The sheriff is powerless to arrest Julie and
Steve, but they must leave town anyway. Pete is fired by Cap'n Andy. As Julie
and Steve prepare to leave, Gaylord Ravenal returns and asks for passage on
the boat: his gambling has cost him the boat ticket he planned to use to leave
town. Noticing Ravenal's good looks, Andy immediately hires him as the new
leading man, and suggests, over Parthy's objections, that Magnolia be the
new leading lady. Julie bids a tearful goodbye to Magnolia and leaves with
Steve.

Weeks later, Magnolia and Gaylord are an enormous hit with the crowds and
have fallen deeply in love. Gaylord proposes to Magnolia and she accepts.
The two are married while Parthy is out of town: she can do nothing, despite
her disapproval of Gaylord.

Years pass. Gaylord and Magnolia are living in Chicago with their daughter,
Kim. Gaylord's gambling debts are out of control, so their living quarters are a
cheap apartment. Depressed and shamed by his inability to support his family,
Gaylord leaves Nolie. Frank and Ellie, two actors on the boat, choose this
time to visit. These old friends seek a singing job for Magnolia at the same
club where they are doing a New Year's show, a club called the Trocadero.
Unbeknownst to Magnolia, Julie, abandoned by Steve and now a drunken
cabaret singer at the Trocadero, hears Magnolia singing "Can't Help Lovin'
Dat Man" for her audition, the song Julie taught her years ago. Julie secretly
abandons her position so that Magnolia can fill it, and Magnolia never learns
of her sacrifice. (At this point, the character of Julie completely disappears
from both the stage and the 1936 film versions, though in the 1951 film she is
given one more scene near the end.)

On New Year's Eve, Andy, in Chicago with Parthy for a surprise visit, ends up
at the Trocadero while celebrating without her. He is unaware of Magnolia's
presence and troubles, only to discover her choked with emotion and nearly
being booed off stage. Andy rallies the crowd to her defense by standing up
and initiating a grand sing-along of the old song "After the Ball". Magnolia
becomes a great musical star.

More than 20 years pass; it is now 1927. Magnolia has become an

international star of the stage and radio. Cap'n Andy has a chance meeting
with Ravenal and, knowing that Magnolia is retiring from the stage and
returning to the Cotton Blossom with Kim, arranges for a reunion. Although
Ravenal is uncertain whether he has the right to ask Magnolia to take him
back, she does. As the happy couple walks up the boat's gangplank, Joe and
the chorus sing a final reprise of "Ol' Man River".

Note: The 1951 MGM film changed many aspects of the story. A major
change brings Ravenal and Magnolia back together only a few years
after they separated, rather than twenty-three years afterward: Gaylord
has a chance meeting with Julie, and learns that he has a daughter
whom he didn't know about. Gaylord returns, finding Kim playing, and
when talking to her, she mentions a game "make believe" that she
knows (Kim is seen only as a cute child in this film). Magnolia sees
them and takes him back, and the family returns to the showboat. Joe
and the chorus start singing "Ol' Man River" as the scenes unfold, then
the paddlewheel starts turning in tempo with the music, heading down
river. Julie is shown, viewing the scene from a distance: aware that he
would return to the showboat, Julie has followed him and watched the
events, but only from the shadows.

Songs
The original production ran four-and-a-half hours during tryouts, but was
trimmed to just over three by the time it actually got to Broadway. The show is
now never performed onstage at exactly its original length, although virtually
all stage productions run nearly three hours. Two songs, "Till Good Luck
Comes My Way" (sung by Ravenal) and "Hey Feller!" (sung by Queenie) were
written mainly to cover scenery changes, could easily be cut without hurting
the story, and were discarded beginning with the 1946 revival, although "Till
Good Luck" was included in the 1993 Harold Prince revival of the show. The
comedy song "I Might Fall Back On You" was also cut beginning in 1946,
although it was retained in a different scene in the 1951 film version. Several
productions over the last twenty-five years or so have also reinstated it. "Hey
Feller!" has turned up again only on the 1988 EMI album. Two new songs
were written by Kern and Hammerstein for other stage productions of the
show, and three more were written by them for the 1936 film version.

