Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...

theatre roles is needed to fill the void of academic scholarship in the area of character
develop-ment and performance practice.
Overview of the Study
The thesis of this study is to formulate a critical, gendered approach to research
for an informed approach to performance practice for classic musicals, achieved through
an examination and preparation of the female lead roles found in Show Boat. Chapter
Two provides an overview of musical theatre history from 1890 to 1927 through a
discussion of the entertainment trends that coalesced into the first fully integrated book
musical, Show Boat. Chapter Three introduces the definitions and usage of “stereotype”
and its application to the “Woman Question” of feminine gender roles between 1880 and
1930. These gender stereotypes are subdivided into categories related to the female
characters of Show Boat: the New England Victorian woman, the Post-Bellum Southern
Belle, the Ethnic Other, and three generations of the New Woman (the suffragist, the
Gibson girl, and the Flapper). Chapter Four narrows the focus to stereotypes of
professional theatre women, regarded as sexually promiscuous and a possible third
gender. Specific character “types” of the theatre (chorus girl, soubrette, ingénue, ethnic
woman, and older woman) are defined and illustrated by the female lead characters in
Show Boat. Chapter Five presents an overview of performance practice for musical
theatre vocal styles at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It concludes
with an exercise in character development and song analysis for the Show Boat songs,
“Make Believe” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ ‘dat Man.” Although these particular songs date
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