Opera Scotland

Show Boat

Tours by decade

Tours by location

Music

Jerome Kern (born New York, 27 January 1885; died New York, 11 November 1945)

Text

Oscar Hammerstein II

Source

Novel (1926) by Edna Ferber.

 

Premieres

First Performance: New York (Ziegfeld Theater), 27 December 1927.

First Performance in UK: London (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), 3 May 1928.

First Performance in Scotland: tbc (Autumn 1928).

 

Background

Show Boat has deservedly retained a place in the repertoire, with revivals constantly showing it to be a work of genius. The serious nature of much of the storyline was certainly controversial in its day, and its head-on presentation of controversial subjects in post-Civil War American society set a precedent that has allowed later music dramas to follow. The fact that it contains several great musical numbers no doubt helps, with Ol' Man River, Can't Help Lovin' that Man, Bill and many others becoming enduring classics.

 

Main Characters

Cap'n Andy Hawks, owner of the Cotton Blossom.

Parthy Ann Hawks, his wife

Magnolia, their daughter (soprano)

Queenie, ship's cook (mezzo-soprano)

Joe, Queenie's man (bass)

Julie LaVerne, leading lady and Steve Baker's wife (soprano)

Ellie May Chipley, an actress (mezzo-soprano)

Gaylord Ravenal, a gambler on the boats (tenor or baritone)

Frank Schultz, an actor (tenor)

 

Plot Summary

The action opens in 1890, and ends in 1927, spanning the lives of Cap'n Andy and his wife, their daughter and grand-daughter. While the Cottom Blossom is central to the story, much of the action takes place on the quayside at Natchez, Mississippi, and in the very contrasting environment of Chicago.

While the show boat has a stopover in Natchez, Magnolia Hawks meets a professional gambler, Gaylord Ravenal. They fall in love, and, against determined opposition from her mother, they marry. Pete Gavin, the show boat's engineer, tries to seduce Julie, the company's leading lady, who remains staunchly loyal to her husband, the actor Steve Baker. Driven to jealous rage, Pete reports them to the local police, on the grounds that Julie is part-coloured. Miscegenation is a criminal offence in large areas of the south. To everyone's surprise, Steve now admits that he too has some coloured ancestry, so while they can continue together, they must leave the company. The leading roles are conveniently taken over by Magnolia and her husband.

When the boat plays at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, the family is reconciled and doing good business. However Ravenal's gambling becomes an unhealthy compulsion, and within another decade he abandons his wife and daughter and disappears. Twenty years pass, with Magnolia's solo career a success, Julie's increasingly on the skids. Kim herself develops as a star in the twenties, and mother and daughter are at last reunited on the Cotton Blossom, where a chastened Ravenal rejoins them.