Typically, productions pick and choose from the original material and fashion a
distinct version of Show Boat. Songs found in modern productions may
include the following:

• Overture — The original overture, used in all stage productions up to

1946 (and heard on the three-disc EMI/Angel CD for the first time in
nearly 50 years), is dramatic and largely based on the deleted song
"Mis'ry's Comin' Round". (Kern wanted to save this song in some form.)
The song was restored in the Harold Prince revival of the show. The
overture also contains fragments of "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help
Lovin' Dat Man", and, towards the end, there is a lively, rather than
slow, rendition of "Why Do I Love You?". The overture for the 1946
revival is a standard medley consisting of "Mis'ry's Comin' Round", "Ol'
Man River", "Why Do I Love You?", "Make Believe," and Can't Help
Lovin' Dat Man". Still another overture was arranged for the 1966
Lincoln Center revival, consisting of a medley of all these songs, but
adding the comic number "I Might Fall Back on You", which is
otherwise never included in the overture. All three overtures were
arranged by Robert Russell Bennett.

• "Cotton Blossom" — The notes in the phrase "Cotton Blossom, Cotton

Blossom" are the same notes as those in the phrase "Ol' Man River,
dat Ol' Man River," but inverted. However, "Cotton Blossom" was
written first, and "Ol' Man River" was written only after Kern and
Hammerstein realized they needed a song to end the first scene in the
show. Hammerstein decided to use the idea of the Mississippi River as
a basis for the song, and told Kern to use the melody that the
stevedores sang in "Cotton Blossom", but invert some of it, and slow
down the tempo. This adaptation gave "Ol' Man River" a somewhat
tragic quality.
• "Where's the Mate for Me?"
• "Make Believe" -- sung by Magnolia and Gaylord at first meeting
• "Ol' Man River" - Originally written for Paul Robeson, a well-known
singer and actor of the time, though he did not take on the role until a
1928 London run. He returned to the role for the 1932 stage revival and
the 1936 film. There is an introductory verse, and then the song's main
section follows a conventional Tin Pan Alley AABA structure. However,
there is a long middle section after the verse Ah gits weary,/An' sick o'
tryin, etc, after which the song returns to a complete repeat of the main
section. Outside of the show, it is usually not sung literally complete,
because of both a racially sensitive section and its five-minute length -
except in the 1929 and 1936 film versions. The song depicts the tough
lives of black river workers against the silent, steady flow of the river.
Its tone is tragic yet resigned.[2]
• "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" — Queenie's surprise at the apparently
white Julie's knowledge of a "black folks'" song foreshadows the
discovery of Julie's mixed origins. Another song almost never sung
literally complete outside the show because it would then have to be
sung by several singers, as it is in the stage production and the 1929
and 1936 film versions. The section nearly always omitted outside the
show involves a racially sensitive lyric which was rewritten for the 1966
Lincoln Center revival.
• "Life Upon the Wicked Stage"
• "Till Good Luck Comes My Way" (heard only as instrumental
background in the 1936 film version as Ravenal introduces himself to
Cap'n Andy. Never sung in any film version of the show. Cut by Kern
and Hammerstein themselves for the 1946 stage revival, and not
reinstated until the 1971 London stage revival.)
• "I Might Fall Back on You"
• "Queenie's Ballyhoo"
• "Olio Dance" - almost never performed now, since it was composed
simply to cover a change of scenery, which, from 1927 to 1946, took a
certain amount of time. It is an orchestral piece which partially uses the
melody of "I Might Fall Back on You", and can be heard on the EMI 3-
CD album of "Show Boat". It was not used in the 1989 PBS Paper Mill
Playhouse production, and the 1936 film version of the show
substituted the new Kern-Hammerstein number "Gallivantin' Around",
performed as an olio by Irene Dunne (as Magnolia) in blackface. Some
modern productions of Show Boat move the song "I Might Fall Back on
You" to this spot.
• "You Are Love" — a song sung in waltz tempo that nearly all critics and
audiences are fond of, but considered by Jerome Kern to be the
score's worst: he tried unsuccessfully to eliminate it from the 1936 film
version. It has never been cut from any stage production, and like "Ol'
Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", almost never performed
complete outside the show - this perhaps because its introductory
section is too closely integrated with the show's plot to be appreciated
out of context (although it was trimmed to only one refrain - with no
introductory verse - in both the 1936 and the 1951 film versions).
 • "Act I Finale"
• "At the Chicago World's Fair" — the Act II opening chorus, sometimes
eliminated and never sung in a film version of the show (it was played
instrumentally in the 1936 version).
• "Why Do I Love You?"
• "Bill" — lyrics co-written by Hammerstein and P. G. Wodehouse
• "Goodbye, My Lady Love" by Joseph Howard, a song interpolated into
the show and sung by Frank and Ellie in the nightclub scene
• "After the Ball" — a song (waltz) by Charles K. Harris from 1892

The instrumentation for the show, according to the original orchestrations by

Robert Russell Bennett, is one flute (doubling as piccolo), one oboe (doubling
as cor anglais), two clarinets, one bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, one
trombone, percussion, one guitar, one banjo, an on-stage piano, and strings.

Production history
Before the Broadway premiere of Show Boat -- from November 15, 1927, until
December 19 -- Ziegfeld produced tryouts at the National Theatre in
Washington, D.C., the Nixon Theatre in Pittsburgh, the Ohio Theatre in
Cleveland, and thrice at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia.[3][4] The show
opened on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York on December 27,
1927, where it ran for a year and a half.

Show Boat, with its serious and dramatic nature, was considered a turning
point for producer Florenz Ziegfeld, previously known mainly for revues such
as the Follies. Today it is quite literally the only American pre-1943 musical to
be revived often, not only because of its songs, but also because its libretto,
though clearly dated in comparison to those of more recent musicals, is
considered to be exceptionally good for a musical of that era. [5] (George and
Ira Gershwin's Porgy and Bess , because of its categorization as an opera
rather than a musical, is not subjected to the same criteria, and is therefore
also revived regularly.)

The scenic design for the original production was by Joseph Urban, who had
worked with Ziegfeld for many years in his Follies and had designed the
elaborate new Ziegfeld Theatre itself.

The role of Joe, the stevedore who sings "Ol' Man River", was specifically
written for Paul Robeson (although Joe does appear in Ferber's novel, where
he is a cook instead of a stevedore). Robeson, however, eventually had to
back out of the Broadway run because the producer, Florenz Ziegfeld,
postponed the show in favor of the much less ambitious (and less risky) Rio
Rita. Hence Jules Bledsoe played Joe on Broadway, although Robeson finally
played the role (a part for which he became world-famous) in four notable
productions of the show: the 1928 London production (with Alberta Hunter as
Queenie and Mabel Mercer in the black chorus), the 1932 New York revival,
the 1936 film version, and a 1940 stage revival in Los Angeles. Bledsoe,
despite being famous at the time, has faded into obscurity.

After its closing in 1929, the show was revived on Broadway in 1932 at the
Casino Theatre, in 1946 (a return to the Ziegfeld Theatre), in 1983 at the Uris
Theatre (presented by Douglas Urbanski), and in 1994 at the same theatre[6]
Other American productions include one in 1966 at the New York State
Theater in the Lincoln Center, two (1954 and 1961) at the New York City
Center, and the 1983 Washington, DC, Kennedy Center production, which
starred Mickey Rooney as Cap'n Andy.

The 1994 Livent Inc. production was produced and directed by Harold Prince
and opened in Toronto, Ontario, in 1993, and on Broadway in October 1994.
This production later went on tour, playing at the Kennedy Center, also being
put on in London and Melbourne, Australia. Prince's production revitalized
interest in the show by tightening the book, dropping and adding songs that
had been cut in various productions, and highlighting the racial elements of
the show. Perhaps the most notable change in the score was Prince's
transforming "Why Do I Love You?" from a duet between Magnolia and
Ravenal to a lullaby sung by Parthy Ann to Magnolia's baby girl. This change
was designed partly to allow a song to be sung by stage actress Elaine
Stritch, who played Parthy Ann but did not have the "operetta" voice that
Magnolia and Ravenal are supposed to have, and partly because the revival
featured a love duet for the couple, I Have the Room Above Her, originally
written by Kern and Hammerstein for the 1936 film version, in which it was
sung by Allan Jones and Irene Dunne. If Why Do I Love You had been sung
by them in the revival as well, it would have brought the total of their love
duets to four, rather than the usual three. The change very likely disappointed
several Show Boat lovers, who would have liked to hear the song sung as a
duet by trained voices.

Show Boat has been produced on multiple occasions in London's West End.
These productions include a May 1928 production at the Drury Lane Theatre
and a July 1971 production at the Adelphi Theatre that ran for 909
performances.[4][7] Another notable revival in England was the joint Opera
North/Royal Shakespeare Company production of 1989.[3] Showboat was also
produced in June 2006 by Raymond Gubbay at London's Royal Albert Hall.
Directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by David Charles Abell, this
was the first fully-staged musical production in the history of this venue.

Show Boat was also adapted as a movie on four occasions: in 1929; 1936,
directed by James Whale; 1946 (as a mini-show inside the Jerome Kern
biopic Till the Clouds Roll By); and 1951. And it was videotaped in live
performance for television in 1989 at the Paper Mill Playhouse. The 1936 and
1951 films, as well as the television version, retained the miscegenation
sequence; the 1929 film version did not. (See Show Boat (1929 film), Show
Boat (1936 film), Show Boat (1951 film)).

Radio productions

During the days of live radio, Show Boat was presented in that medium at
least six times. There were four especially notable productions.

• One was presented and directed by Orson Welles, on his radio show
Campbell Playhouse in 1939. This was a non-musical version of the
story that, like the 1929 film, was based more closely on Edna Ferber's
novel than on the musical. However, Helen Morgan, who had played
the role of Julie in the musical, played her again in this version,
although the one song she sang on the broadcast was not from the
musical. Orson Welles portrayed Cap'n Andy, Margaret Sullavan was
Magnolia, and author Edna Ferber made her acting debut as Parthy.
The presentation was exceptionally faithful to Ferber's novel, except for
one change. Because interracial marriages were controversial as a
radio subject, the character of Julie was changed from a mulatto
married to a white man to merely an unmarried mulatto, whose mere
presence on the boat is controversial despite her being single. Her
ultimate fate as a prostitute and her accidental encounter with
Magnolia--both are elements of Ferber's novel--were also left
unmentioned.

• Another radio version, based on the stage musical, was presented on

Cecil B. DeMille's Lux Radio Theater in 1940. It featured Irene Dunne ,
Allan Jones, and Charles Winninger, all of whom were in the 1936 film
version. However, neither Helen Morgan nor Paul Robeson appeared
on the program. This production, like the 1929 film, also suffered from
censorship, catering to the fears of radio and film producers of that era
by completely omitting the subject of miscegenation. As in the show,
the town sheriff does show up to arrest Julie (played by a non-singing
Gloria Holden), but instead of being a woman of mixed blood who is
illegally married to a white man, Julie in this production becomes an
illegal alien who had served jail time and must now be deported! The
 • song "Bill" is totally eliminated, and it is Magnolia, not Julie, who sings
"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man". Only a fragment of the song "Ol' Man
River" is used, even though Paul Robeson had appeared in the 1936
film and sang the song in its entirety there. (The show's one-hour
format and its time reserved for Lux commercials explains the cuts.)

• Another radio version, condensed to a half-hour, was similarly

squeamish about the racial angle. Broadcast in 1950 on "The Railroad
Hour," it starred Gordon MacRae, Dorothy Kirsten, and Lucille Norman.
The miscegenation is not referred to at all; it is simply mentioned on the
show that Julie and her husband have left the boat — no reason given.
MacRae not only plays the role of gambler Gaylord Ravenal but sings
Joe's song, "Ol' Man River".

• In 1952, Lux Radio Theatre presented Show Boat once again, this time
based on the 1951 MGM film and featuring Kathryn Grayson, Ava
Gardner, Howard Keel, and William Warfield from the film's cast. Jay C.
Flippen portrayed Cap'n Andy. One hopes that this version was more
faithful than the previous one. At least it featured Warfield singing "Ol'
Man River".

Significantly, three of these four radio versions completely omitted the

characters of Joe and his wife, Queenie.

• Still another radio version, broadcast in 1944, featured Kathryn

Grayson, who played Magnolia for the first time.[4] Starring opposite her
was Allan Jones, who had played Ravenal in the 1936 film. Helen
Forrest co-starred as Julie, Charles Winninger was again Cap'n Andy,
Elvia Allman (the voice of Clarabelle Cow) was Parthy, and African-
American film actor Ernest Whitman (who had appeared in the 1944
biographical film The Adventures of Mark Twain as a ship's stoker) was
Joe.

Original cast

The original 1927 production had these actors as its principal players:

• Norma Terris — Magnolia Hawks and her daughter Kim (as an adult)
• Howard Marsh — Gaylord Ravenal
• Charles Winninger — Cap'n Andy Hawks
• Jules Bledsoe — Joe
• Helen Morgan — Julie LaVerne
• Edna May Oliver — Parthy Ann Hawks
• Sammy White — Frank Schultz
• Eva Puck — Ellie May Chipley
• Tess Gardella — Queenie
Orchestrator: Robert Russell Bennett
Conductor: Victor Baravalle

Racism and Controversy

Integration

Show Boat boldly portrayed racial difficulties, and for a 1927 show it was quite
progressive in doing so. It was the first racially integrated musical, in that both
black and white performers appeared on stage together.[8] Ziegfeld’s Follies
allowed single African American performers like Bert Williams, but would
never have had an African-American woman in the chorus. However,
Showboat had two choruses — a black chorus and a white chorus, and it has
been perceived that "Hammerstein uses the African-American chorus as
essentially a Greek chorus, providing clear commentary on the proceedings,
whereas the white choruses sing of the not-quite-real."[9]

Show Boat was also the first musical to depict an interracial marriage, as in
Edna Ferber's original novel, and to feature a character of mixed blood who
was "passing" for white. The musical comedy Whoopee!, starring Eddie
Cantor, supposedly had also depicted an interracial romance - this one being
between a Native American man and a white woman. Whoopee!, however,
took the easy (and some would say offensive) way out by having the Native
American character turn out to be white after all. Show Boat looked at the
situation unflinchingly, and even had its mixed race character, Julie, make an
unfortunate decision in eventually becoming an alcoholic.

However, some assert that the simple fact that Show Boat contains numbers
with blacks and whites on stage singing together does not mean it deserves to
be credited as the "first racially integrated musical". According to a theatre
studies graduate student at Cornell University,

Historians of American musical theater usually describe Show Boat as the first
"integrated" musical without considering its complicated politics of race. Such
assessments privilege Show Boat’s book and score while failing to situate these
scenes and songs in theatrical performance or within the wider culture of the United
States in 1927. When read in the context of its original Broadway production and
reception, Show Boat raises the question of whether its integration – of book and
numbers, of black and white characters and actors – can function apart from its
politics and theatrics of segregation... the musical numbers in which black and white
characters dance and sing in unison or in harmony, or those in which the
performance of individual black characters (Julie, Joe, and Queenie) complicates
cross-racial relationships and forms raced audiences. At the same time, the numbers
limit the possibilities for black characters by denying them interiority and deploying
them as spectacle for the sensory experience of the audience. Ultimately, Ziegfeld’s
Show Boat thrives in memory on a myth of integration, gesturing toward exploding
the integration/segregation dichotomy while cooperating in the racist politics that
informs it.[10]
It was not until 1947's Finian's Rainbow that a Broadway musical was truly
racially integrated.[11]

Language and Stereotypes

The show has also come under much attack, primarily because of the use of
the word nigger in the lyrics in the first scene, in addition to the historical
portrayal of blacks serving as passive laborers and servants. The show
opened with the black chorus trudging onstage and singing:

Niggers all work on the Mississippi.

Niggers all work while the white folks play —
Loadin' up boats wid de bales of cotton,
Gittin' no rest till de Judgement Day.[12]

In subsequent productions, "nigger" has been changed to "colored folk," to

"darkies" and in one choice, "Here we all," as in "Here we all work on the
Mississippi. Here we all work while the white folk play." In the 1966 Lincoln
Center production of the show, produced during the height of the Civil Rights
struggle, this section of the opening chorus was completely omitted rather
than simply having the lyric changed. The 1988 CD for EMI restored the
original lyric, while the Harold Prince revival chose "colored folk".

Despite these objections, however, others believe that the song was written
by Kern and Hammerstein to give a sympathetic voice to an oppressed
people through the ironic use of a word often used derogatorily against them
and that the word was used to dramatically alert the audience to the realities
of racism:

'Show Boat begins with the singing of that most reprehensible word – nigger – yet
this is no coon song... [it] immediately establishes race as one of the central themes
of the play. This is a protest song, more ironic than angry perhaps, but a protest
nonetheless. In the singers' hands, the word nigger has a sardonic tone... in the very
opening, Hammerstein has established the gulf between the races, the privilege
accorded the white folks and denied the black, and a flavor of the contempt built into
the very language that whites used about African-Americans. This is a very effective
scene.... These are not caricature roles; they are wise, if uneducated, people capable
of seeing and feeling more than some of the white folk around them.[9]

The racial situations in the play provoke thoughts of how hard it must have been to
be black in the South. In the dialogue, some of the blacks are called "niggers" by the
white characters in the story. (Contrary to what is sometimes thought, black slavery is
not depicted in the play; slavery was abolished in 1863 and the story runs from the
1880s to the late 1920s.) At first, it is shocking to believe they are allowed to use a
word that negative at all in a play... But in the context in which it is used, it is
appropriate due to the impact it makes. It reinforces how much of a derogatory term
"nigger" was then and still is today.[13]

Those that consider Show Boat racially insensitive also often note that the
dialogue and lyrics of the black characters (especially the stevedore Joe and
his wife Queenie) and choruses use various forms of African American
Vernacular English. An effective example of this is shown in the following text:

Hey!
Where yo' think you're goin'?
Don't yo' know dis show is startin' soon?
Hey!
Jes' a few seats left yere!
It's light inside an' outside dere's no moon
What fo' you gals dressed up dicty?
Where's yo' all gwine?
Tell dose stingy men o' yourn
To step up here in line! [12]

Many critics would either respond that such language is not an accurate
reflection of the vernacular of blacks in Mississippi at the time, or that it is in
fact linguistically correct but that the overall effect of its usage, especially in
light of prejudiced historically-white audiences in past productions, results in a
potentially harmful racial stereotype.

Indeed, the character Queenie (who sings the above verses) was in the
original production played not by an African-American but rather by the Italian-
American actress Tess Gardella in blackface (Gardella was perhaps best
known for portraying Aunt Jemima in blackface).[14] In addition, some believe
that the attempts of non-black writers to imitate black language stereotypically
in songs like "Ol' Man River" and allege authenticity is offensive, a claim that
was repeated eight years later by evaluators of Porgy and Bess.

"Ol' Man River" is not a Negro spiritual. It's a show tune cooked up in 1927 by a
couple of middle-class honkies who needed something for a spot in the first act. Yes,
Oscar Hammerstein's lyric is full of "dat" and "dese" (obviously, he was self-taught at
Ebonics)... Hammerstein's is an unobtrusive craft, an artless art.[15]

However, even many of those who denounce the stereotyping of blacks and
black language admit that the intentions of Hammerstein were noble, since
"'Ol' Man River' was the song in which he first found his lyrical voice,
compressing the suffering, resignation, and anger of an entire race into 24
taut lines and doing it so naturally that it's no wonder folks assume the song's
a Negro spiritual".[15]

Many writers have also conceded that the novel contains caricatures of
blacks, but believe that they were used by the author to scrutinize and criticize
racism in the United States, since "cringe-worthy caricatures like Show Boat 's
'black men...with rolling eyes and great lips' exist alongside some very
thoughtful explorations of American racism, including Show Boat 's
sympathetic treatment of a mixed-race couple".[16] For example, the theatre
critics and veterans Richard Eyre and Nicholas Wright believe that Show Boat
was revolutionary, not only because it was a radical departure from the
previous style of plotless revues, but because it was a show written by non-
blacks that portrayed blacks sympathetically rather than condescendingly:

Instead of a line of chorus girls showing their legs in the opening number singing that
they were happy, happy, happy, the curtain rose on black dock-hands lifting bales of
cotton, and singing about the hardness of their lives. Here was a musical that
showed poverty, suffering, bitterness, racial prejudice, a sexual relationship between
black and white, a love story which ended unhappily — and of course show business.
In "Ol' Man River" the black race was given an anthem to honor its misery that had
the authority of an authentic spiritual.[17]

Revisions and cancellations

Since the musical's 1927 premiere, Show Boat has both been condemned as
a prejudiced show based on racial caricatures and championed as a
breakthrough work that opened the door for public discourse in the arts about
racism in America. In some occasions, productions (including one planned for
June 2002 in Connecticut) have been cancelled because of objections.[18]

However, such cancellations occasionally were met with negative reaction by

supporters of the arts. After planned performances by an opera company in
Middlesbrough, England were "stopped because [they] would be 'distasteful'
to ethnic minorities", a local newspaper declared that the actions were "surely
taking political correctness too far".[19] A British theatre writer was concerned
that

the kind of censorship we've been talking about — for censorship it is — actually
militates against a truly integrated society, for it emphasises differences. It puts a wall
around groups within society, dividing people by creating metaphorical ghettos, and
prevents mutual understanding.[19]

In addition, as attitudes toward race relations changed in later years,

producers and directors often altered some content in order to make the
musical more politically correct:
...Show Boat, more than many musicals, was subject to cuts and revisions within a
handful of years after its first performance, all of which altered the dramatic balance
of the play... [9]

1993 Revival

The 1993 Hal Prince revival, originating in Toronto, brought racial matters into
focus. Throughout the production African-Americans constantly cleaned up
the mess, moved the sets (even when hydraulics actually moved them), with
their presence constantly commenting on the racial disparities.[20] After a New
Year's Eve ball, all the streamers fell on the floor and we saw African
Americans busy sweeping them away. A montage in the second act showed
time passing with the revolving door of the Palmer House in Chicago, and
headlines going by in quick motion and then little snippets of slow motion to
highlight a specific moment. African American dancers portrayed street
dancers doing a dance and then time would pass and the fashionable white
dancers had taken the dance.

During the production's stay in Toronto, many black community leaders and
their supporters launched a massive opposition to the show, often mobilizing
"black hecklers shouting insults and waving placards reading SHOW BOAT
SPREADS LIES AND HATE and SHOW BOAT = CULTURAL GENOCIDE" in
front of the theatre.[21] Some sympathetic to the cause of those against the
production also thought that it was ironic that a supposedly anti-black show
was receiving attention and support while the actual black community in
Toronto was facing economic and social problems, and that

[the] conclusion that the protest was "misguided" reveals [the] total lack of
understanding of the social and political cleavages in North York. It suggests that
those blacks protesting Show Boat are wasting their time, when they should be
engaged in more pressing struggles for equality in education, employment and
housing. The fact is these people are working toward those goals every day. The
protesters are trustees, teachers, lawyers, social service workers, and, dare I say it,
leaders in their community.[22]

However, while Hal Prince's production of Show Boat was met by a storm of
criticism in Toronto, various theatre critics in New York felt that Prince
highlighted racial inequality in his production not to support it but rather to
show its injustice, as well as the historical suffering of blacks. One way that
this was done was

the inclusion of an absolutely beautiful piece of music cut from the original production
and from the movie ["Mis'ry's Comin' Round"]... a haunting gospel melody sung by
the black chorus. The addition of this number is so successful because it salutes the
dignity and the pure talent of the black workers and allows them to shine for a brief
moment on the center stage of the showboat.[20]
Singer-songwriter Drew Seeley starred in this production. This was his first
professional acting role.

Analysis

Many commentators, both black and non-black, view the show as an outdated
and stereotypical commentary on race relations that portrays blacks in a
negative or inferior position. Douglass K. Daniel of Kansas State University
has commented that it is a "racially flawed story",[23] and the African-Canadian
writer M. Nourbese Philip claims

The affront at the heart of Show Boat is still very alive today. It begins with the book
and its negative and one-dimensional images of Black people, and continues on
through the colossal and deliberate omission of the Black experience, including the
pain of a people traumatized by four centuries of attempted genocide and
exploitation. Not to mention the appropriation of Black music for the profit of the very
people who oppressed Blacks and Africans. All this continues to offend deeply. The
'ol' man river of racism continues to run through the history of these productions and
is very much part of this (Toronto) production. It is part of the overwhelming need of
white Americans and white Canadians to convince themselves of our inferiority —
that our demands don't represent a challenge to them, their privilege and their
superiority.[24]

In general, many of the artistic and social supporters of the musical believe
that the depictions of racism should be regarded not as stereotyping blacks
but rather satirizing the common national attitudes that both held those
stereotypes and reinforced them through discrimination. In other words, just
as quoting an out-of-context line from a play and claiming that it is the view of
the playwright is absurd and deceptive, in the view of many of Show Boat's
defenders, the fact that a dramatic or literary work portrays racist attitudes and
institutions does not mean that it endorses them — in the words of The New
Yorker theatre critic John Lahr, "describing racism doesn't make Show Boat
racist. The production is meticulous in honoring the influence of black culture
not just in the making of the nation's wealth but, through music, in the making
of its modern spirit."[25]

In addition, theatre history shows that leading Broadway writers had long used
the musical as a medium to call for tolerance and racial harmony, such as in
Finian's Rainbow and by Hammerstein himself in South Pacific. Those who
attempt to understand works like Show Boat and Porgy and Bess through the
eyes of their creators usually comprehend that the show

was a statement AGAINST racism. That was the point of Edna Ferber's novel. That
was the point of the show. That's how Oscar wrote it.... I think this is about as far from
racism as you can get.[26]
Perhaps the strongest foundational argument in defense of Show Boat lies in
an understanding of the socially concerned intentions, aims, and backgrounds
of its authors. According to Rabbi Alan Berg, Kern and Hammerstein's score
to Show Boat is "a tremendous expression of the ethics of tolerance and
compassion."[27] As Harold Prince (not Kern, to whom the quote has been
mistakenly attributed) states in the original production notes to his 1993
production of the show:

Throughout pre-production and rehearsal, I was committed to eliminate any

inadvertent stereotype in the original material, dialogue which may seem "Uncle Tom"
today... However, I was determined not to rewrite history. The fact that during the 45-
year period depicted in our musical there were lynchings, imprisonment, and forced
labor of the blacks in the United States is irrefutable. Indeed, the United States still
cannot hold its head high with regard to racism.

Oscar Hammerstein's commitment to idealizing and encouraging tolerance

theatrically started with his libretto to Show Boat and can be seen clearly in
his later works, many of which were written by Richard Rodgers.[28] Carmen
Jones is an attempt to present a modern version of the classic French opera
through the experiences of African-Americans during wartime, and South
Pacific explores interracial marriage and prejudice. Finally, The King and I
deals with different cultures' preconceived notions regarding each other and
the possibility for cultural inclusiveness in societies.

Regarding the original author of Show Boat, Ann Shapiro states that

Edna Ferber was taunted for being Jewish; as a young woman eager to launch her
career as a journalist, she was told that the Chicago Tribune did not hire women
reporters. Despite her experience of antisemitism and sexism, she idealized America,
creating in her novels an American myth where strong women and downtrodden men
of any race prevail... [Show Boat] create[s] visions of racial harmony... in a fictional
world that purported to be America but was more illusion than reality. Characters in
Ferber's novels achieve assimilation and acceptance that was periodically denied
Ferber herself throughout her life.[29]

Whether or not the show is racist itself, many contend that it is important to
continue to be produced today because it serves as a history lesson of
American race relations. According to African-American opera singer Phillip
Lamar Boykin, who played the role of Joe in a 2000 tour,

Whenever a show deals with race issues, it gives the audience sweaty palms. I agree
with putting it on the stage and making the audience think about it. We see where we
came from so we don't repeat it, though we still have a long way to go. A lot of history
would disappear if the show was put away forever. An artist must be true to an era.
I'm happy with it.[30]